New Orleans court does not currently offer confirmation testing, which may lead to punishment based on false positives
Author Archives: Nick Chrastil
Nicholas Chrastil covers criminal justice for The Lens. As a freelancer, his work has appeared in Slate, Undark, Mother Jones, and the Atavist, among other outlets. Chrastil has a master's degree in mass communication from Louisiana State University, where his research focused on New Orleans' newspapers during the Reconstruction era. During his time at LSU, he also covered the Louisiana state legislature as part of the Manship Statehouse Bureau. He is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Advocates take their case for ending cash bail in New Orleans to the City Council
Council members appear supportive of the plan, proposed by the Vera Institute for Justice last month. But a prominent crime watchdog group and the Orleans DA have criticized jail population reduction efforts.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Legal agreement in federal bail suit will require New Orleans judge to consider alternatives to detention, whether defendants can pay
The agreement comes after a two-year civil rights lawsuit against Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell over how he was setting bail.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Vera Institute of Justice proposes plan for ending cash bail, conviction fees in New Orleans
Only highest-risk defendants would be jailed under the plan. Judges would impose $1 bail for crimes that require cash bail under state law. The group says the proposal would save the city millions in funding for the jail.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Report: New Orleans criminal court drug testing methods unconfirmed, may lead to false positives
At least 59 people were jailed for contempt in 2018 based on questionable drug tests, watchdog group says.
Posted inCriminal Justice
‘Who’s going to be smarter on crime?’ A look ahead at the 2020 DA’s race
The themes of what could be a tough election in 2020 may have already started to emerge. Councilman Jason Williams has criticized DA Cannizzaro’s hardball tactics. Cannizzaro has taken on a tough-on-crime message.