Although Mayor Mitch Landrieu pledged to make the city budget process more open and accountable, his administration has failed to comply with open-records laws and make public the budget requests submitted to him by department heads. The Lens asked for the department-level requests on Sept. 30, hoping to get a look at what each city […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Once again, sheriff tells city to pay up or lose security
10.11.10 Story updated at end with mayor’s comment. Original post: Sheriff Marlin Gusman has threatened to cut court hours and pull security services from the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court unless the city pays him an extra $500,000 by Oct. 25. Gusman took his stand in letter Wednesday to Mayor Mitch Landrieu. Without it, he […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Investigations, Schools
It's none of your business: Most charters don't comply with open-meetings law
The state charter school law frees independently run public-school campuses from many laws. However, that doesn’t include the state’s open-meetings law.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Birthers still waiting for Superman’s birth certificate
A strong wave of initial buzz is preceding “Waiting for ‘Superman’”, a new documentary about schools in America and the difficulties low-income parents have in finding a quality education for their children. A lucky few will win the “good school” lottery, while the rest get left behind with dwindling future prospects. I’ll review “Waiting for […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Committee to reconsider downgrading some crimes
The City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee today delayed a vote on downgrading certain misdemeanors to municipal court offenses because of concerns expressed by District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro. The group also discussed several other initiatives aimed at reducing the amount of jail and court time used for minor offenses. The committee agenda showed that it was […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Council to consider alternatives to jailing municipal defendants
The New Orleans City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee has provided public notice of its next meeting, apparently having re-read the state’s open-meetings law. The public was not invited to the last meeting of the group, where key jail issues were discussed. But this week, the meeting and an agenda are posted clearly on the city’s […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
New Orleans courts unfair to poor defendants, reports say
New Orleans often spends more money to imprison people for unpaid fines than is ultimately recouped from the fines themselves, according to two reports released by criminal justice reform advocates today. The reports, published by the American Civil Liberties Union in New York and the Brennan Center for Justice, a project of the New York […]
Posted inLand Use
Not a news flash: Most of Quarter near a T-shirt shop
The City Planning Commission released this map showing the locations of the licensed T-shirt or souvenir shops in or near the French Quarter. The City Council member for the area, Kristin Gisleson Palmer, has asked the commission to hold a hearing on her proposed ordinance that would bar any new T-shirt shops from the historic […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Sheriff headed to court without budget increase
Sheriff Marlin Gusman is threatening to take the city to court unless it pays him 28 percent more money than last year to house New Orleans inmates.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
City agency makes changes in face of federal threat
A deadline passed today for the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority to prove that it could finish projects in an “effective and timely” way, or else lose $28 million in federal recovery money. The threat of losing money was spelled out in correspondence between the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department’s Office of the Inspector General […]