The advocates who wrote this report accuse Gov. Bobby Jindal of breaking his pledge to improve juvenile justice. Advocates for young people slipping into the clutches of the criminal justice system took to the steps of the statehouse today and called on Governor Bobby Jindal to stop “backsliding” on his commitment to reform the state’s […]
Category: Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
Last inmate leaves facility; new pretrial program ends 1st week
By Tom Gogola, The Lens staff writer | It was the eve of National Lemonade Day in the state of Louisiana – and the day that the notorious Orleans Parish Prison House of Detention was emptied of its last prisoners. Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman invited reporters to the corner of Perdido and South Dupre […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Public Defender, sheriff resolve lawsuit over attorney visits
By Tom Gogola, The Lens staff writer | The Orleans Parish Public Defender’s Office and the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office resolved a lawsuit Thursday with a deal designed to end persistent complaints about a lack of attorney-client privacy at the Orleans Parish Prison. Following a private meeting with lawyers Thursday morning, Civil District Court Judge […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Judge tells sheriff, public defenders to negotiate solution to privacy complaint
Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman’s attorneys were told to work with the Public Defender’s Office to find a solution to complaints over attorney-client privacy. Photo by Tom Gogola Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman’s attorneys were told to work with the Public Defender’s Office to find a solution to complaints over attorney-client privacy. Photo by Tom […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
One OPP escapee still being sought after slipping under fence Saturday night
By Tom Gogola, The Lens staff writer | One of two inmates who escaped from Orleans Parish Prison Saturday is back in custody, though authorities were still searching for the other earlier today, the Sheriff’s Office said. Sherrick Brumfield, 27, who was awaiting trial on second degree battery charges, remains free. Reginald Young, 22, was […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
City Council seeks to expand CeaseFire to include more social-outreach services
By Tom Gogola, The Lens staff writer | New Orleans Crime Commissioner James Carter was called before the City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee Wednesday to talk about the implementation of the city’s new CeaseFire initiative in crime-ridden Central City. He didn’t have much to talk about because the program is just getting underway, so lawmakers […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
NOAH contractor changes plea to guilty; stole post-Katrina federal funds for blight removal
Yes, but was the work actually performed? By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | Appearing Thursday in federal court before Judge Nannette Jolivette-Brown, former New Orleans Affordable Homeownership contractor Earl Myers changed his plea from not guilty to guilty of conspiring to commit theft of federal funds. Until the city agency was shut down […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Gusman closes House of Detention
Surrounded by deputies, Orleans Parish Sherriff Marlin Gusman announced today that he is closing the Orleans Parish Prison House of Detention facility on Perdido Street. He said the move is based in part on “the mounting criticisms” and the “inspections by the federal people.”
Posted inCriminal Justice
The Lens honored for reporting on medication of juvenile inmates across state facilities
By Maggie Calmes, The Lens staff writer | The Lens criminal justice reporter Matt Davis returned last week to his hometown of Croydon, South London – but not before receiving laurels from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Davis received a 2011 Prevention for a Safer Society Award from the organization for his story […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Sheriff finds job for chief judge's wife despite lack of appraisal experience
Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman hired the wife of Municipal Court Chief Judge Paul Sens as a real-estate appraiser about the same time the judge hired Gusman’s wife.