Project Justice NOLA
Date: Fri, Mar. 12, 2010
Baptist Community Ministries, 400 Poydras Street, Suite 2950, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
WEBSITE HELPS NEW ORLEANS VOTERS TRACK CANDIDATE COMMITMENT TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE CHANGE
Media Contacts: Paula Pendarvis, Marcia Kavanaugh (985) 641-5960
NEW ORLEANS, La (February 4, 2010) - The views of candidates for New Orleans Mayor and Council who attended a Criminal Justice Leadership Seminar are available on the website www.projectjusticenola.org as a tool to help voters measure candidates' commitment to continuing reform efforts underway since 2007 to improve the city's criminal justice system. In October 2007, all major stakeholders in the system signed a "Statement of Commitment" forming the Criminal Justice Leadership Alliance and agreeing to launch the initiatives recommended by the Vera Institute of Justice in its "Proposals for New Orleans's Criminal Justice System."
New Orleans City Council Criminal Justice Committee Chair James Carter, Baptist Community Ministries, and Vera invited major candidates for Mayor and Council to a three-hour non-public learning session held January 28th. Candidates who attended or sent staff members to represent them answered questions about moving forward with initiatives to reinvent criminal justice in New Orleans.
Among findings presented to candidates attending the Criminal Justice Leadership Seminar:
-The arrest rate in New Orleans is more than 3 times the national average. -The detention rate in New Orleans is more than 4 times the national average.
-The violent crime rate in New Orleans is more than twice the national average.
-Only 3 percent of arrests in New Orleans are for violent felonies. 51 percent are for misdemeanor, municipal, or traffic offenses.
-New Orleans spends $147 million, nearly one-third of its budget, on criminal justice.
Candidates learned of the progress of criminal justice initiatives begun in 2007 to:
-Refocus resources on addressing violent crime and less on minor offenses.
-Reduce arrest and jail detention rates.
-Expedite the processes from arrest to the prosecutorial charging decision and arraignment in court.
-Modernize practices in the Criminal District Court, including by establishing an allotment system that allows for vertical prosecution and continuity of defense representation. 2
-Refocus Municipal Court to address the underlying problems of persons who commit minor offenses and to rely less on jail and other punishment.
-Create a pretrial release/pretrial services system in the jurisdiction.
Candidates were asked to support these ongoing initiatives and to consider recommendations to:
-Change the City budget process by requiring uniform budget requests by criminal justice agencies receiving city funding and budgeting based on outcomes.
-Create a criminal justice agency to bring about real change and improve public safety.
City Council Criminal Justice Chair Carter said he is excited about the progress. "With Vera's technical assistance, the Criminal Justice Leadership Alliance has expedited the charging process and reduced the number of days between arrest and arraignment from 60 to 7.5," Carter said. "The data-driven approach used by Vera is an excellent example of how the City should use budgeting for outcomes. The City's new leadership should ensure that taxpayer money is spent on those practices that yield this kind of return." Jon Wool, Director of Vera's New Orleans office, said many of the candidates expressed enthusiasm to work on new initiatives to continue the improvement. "The candidates were hearteningly receptive to the idea that we, in fact, have the tools in place to respond to the present opportunity to reinvent criminal justice in New Orleans," said Wool. "Although this is an area in which it is difficult to bring about change, the Criminal Justice Leadership Alliance, working with the leaders of the city's key criminal justice agencies, has proven to be an effective platform from which to develop and implement reforms that promote public safety while bringing greater efficiency and justice to the system."
Baptist Community Ministries introduced the website of Project Justice NOLA prior to the 2008 Orleans Parish District Attorney and Criminal Court Judge elections and has re-launched the site for the current election cycle. After the 2010 citywide elections, Luceia LeDoux, BCM Program Director for Public Safety and Governmental Oversight plans to utilize the site to track the new leadership's involvement in criminal justice change. "BCM has funded many projects intended to improve criminal justice outcomes. Looking back on those investments and today's results we recognize the need to more closely track over time the impact of our resources. The site will be a tool to help us share our findings, new knowledge and ideas with community partners," LeDoux stated.
News media outlets and community groups are encouraged to link projectjusticenola.org to their own websites. To arrange interviews with Councilman Carter, Mr. Wool, or Ms. LeDoux, or for more information on Project Justice NOLA, contact Paula Pendarvis or Marcia Kavanaugh at (985) 641-5960 or (901) 262-9144.
