Nearly 1,000 Louisiana prisoners, including a Jefferson Parish man convicted by an 11-1 jury verdict, hope for relief in a non-unanimous jury bill that could hit the Senate floor on Wednesday.
Category: Criminal Justice
Posted inOpinion
Does the Louisiana Legislature represent us, or should we find someone else?
Last week, the state Senate Judiciary committee passed SB 74, a bill that would automatically funnel all arrested 15- and 16-year-olds into the adult court system. Yet, as Sarah Omojola notes, every single senator on that committee comes from a district that recently voted down Amendment 3.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Screen Time
Disciplinary incidents dropped sharply within the Orleans Justice Center with the advent of electronic tablets, which stay on for 17 hours a day, bringing those in the jail new options — movies, music, videogames, and e-messages — all of which are tied to new charges — 50 cents for an e-message and about a penny a minute for streaming content.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Angola’s Farm Line again asks judge for consistent shade and water
While prison officials and Farm Line workers disagree about whether the incarcerated workers have all the shade and water they need, Farm Line workers are asking the judge to reverse DOC’s recent policy changes, which make field work even more dangerous in Louisiana’s summer heat, they contend.
Posted inCriminal Justice
As summer nears, Angola Farm Line workers again demand more protections against heat
Since prisoners challenged conditions on the Farm Line, state officials have implemented policies making them even worse, lawyers contend.
Posted inOperating Capital - Executions in Louisiana
Dark Resurrection
Prisoners come to terms with the return of capital punishment in Louisiana.
Posted inOperating Capital - Executions in Louisiana
Explaining Jessie Hoffman
People still say, ‘That’s not the Jessie I knew.’ But most didn’t know what he endured at home – and that’s likely what drove him on that day, psychiatrists say.
Posted inOperating Capital - Executions in Louisiana
Who gets hurt by an execution?
Beyond the condemned, I’ve seen the harm done to family members, victims, prison guards, and even jurors. There may be too many people harmed by executions for Louisiana to bear. We don’t need this. Execution is not the solution.
Posted inOperating Capital - Executions in Louisiana
The doctor defending Louisiana’s controversial execution method
Dr. Joseph Antognini travels across the nation, being paid over $500 an hour by government officials who rely on him to vouch for their execution protocols.
Posted inOperating Capital - Executions in Louisiana
Firing up the chamber of death
THIS IS PART OF “OPERATING CAPITAL,” AN ONGOING LENS DISCUSSION ABOUT LOUISIANA’S RESUMPTION OF EXECUTIONS. Why do we kill people who may have killed people to show that killing people is wrong? It is important to keep the word “may” in there, because a shocking number of innocent people face execution. Over the last 30 […]