
Category: Criminal Justice


Behind the Lens Episode 204: ‘Some of the most shocking things we heard about were medical and mental health care’
Our guests this week are reporter Nick Chrastil on what deficiencies monitors found at the Orleans Parish Jail and reporter Marta Jewson on racial diversity in the city's charter school system.

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.

Louisiana leads nation in percentage of people in adult prisons for crimes they committed as kids

After 23 years in prison for killing her abuser, she hopes no one in Louisiana has to do that again

A Louisiana lawmaker wants mandatory life without parole sentence for fentanyl distribution

Sheriff turns over information related to questionable uses of force

Orleans Parish Sheriff Hutson withholding investigative records related several ‘serious’ uses of force on mental health tier

Drug-related deaths at Angola prompted strip searches, but who is bringing in contraband?

In Linda Frickey case, DA Williams using controversial legal doctrine to seek life sentences for 4 teens
The decision by District Attorney Jason William to charge the teens as adults was controversial, if not surprising. During his campaign for DA, Williams promised to keep all cases involving kids in juvenile court, and frequently cited research on youth brain development that indicates kids are more susceptible to peer pressure, more likely to engage in risky behavior, and less likely to consider the consequences of that behavior.