Death-penalty opponents say a committee created by the Legislature never met publicly.
Author Archives: Della Hasselle
Della Hasselle, a freelance journalist and producer, reports environmental and criminal justice stories for The Lens. A graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Hasselle lived in New York for 10 years. While up north, she produced and anchored news segments, wrote feature stories and reported breaking news for DNAinfo.com, a hyperlocal news site. Before that, she worked at the New York Daily News. She obtained her master
Posted inCriminal Justice
Death-penalty study suggests using nitrogen to carry out executions
Amid nationwide controversy surrounding lethal injection, Louisiana officials are recommending a new way to execute the condemned: death by nitrogen. And the head of the state prison system also wants legislators to reconsider an execution-secrecy bill that was introduced but dropped during last year’s legislative session.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Executions in Louisiana on hold until at least June
The state didn’t say why it sought the delay. A scheduling conference is now set for two weeks after the 2015 legislative session ends.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
If elected judge, Ernest ‘Freddie’ Charbonnet pledges to create task force to remake juvenile justice system
Juvenile Court doesn’t leave children better off, he says.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Yolanda King says she would streamline Juvenile Court docket, seek alternatives to youth detention
She has been pulled from the bench until criminal charges are resolved, but she’s running for re-election.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Cynthia D. Samuel says she has experience, temperament for Juvenile Court judge
Over 23 years, she has handled thousands of Juvenile Court hearings and trials.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Niki Roberts would advocate for vocational training, mentoring for kids in Juvenile Court
Many children in prison-like facilities don’t belong there, Roberts said.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Desiree Cook-Calvin pledges ‘holistic’ approach if elected Juvenile Court judge
She would employ drug and mental-health counseling, parenting classes, and she’d make sure sentences are appropriate.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Jacqueline Carroll-Gilds says background as lawyer, registered nurse prepared her for Juvenile Court bench
She ran a mental-health agency for troubled youth for 11 years.
Posted inCriminal Justice
A decade after reforms ordered, critics point to problems in juvenile-justice system
Louisiana’s juvenile justice system was revamped to deal with violence and negligence. Rather than locking kids up, the state tries to treat underlying behavioral issues. But some say the new facilities, many of which are private, have the same problems as youth prisons.