New Orleans’ criminal justice commissioner said Wednesday he wants to more than triple the city money provided to the Vera Institute for Justice’s pretrial services program at Orleans Parish Prison. The program is designed to help assess the flight risk and danger to the community that an arrestee poses. The organization’s recommendation is forwarded to […]
Category: Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
Justice Dept. says getting groups involved will slow consent decree
Four organizations seeking greater involvement in the implementation of the recently signed federal consent decree regarding the New Orleans Police Department took their case to U.S. District Court today. In a courtroom packed with criminal-justice advocates, the Police Association of New Orleans, the Fraternal Order of Police, Community United for Change and the Office of […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Sheriff, council, administration want to change OPP financing
New Orleans officials have been diligently working behind the scenes to end for next year the Orleans Parish Sheriff Office’s longtime per-prisoner budgeting system, and several said publicly this week that they’re optimistic a change is at hand. But before they can work on the 2013 budget, Sheriff Marlin Gusman said he needs more money […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
City adviser: Orleans Parish Prison likely will need more beds
The prisoner projections don’t bode well for criminal-justice activists intent on holding city officials to their earlier cap of 1,438 beds in the Orleans Parish Prison complex. That was the message from prison expert James Austin on Monday during a rare meeting of the Mayor’s Working Group on Criminal Justice at City Hall. The afternoon […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Mayoral panel studying OPP size to get new projections Monday
Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s Criminal Justice Working Group will meet Monday at City Hall for the first time since Oct. 19. The meeting will feature testimony from James Austin, President of the JFA Institute, a national prison-research think tank that has been advising city leaders about prison issues since 2010. The meeting is scheduled for 1:30 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
How much does a jail-happy society owe its exonerees?
Exoneree John Thompson, of New Orleans, was awarded millions in compensation for wrongful incarceration but has been unable to collect. How much would you need to be paid to spend 25 years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola? It’s just a thought experiment. I’m not putting any money on the table. And if I […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
DA: Shifting misdemeanors helped justice if not budgets
Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro on Wednesday defended his decision last year to shift the prosecution of misdemeanor charges from criminal to municipal court, saying it has allowed his office to focus on more serious cases. That move has created budgetary concerns for Councilwoman Susan Guidry, a co-chairwoman of the City Council’s Criminal Justice […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Day after critical report from IG, criticized judge takes time off
It was a bustling morning in Judge Paul Sens’ courtroom at the New Orleans Municipal Court building on Broad Street. A batch of inmates in orange jumpsuits was present, as were lawyers, court clerks and security officers. But it was Judge Mark Shea sitting on the bench where Sens should have been. A New Orleans […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
IG says Muni Court hired judge's relatives, building "dynasty"
Family members of Municipal Court Judge Paul Sens have earned more than $1.2 million working at the court since 2010, according to a public letter released today by New Orleans Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux. Quatrevaux reported that 18 Sens family members have worked at the court since 2000, including seven present employees working in a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
NOPD has federal oversight; sheriff next? Holder won't say
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder offered a curiously nonresponsive answer to the question that was on many people’s mind Tuesday afternoon: Now that the New Orleans Police Department’s consent decree with the federal government has been finalized, is the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office next? Holder was joined by city officials, federal agents and police brass […]