Gusman signs off on plan to use existing property tax to run Orleans Parish Prison
$5 million a year could be used to pay for jail costs if voters approve the change.
Category
Criminal Justice
Asking why and how, and what needs to be done.
Right and left partnered in fight to reduce incarceration, but sheriffs killed most bills
One bill that failed would have reduced marijuana possession to a misdemeanor.
Report: Police Department lacks policies on use of force, sexual assault reporting
We highlighted important passages in the report.
Court monitor says Gusman is behind schedule on jail reforms
His office has missed deadlines for 62 of 65 requirements outlined in court documents.
Bill that would hide sources of lethal-injection drugs now heads to Senate floor
Lens Editor Steve Beatty said the bill would hinder accountability. A committee approved it.
Live webcast: Charles Maldonado discusses NOPD, OPP consent decrees
Watch live here at 8 p.m. Thursday after WYES broadcasts a documentary examining the consent decrees.
Fact check: Drop in New Orleans homicides not as simple as Landrieu portrays
The mayor cited raw figures on one hand and the homicide rate on the other.
Execution of child-killer delayed six months after botched lethal injections elsewhere
The stay of execution is related to a delay in a trial on the constitutionality of the state’s lethal-injection method.
State failed to turn over key public records about execution drugs
The Lens tried unsuccessfully for a year to determine when the state's lethal-injection drugs were due to expire, but prison officials repeatedly said they had no public records that showed such a date. Recently acquired documents show the state in fact had emails, letters and other records that reveal that information and more.
Louisiana execution method calls for same drug used in botched Oklahoma execution
Tuesday night, an inmate in Oklahoma reportedly writhed on a gurney after being declared unconscious. Louisiana’s execution method would use the same sedative, but in a much lower dosage. Death-penalty opponents say such a low dosage may not prevent suffering.
