Update: The public isn’t entitled to see all the applicants for the next police superintendent, and Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu’s transition team screening the applicants isn’t a public body or subject to public records law, its leader said today. Xavier University president Norman Francis took these positions at a press conference to address the resignation of […]
Category: Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
Go big or go home!
On Thursday, the top civil rights prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General Tommy Perez, came to New Orleans and basically said what we all already knew: * The NOPD is a mess * The NOPD has drawn just about the most scrutiny in the country * The NOPD has shown little […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Federal consent decrees have reformed police departments
The FBI has confirmed seven separate civil rights investigations into unjust NOPD conduct. Seven. It is a situation so shameful and so infuriating it is becoming difficult to find new ways to condemn it. Any officers responsible for acts of brutality should be punished and I hope that, finally, they will. You could simply isolate […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Not a good week for cop
Today, another NOPD investigator was charged in the alleged conspiracy to cover up the killings on Danziger Bridge. Jeffrey Lehrmann also just happened to have been the lead investigator of the 2006 Central City massacre, a quintuple killing for which Michael Anderson was convicted and sentenced to death. Earlier this week, Judge Lynda Van Davis […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Jordan not exonerated just because Anderson might be; Cannizzaro won’t yield
Earlier today, Criminal District Court Judge Lynda Van Davis ordered a new trial for Michael Anderson, accused of a 2006 quintuple homicide in Central City that resulted in the deployment of the National Guard. Anderson had been sentenced to death last year but Van Davis ruled that District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office erred in failing […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
‘Misplaced’ videotape matches defense team narrative
This week, I took in the sights and sounds at convicted killer Michael Anderson’s motion for a new trial. Anderson is sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of five teens in Central City. The massacre resulted in national headlines, local outrage, the deployment of the national guard, and, ultimately, the downfall of former District […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
“Credibility” is not just a BS political hurdle
In the wake of the most disturbing police coverup conspiracy I’ve ever seen, I questioned whether a local candidate for our next police superintendent, a veteran of this broken NOPD, would be considered a credible leader for the force. Commenter jeffrey responded to the post: Do we want a police department that works in the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
New evidence should mean new trial, says man convicted in 2006 Central City masscre
Before sunrise on June 17, 2006, five young New Orleanians were gunned down in an SUV at Josephine and Danneel streets in what was dubbed the Central City massacre. News of the killings rocked the community and made headlines around the country. The reaction of local elected officials was swift and extreme. Within days, Mayor […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Video: Soros Discusses Criminal Justice
Immediately upon sitting down with The Lens, George Soros immediately raised concerns about people trafficked in from overseas to work for Gulf Coast companies under draconian conditions, and then criminally detained for organizing and complaining about those conditions. He later lamented the amount of money spent on sending young students to courts and prisons, creating, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Billionaire George Soros Increasing Involvement in New Orleans
Philanthropist and Open Society Institute Chairman George Soros Billionaire philanthropist George Soros arrived in New Orleans Tuesday to survey the progress of his foundation’s social investments, and after being in the city for less than 24 hours, he said he intends to increase his involvement in post-Katrina recovery efforts. Such expansion of giving comes at […]