Author: Katy Reckdahl
- About Katy Reckdahl
- Katy Reckdahl is The Lens’ editor. Reckdahl was a staff reporter for The Times-Picayune and the alt-weekly Gambit before spending a decade as a freelancer, writing frequently for the New Orleans Advocate | Times-Picayune, The New York Times and the Washington Post.
‘The car never started.’
Calvin Cains III was killed in early June by a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputies who said they used lethal force to prevent Cains from running them over. But two key witnesses dispute that account, saying that Cains had just gotten into the car and may had not have even turned the key.
Revell Andrews, Picture of Potential
‘No time for him to do anything’
Eighteen-year-old Calvin Cains III was killed by JPSO deputies on Tuesday in front of his mother, who says deputies didn't announce themselves or give him a chance to surrender.
Back to ‘the lion’s den’ – violence interrupters to re-start street gun-violence interventions, as city partners with University Medical Center
The city’s proposed new contract with UMC -- which goes before the City Council on Thursday -- summarizes its purpose very simply: “New Orleans faces a severe epidemic of gun violence. Hospital-based violence-interruption programs are evidence-based interventions that can reduce shootings and preserve health and life.”
Requiem for a Big Man Gone
Drug-related deaths at Angola prompted strip searches, but who is bringing in contraband?
Henry Montgomery case raises a question: Are parole boards following Supreme Court guidelines?
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled two years ago that Henry Montgomery, serving a life sentence for killing a sheriff's deputy, should get a parole hearing. Monday, a board denied his release. Advocates for juvenile convicts say parole boards around the country aren't giving enough weight to the Supreme Court's directive that children who commit heinous crimes are capable of change.
A vital port for the nation’s oil and gas industry is on its way to becoming an island.
Nearly 20 percent of the nation's oil and gas passes through Port Fourchon, accessible only by a battered, two-lane road. With the Gulf of Mexico rising and wetlands crumbling, it's on the way to becoming an island.
Just-passed bill gives juvenile lifers a chance at parole if they’ve served 25 years
But prosecutors can oppose parole eligibility if they believe the defendant is irredeemable.