Monitors tasked with overseeing the New Orleans jail and tracking its compliance with the long-running federal consent decree said staff falsified suicide-watch documentation, rubber-stamped investigations to justify uses of force, and that the facility is dangerously understaffed.
Tag: Orleans Parish jail conditions
Posted inCriminal Justice
Orleans Parish Sheriff Hutson withholding investigative records related several ‘serious’ uses of force on mental health tier
In late January, a sergeant working in the New Orleans jail called for backup because a detainee, who was housed on a tier reserved for people with mental health needs, had a broomstick in his cell. When three deputies arrived, they found the cell window covered in feces and “a large amount of unknown liquid […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Orleans Parish sheriff candidates spar over jail conditions, size and funding
Sheriff Marlin Gusman said vulnerable inmates are not being placed with violent offenders.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Live blog Monday: Sheriff’s budget under review at consent decree hearing
The hearing is a step toward figuring out who should pay to improve jail conditions.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lacking jail budget documents, judge delays consent decree hearing
Monday’s hearing was supposed to be the first step to determine who would pay for jail reforms.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Live blog: Gusman’s budget under scrutiny at OPP consent decree hearing
Now that a judge has ruled that jail conditions are unconstitutional, the question is how to pay for it.
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.”