Category
Criminal Justice
Asking why and how, and what needs to be done.
Council members question whether the city is holding too many teens in the adult jail
There are currently 17 teenagers — ranging in age from 15 to 17 — being held in the juvenile wing of the adult Orleans Justice Center, even though there are 18 open beds at the juvenile facility.
State Supreme Court updates standards for drug courts throughout the state to require confirmation testing
New Orleans court does not currently offer confirmation testing, which may lead to punishment based on false positives
Advocates take their case for ending cash bail in New Orleans to the City Council
Council members appear supportive of the plan, proposed by the Vera Institute for Justice last month. But a prominent crime watchdog group and the Orleans DA have criticized jail population reduction efforts.
Police found surveillance cameras with NOPD logos mounted to a Lakeview light pole. They weren’t the city’s. But they were near a house connected to a city crime-camera contractor.
Active Solutions COO Jeff Burkhardt denied that he purchased or owned the cameras, calling a reporter’s questions “fake news.” Less than 24 hours after The Lens called him, the cameras were gone.
Legal agreement in federal bail suit will require New Orleans judge to consider alternatives to detention, whether defendants can pay
The agreement comes after a two-year civil rights lawsuit against Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell over how he was setting bail.
It’s time to abolish money bail and conviction fees in New Orleans courts
How New Orleans' system of financing courts feeds on the poor.
Vera Institute of Justice proposes plan for ending cash bail, conviction fees in New Orleans
Only highest-risk defendants would be jailed under the plan. Judges would impose $1 bail for crimes that require cash bail under state law. The group says the proposal would save the city millions in funding for the jail.
Juvenile defendants transferred to adult jail as advocates balk at Cantrell’s new approach
Over the past month, The Mayor, District Attorney, and Juvenile Court Judges have all introduced and advocated for policies that child advocates fear will increase detention for New Orleans juveniles.
A year later, progress continues on Cantrell program to ID ‘high-risk’ residents, but few details available
Civil rights activists say they’re concerned over lack of transparency and a potential return to ‘predictive policing’ methods.
