The volunteer non-profit organization Court Watch Nola issued its annual report today, highlighting a rise in court delays that plagued the Orleans Criminal District Court in 2011 and have continued into this year. The report, compiled by volunteers from 3,000 separate court-date observations, found that two-thirds of defendants had to come back to court another […]
Author Archives: Tom Gogola
Tom Gogola covered criminal justice for The Lens from February 2012 to May 2013. He is a veteran journalist and editor who has written on a range of subjects for many publications, including Newsday, New York, The Nation, and Maxim. Gogola was a 2011 winner of the Hillman Foundation Sidney Award, for his groundbreaking report in New York magazine detailing regulatory waste in the commercial fishing industry.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Judge makes city a defendant with sheriff in federal lawsuit
A federal judge made the city of New Orleans a defendant today in a lawsuit that seeks to force Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman to bring his jails into compliance with the U.S. Constitution. In court papers filed this morning in U.S. District Court, attorneys for Gusman said he was “making this claim against [the city] […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Sheriff asking to make the city a co-defendant in prison lawsuit
Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman is trying to spread anticipated financial pain at his jail complex to Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration. Gusman’s attorneys filed papers Friday with U.S. District Judge Lance Africk seeking to include the city as a third-party defendant in an ongoing lawsuit alleging that Gusman has been running an unconstitutional, unsafe jail […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Feds allowed to join lawsuit against OPP; agreement expected
An empty guard tower stands over part of Old Parish Prison, part of the prison-jail complex. Photo by Tom Gogola A federal judge today allowed the U.S. Department of Justice to join a lawsuit against Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman, a necessary step toward a likely consent decree that will govern reforms at the sheriff’s […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics, Investigations
City cancels plans for Super Bowl drone despite enthusiasm and interest from NOPD, others
A month after The Lens began asking questions about city officials’ plans to use a U.S. Homeland Security Department aerial drone to monitor Super Bowl crowds, a spokesman for Mayor Mitch Landrieu said today that the city is scrapping those plans. Spokesman Ryan Berni offered no reason for dropping the eye-in-the-sky technology, telling a reporter […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Former jailer to be sentenced for role in suicide at Orleans prison
A former Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy will be sentenced in Criminal Court Friday for his role in the 2011 suicide of William “Bill” Goetzee in Orleans Parish Prison. William Thompson will appear in Chief Judge Camille Buras’ Criminal District courtroom for sentencing on a felony charge of malfeasance in office. Thompson pleaded “guilty as […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Is mayor's office dragging its feet over jailhouse consent decree?
As Hurricane Isaac was making its way across the Gulf of Mexico two weeks ago, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman was meeting in New Orleans with officials from the U.S. Department of Justice to work on a long anticipated consent decree to remedy unconstitutional conditions at the city jail complex. But Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Nearly half of OPP inmates are shipped out or released
As Tropical Storm Isaac churns up the Gulf of Mexico, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman said today that he shipped nearly half the prisoners held at Orleans Parish Prison to state facilities around Louisiana. In a statement, Gusman said he had moved 1,037 prisoners overnight from FEMA-built jails built in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Crime chief proposing more money for pretrial screening
New Orleans’ criminal justice commissioner said Wednesday he wants to more than triple the city money provided to the Vera Institute for Justice’s pretrial services program at Orleans Parish Prison. The program is designed to help assess the flight risk and danger to the community that an arrestee poses. The organization’s recommendation is forwarded to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Justice Dept. says getting groups involved will slow consent decree
Four organizations seeking greater involvement in the implementation of the recently signed federal consent decree regarding the New Orleans Police Department took their case to U.S. District Court today. In a courtroom packed with criminal-justice advocates, the Police Association of New Orleans, the Fraternal Order of Police, Community United for Change and the Office of […]