This Thursday: New Orleans Mayoral Candidates Forum on Criminal Justice

The Mayoral race is on. Some have asked: if the Saints are in the Superbowl, will anyone come to the election? Either way, let's get those early voting ballots ready.

At Louisiana Justice Institute, we have convened a process called the Nola Kitchen Table as a forum to begin discussing the issues that we need our politicians to address (more updates on that dialogue soon).

We also encourage everyone to go out and ask the candidates the hard questions. A great place to start is this week, with the New Orleans Mayoral Candidates Forum on Criminal Justice.

The Forum will be this Thursday, December 17, at 6:00pm at the Treme Community Center, 900 N. Villere St, between Dumaine and St. Philip.

A wide range of organizations have worked together to make this forum happen, including Families & Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children, Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, Critical Resistance New Orleans, Safe Streets/Strong Communities, New Orleans Worker Center for Racial Justice, Resurrection After Exoneration, Voice Of The Ex-offender (VOTE), Women With A Vision, and the Youth Empowerment Project.

According to the invitation from the event's organizers, "The 2010 Elections are right around the corner and the voice of the community must be heard! Criminal Justice issues need to be addressed to those of us who have a real stake in seeing change. Our children and our loved ones need to come home to safe communities and to schools and jobs that keep our families off the streets and out of the system. The next mayor of New Orleans must make this a priority. JOIN US!"