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MacArthur Justice Center’s Statement on President Biden’s Federal Death Penalty Commutations

We welcome the fulfillment of President Biden’s promise to commute the death sentences of 37 people on federal death row. The federal death penalty – just like state capital punishment systems – is racist, error-prone, drains public resources, and does not deter crime or make our communities safer. We encourage President Biden to finish the...

New Orleans-based Organizations File Class Action Lawsuit Against State on behalf of Unhoused Residents

NEW ORLEANS — Raymond Scott, an unhoused New Orleans resident, has now alleged class-wide allegations in his complaint against the Louisiana State Police, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Louisiana Department of Transportation. The lawsuit seeks to prevent these state entities from evicting unhoused residents and seizing their property without constitutional protections...

Louisiana Court Bars State Agencies from Sweeping Encampments Without Constitutional Protections

NEW ORLEANS — Today, the Orleans Civil District Court delivered a significant win to the unhoused community in New Orleans, granting a preliminary injunction preventing the Louisiana State Police and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries from removing, evicting, displacing — also known as “sweeping” — encampments without constitutional protections. The order also stops the...

DA Jason Williams alleges commissioners routinely set low bails in cases of violence

“The ultimate decision of what conditions, if any, may be needed to release a person is not the district attorney’s but the court’s," MJC's Eric Foley said of the Orleans Parish DA's calls for higher bail amounts.

NOLA.com

LCG settles federal panhandling suit for $42,000

Lafayette Consolidated Government administration paid a $42,000 settlement in December to a man targeted by the Lafayette Police Department’s campaign to arrest panhandlers.

The Current

Many criminal defendants deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial are languishing in parish jails, despite being ordered care at state hospital

Over 100 people throughout Louisiana who have been criminally charged but found mentally incompetent to stand trial are languishing in parish jails — sometimes for months at a time — because there is no room at the state psychiatric hospital where judges have ordered they receive treatment.

The Lens

Amid federal lawsuit, Lafayette seeks to repeal panhandling ordinances

Facing a federal lawsuit claiming its panhandling crackdown is unconstitutional, Lafayette is seeking to repeal portions of its panhandling ordinances.

The Current

Cash bail a thing of the past? Not yet, but New Orleans judges agree to new rules

Orleans Parish Criminal District Court judges this month settled the last of several lawsuits over bail fees and court costs that dogged them for six years. A joint order from the judges in February formalized new bail rules that paved the way for the settlement.

NOLA

National Civil Rights Groups Sue Louisiana Judges, Sheriff Over Unconstitutional Bail System

Lawsuit aims to end Baton Rouge’s cash bail system after another person dies awaiting trial at local jail BATON ROUGE, LA – Last night, Fair Fight Initiative, MacArthur Justice Center and Advancement Project National Office sued East Baton Rouge officials in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, seeking to end...

City Council tells criminal court to return more than half-million dollars in bail and conviction fees paid by defendants over last two years

"Our view of the legislation is that ultimately whether it solved the conflict or not really depends on what the city does next," said MJC's Eric Foley.

The Lens

New state law seeks to fix New Orleans judges’ decades-old conflict of interest on court fines, fees and bail

“Our view of the legislation is that ultimately whether it solved the conflict or not really depends on what the city does next,” MJC's Eric Foley said.

The Lens