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NPR All Things Considered: Hurricane Katrina was a catalyst for change in New Orleans' public defender office

: News; 05 August 2025

Hurricane Katrina was a catalyst for change in New Orleans' public defender office

All Things Considered, By Ari Shapiro

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans 20 years ago this month, Meghan Garvey was fresh out of law school.

She was not even certified to work as a lawyer yet, but she wound up helping a team find thousands of incarcerated people who were lost in the prison system after the storm.

"There were people being moved around to different sorts of jails and prisons around the state. They kept moving people here and there," Garvey recalled recently. "It was really hard to figure out where people were, what they were in jail for, what was going on."

At the time, estimates show New Orleans housed 6,000 to 7,000 people in the local jail, more than any other city in the U.S., according to the Vera Institute of Justice. The city's incarceration rate was more than five times the national average per capita. Thousands of inmates were taken to dry land as the storm devastated the city, but their records didn't go with them. That meant that for months, the understaffed public defender office struggled to locate and represent its clients.

It was a moment that would define Garvey's career.

"I really do think that I became a public defender because of Katrina," she said.

The chaos exposed flaws in the city's criminal justice system that existed before the storm, but it also cleared the way for changes and some visionary people like Garvey took advantage of that opportunity.

To hear the full interview, visit NPR and All Things Considered.

OPD, SULC and BPDA Announce Diamonique Whaley Attorney Fellowship

: News; 05 August 2025

Southern University Law Center, Orleans Public Defenders, and the Black Public Defender Association Announce Inaugural Diamonique Whaley Attorney Fellowship to Honor Alumna’s Legacy and Champion Public Defense in New Orleans

Baton Rouge, LA — Southern University Law Center (SULC), in partnership with the Orleans Public Defenders (OPD) and the Black Public Defender Association (BPDA), proudly announces the launch of the Diamonique Whaley Attorney Fellowship. This yearlong fellowship with the Orleans Public Defenders provides recent Southern Law graduates with a unique and impactful opportunity to launch their careers in public defense and community advocacy.

The fellowship is named in memory of Diamonique Whaley, a graduate of Southern University Law Center, and dedicated Staff Attorney with OPD in New Orleans. Throughout her legal career, Whaley zealously represented people navigating the legal system, but her passion was working with kids in both the juvenile and adult legal systems. Whaley was deeply committed to advocating for her clients and fighting against the injustices of the criminal legal system and harms of system interaction.

NPR All Things Considered: New Orleans' court system collapsed under Katrina, but some saw hope for change

: News; 04 August 2025

New Orleans' court system collapsed under Katrina, but some saw hope for change

All Things Considered, By Ari Shapiro

With New Orleans under water, people incarcerated there were bused out to detention facilities across the South. Their records didn't go with them, massively complicating their legal cases.

SHAPIRO: In a functioning criminal justice system, public defenders should have been representing most of these thousands of people. Legal defense is a constitutional right. But nothing about the New Orleans criminal justice system was working the way it was supposed to.

...

SHAPIRO: The immediate cause of the disaster was obvious - a swirling monster storm called Katrina. But there were deeper problems that made the situation much worse. Public defenders only worked part-time. They had to share computers and phone lines. The system was funded through traffic tickets. And lawyers didn't even meet their clients until their first court appearance, which could take place weeks or even months after someone was arrested.

To hear the full interview, visit NPR and All Things Considered.

OPD FY25 Budget Certification

: News; 16 June 2025

The Orleans Public Defenders certifies the completion of the fiscal year 2025 budget. For budget details, please contact Chief Administrative Officer Dannielle Berger at .

FY 25 Amended Budget

: News; 25 April 2025

The Orleans Public Defenders' FY 2025 operating budget was amended. For budget details, please contact Chief Administrative Officer Dannielle Berger at .

Radley Balko: The Redeem Team

: News; 18 March 2025

Collectively, they spent 155 years in prison. Now they counsel other people facing their own long sentences. A conversation with five peer advocates at the New Orleans public defender's office.

By Radley Balko

March 15, 2025 - Of the five men who serve as “peer advocates” for the Orleans Parish Public Defender, only one — Robert Jones — is an exonoree. He was released in 2016 after the BBC uncovered evidence of his innocence. He had been convicted of a rape and robbery spree in the French Quarter that culminated in the killing of a British tourist. Jones now serves as director of community outreach for the office.

Another of the five, Terry Pierce, says he was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed a man in 1980. The other three — Michael Banford, Everett Offray, and Louis Gibson — do not claim that they were innocent.