New Orleans DA Candidate Allowed Race-Based Jury Selection In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Keva Landrum violated the Constitution when, as a judge, she permitted nearly a dozen Black people to be struck from serving on a jury in a high-profile murder case. Jerry Iannelli
New Orleans Judge Steered People to Wear Ankle Monitors From Company Run by Campaign Donors, Lawsuit Says Judge Paul Bonin improperly required people who appeared in his courtroom to purchase ankle monitors from a private company run by one of his former law partners, a lawsuit says. Ko Bragg
Major County Jails Are Decarcerating, But Violence, Deaths Persist Jails in New Orleans and Cleveland have had significant population drops, yet conditions of confinement remain poor. Communities harmed by these jails should experiment with new accountability measures to maintain political pressure against jail administrators. Jonathan Ben-Menachem
Should a Prosecutor’s Immunity Cover Faking Documents to Lock Up Witnesses? A lawsuit alleges Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office created bogus "subpoenas" to secure reluctant witnesses' cooperation—and even used them to jail crime victims. Jay Willis
In New Orleans, Drug Testing Is Imposed More Frequently on People Released Without Money Bail People freed from jail on their own recognizance miss more court appearances because of disproportionate conditions placed on their release, a new study suggests. Joshua Vaughn
New Orleans Public Defenders Punished For Locating Key Witness The attorneys said they did nothing wrong by finding a victim in a rape case who had disappeared, but a judge accused them of making her unavailable. Joshua Vaughn
Tech Company Gave Two New Orleans-Area Sheriff’s Offices Access to Track Cell Phones Without Warrants Neither agency had written policies on how to capture or store the location data without violating privacy rights. Emily Lane
New Orleans Advocates Oppose Jail Expansion Plan Ahead of Public Hearing Increasing the city’s jail capacity will lead to higher incarceration rates, advocates say. Lauren Gill
New Orleans Youth Crime: The Epidemic That Wasn’t In rhetoric reminiscent of the ‘superpredator‘ scare of the 1990s, the New Orleans District Attorney warned of ‘a brazen population of delinquent teens.‘ But advocates and crime analysts alike say the data doesn't support his fearmongering claims about kids and crime. Mike Hayes
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
Notorious Jailhouse Informant Case Resurfaces as New Orleans D.A. Race Nears DA Leon Cannizzarro used jailhouse informant Ronnie Morgan to convict a man in the killing of five teenagers, but the case was overturned. Now, Morgan is petitioning for a prison transfer, reviving the murder case. Lauren Gill
Louisiana Bill Could Jail Defense Attorneys for Doing Their Jobs ‘The bill forces attorneys to choose between violating our ethical mandates or going to jail for following them.’ Kira Lerner
