The bills would roll back landmark reforms passed during Edwards’ administration, advocates say
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
Weeks before projected groundbreaking, Sheriff Susan Hutson files motion in federal court to stop construction of controversial Phase III jail building
City officials are mostly united in their opposition to building the new 89-mental health facility, which is slated to cost $109 million.
Posted inCriminal Justice
City Council delays proposed $21 million contract extension for Wellpath, controversial jail healthcare provider
Though the city proposed a year extension for Wellpath, whose contract lapsed in May, the Council deferred approval. Councilwoman Helena Moreno is pushing for a full committee hearing to assess the company’s performance.
Posted inCriminal Justice
State Supreme Court declines to take up case about Louisiana kids jailed out-of-state
The state’s highest court refuses opportunity to resolve long-standing dispute about whether shipping detained kids out of state violates Louisiana law.
Posted inCriminal Justice
City rolls out non-police 911 mental-health response
People experiencing a mental-health crisis could be more frequently stabilized and treated, not arrested.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Neighborhood security stopped 3 young Black males; A federal judge is weighing a lawsuit over it
Lawyers representing police officers who are accused of racially profiling and pulling guns on several young Black males who were searching for a lost dog argued in federal court Wednesday that the officers didn’t violate the constitution and are entitled to qualified immunity from the civil rights claims. The case, brought as part of the […]
Posted inNews
Orleans jail monitors disclose for first time issues found under Hutson’s leadership
Monitors tasked with overseeing the New Orleans jail and tracking its compliance with the long-running federal consent decree said staff falsified suicide-watch documentation, rubber-stamped investigations to justify uses of force, and that the facility is dangerously understaffed.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Louisiana leads nation in percentage of people in adult prisons for crimes they committed as kids
A new report by the national non-profit Human Rights for Kids has found that the degree to which the United States punishes crimes committed by kids is far out of line with international standards, calling the mass incarceration of children as adults “one of the largest government-sanctioned human rights abuses against children in the world […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
A Louisiana lawmaker wants mandatory life without parole sentence for fentanyl distribution
A measure that would add a conviction for fentanyl distribution to the short list of crimes punishable by a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole is being backed by Louisiana prosecutors as a response to the opioid epidemic in the state, while advocates warn that the harsh sentence will throw people away for […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Sheriff turns over information related to questionable uses of force
After weeks of delay, civil rights attorneys representing people locked up in the New Orleans jail are now satisfied that the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office has turned over all the records they have related to several questionable uses of force at the facility earlier this year. But they say many investigative records they requested that […]