Though they once applauded the jail’s ambitious, federally overseen reforms, community groups and political leaders in New Orleans united in opposition to a key mandate stemming from those efforts: the construction of a $109 million mental health jail.
Some activists worry that the daytime state task force hearings in Baton Rouge on the issue are missing important voices from affected Black communities
In the same week, a judge again barred the parish from making the Greenfield Property industrial. And parish-council critic Joy Banner filed a First Amendment lawsuit.
At a meeting, community members raise questions about the police department's newest surveillance technology.
Banner planned to ask the council why they were retaining a lawyer to defend its president from personal ethical concerns. But she was interrupted by the council chairman, who cited an invalidated statute and warned her that, if she spoke, she could face criminal prosecution.
