‘The needs are urgent’: Sheriff-elect Hutson pledges compliance with jail consent decree, seeks long-term operating agreement with city
The sheriff-elect praised the City Council over its opposition to a controversial new jail facility.
Category
Criminal Justice
Asking why and how, and what needs to be done.
Council members, sheriff-elect say they will oppose new jail building in federal appeals court
A proposed council resolution calls for an amicus brief against Phase III. It also suggests that the council may not vote to approve an alternative plan, saying the vote is not necessary.
Louisiana State Police used surveillance drones at George Floyd protests in New Orleans and Baton Rouge
A New Orleans surveillance watchdog group calls the deployment of drones over protests a misuse of technology.
DA’s office asks for bigger budget for criminal investigations, prosecutions
Williams wants $1.3 million for more prosecutors, a full-time embed at the city surveillance hub and other priorities.
Reported COVID cases in Louisiana prisons more than double in a week
Cases among prison staff are also up. The spike follows major increases in the general state, national population due to the omicron variant.
Mental health care at state prison is ‘insufficient, and almost non-existent,’ expert testifies in federal civil rights trial
The case, filed in 2018, is in its second week of trial.
Significant COVID-19 outbreaks reported at New Orleans jail, Louisiana state prisons
Nearly 100 detainees at the jail are reported to be positive, and more than 400 at state prisons.
In first day of civil rights trial, former David Wade prisoners describe years of solitary confinement, filthy living areas and poor mental health care
Civil rights groups filed the federal class-action suit nearly four years ago. The trial finally began this week.
Bobby Sneed set free after months-long fight with state parole board
The former Angola prisoner sued the board in state and federal court after members stripped his release last year.
NOPD announces it will no longer issue citations for simple possession of marijuana, months after council pardon ordinance
The New Orleans City Council passed a law last year requiring automatic pardons for possession of small amounts of marijuana.
