We recently submitted an Open Letter to Mayor Cantrell, urging her to prioritize equity in our criminal legal system and fully commit to a fair and just system by equitably funding OPD and public defense in New Orleans. The letter was signed by more than two dozen community organizations, members and leaders.
October 15, 2019
Dear Mayor Cantrell,
New Orleans’ criminal legal system is at a cross-roads. Our leaders have shown the initiative and commitment to a healthier and more robust city. We have lowered jail populations to historic levels and set in motion ways to resolve the thousands of outstanding warrants, fines and fees holding so many of our citizens hostage. But while New Orleans has laid the foundation for its vision of a criminal legal system committed to equity and justice, disparities still loom large. Communities of color, poor and at-risk people realize the full force of a system out of balance. Funding and resource inequities push justice further out of reach – threatening innocence, increasing wrongful convictions and overdetention, driving mass incarceration, inefficiencies and wasted resources. The fight is not fair at Tulane and Broad.
The Orleans Public Defenders Office continues to move from crisis to crisis, deepening the daily injustices in the courtroom and eroding community confidence in our criminal legal system. OPD represents 85% of criminal cases in New Orleans, and is responsible for thousands of municipal and traffic court cases each year. Yet OPD receives less than one quarter of the local appropriation provided to the District Attorney. In 2019, New Orleans will spend a staggering $258 million to arrest, prosecute and incarcerate our citizens, but just $1.8 million to protect innocence, provide accountability and ensure a fair and equitable criminal legal system.
This does not represent equity. OPD in crisis jeopardizes the great progress of current reforms. New Orleans is now an established national leader in criminal legal system reform. However, without OPD as a robust partner, efforts like jail size reduction and creative prevention services are likely to fail. Research – and our own experience – indicates public defense is one of the best criminal justice investments decision makers can make. The return on investment allows for the reallocation of funding to more programs and initiatives that make us even safer and expand opportunities in our communities.
Equitably funded, OPD strengthens our community by protecting innocence, fighting for our clients and their families, and holding the system accountable. Equity ensures each part of our criminal legal system is actually capable of working toward fairness and justice.
You believe New Orleans should thrive, not merely survive. You strive to make the city a fairer, more inclusive place, a city of opportunity for all. Our goal is shared: we care deeply about the health and prosperity of our community. Your own Forward Together New Orleans transition report stated: “Criminal justice system leaders must determine how it will keep citizens safe, while also ensuring that all who encounter the system are treated in a manner that reflects commitment to equity and justice.”
Failing to provide equitable funding to OPD only fuels perceptions that our leaders have little to no interest in fairness or justice. We are asking you and the City Council to find the will and structural solutions to move our criminal legal system toward equity and justice by equitably funding the Orleans Public Defenders.
Sincerely,
ALAS
American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana
Barry Scheck, national Innocence Project
Café Reconcile
CAP
Daughters Beyond Incarceration
Dr. Ashraf Esmail, Dillard University
First 72+
Freedem Foundations
Innocence Project of New Orleans
Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana
LaArk Recovery
Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice
Nola to Angola
Operation Restoration
Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition
Participatory Defense Movement NOLA
Promise of Justice Initiative
Rebecca Meriwether, Chair of the Criminal Justice Team, St. Charles Baptist Church
Solitary Gardens
Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund
Stand with Dignity
The Juror Project
Total Sentencing Alternatives Program, LLC
Voice of the Experienced
William P. Quigley, Professor of Law, Loyola University New Orleans
