Jacklean Davis Was The First Black Woman To Serve As a Homicide Detective in New Orleans. Did A Now Disbarred Prosecutor Bring About Her Fall? In the 1990s, Davis was a policing superstar, hailed as the best crime solver the Crescent City had ever seen. But a dispute over a paid detail at a festival turned into a major federal case against her, brought by a prosecutor involved whose conduct in other cases was called ‘grotesque.’ Ethan Brown
Lessons from Hurricane Katrina For The COVID-19 Recovery To Come Powerful interests exploited Katrina to enrich themselves and transform the city. As a reporter who covered the fallout explains, our government’s lax oversight means the same could happen now, leaving those who most need help behind. Gary Rivlin
Longtime Louisiana Prisoner Who Maintained Her Innocence Dies Less Than Two Years After Her Release The poor healthcare that Bobbie Jean Johnson received during her more than 40 years in prison contributed to her death, family members say. Roxanna Asgarian
Arrested for Shoplifting and Dead 2 Days Later A lawsuit filed by Kentrell Hurst’s children is the latest against New Orleans Sheriff Marlin Gusman over jail conditions. Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
New Orleans Police Appear to Use Surveillance to Initiate Investigations City officials say its vast network of cameras are simply a tool when responding to 911 calls and complaints of criminal activity. But several cases suggest the system serves an additional purpose. Mike Hayes
New Orleans’s Youth Jail Faces Overcrowding Crisis as D.A. Targets Kids The Orleans district attorney has said that violent youth are the city’s biggest crime problem. Kira Lerner
Louisiana Strip Club Dancers Fear More Crackdowns as ‘Anti-Trafficking’ Law Goes Into Effect A ban on dancers under 21 raises questions on the growing role of the state's Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control in policing clubs. Melissa Gira Grant
In ‘Anti-Trafficking’ New Orleans Strip Club Raids, Police Make No Trafficking Arrests Melissa Gira Grant
Broken Covenant: A Homeless Youth Organization’s Assault on Trafficking Is Making Women More Vulnerable Melissa Gira Grant
Trafficking In Vagaries: How A Times Picayune Series That Found Only “trafficking opportunity” In Strip Clubs Paved The Way For A Bourbon Street Crackdown Melissa Gira Grant