Coalition of Black and Latina Women, Women from Arizona, Demand Sheriff Stop Submitting to Immigration Hold Requests

From our friends at the Congress of Day Laborers:

A delegation of undocumented women from Arizona will join local immigrants and civil rights leaders from Women United for Justice, in demanding that Sheriff Gusman stop holding undocumented immigrants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The visit will happen Thursday, August 9, at 1:30pm at the office of Sheriff Marlin Gusman, 819 South Broad Street.

The delegation is part of Women United for Justice, a group of New Orlean women of all races and backgrounds organizing against over-incarceration and deportation of communities, families, and children. They will join an Arizona delegation, part of the ‘No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice,’ a group of undocumented immigrants traveling across the south working for immigrant rights. They will bring the example of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s notorious treatment of undocumented immigrants, and ask Sheriff Marlin Gusman to stand on the right side of history.

The delegation includes undocumented women from Arizona, part of the ‘No Papers No Fear’ Ride for Justice, a journey that began in Phoenix, Arizona on July 29th; Deliny Palencia, member of the Congress of Day Laborers and local leader who was unconstitutionally held by the Sheriff’s department; Latoya Lewis, organizer with Stand with Dignity, New Orleans.

The Sheriff’s submission to immigration hold requests has led to numerous, grave, constitutional violations and a deterioration of trust between the immigrant community and local authorities. The Sheriff could follow in the footsteps of Cook County, Washington D.C. and the state of Connecticut, and no longer use city resources to divide families and deteriorate civil rights. This is an opportunity for the Sheriff to hear how people in Arizona have been affected by implementation of similar policies, and to chose to be on the right side of history.

Actions by undocumented students, such as coming out of the shadows events and civil disobedience actions, have demonstrated the power and results of communities acting and speaking for themselves. The riders are undocumented people  from all over the country and their allies, including mothers, fathers, day laborers, people in deportation proceedings, students, and many others who continue to face threats of deportation, harassment, and death while simply looking for a better life in the only nation many of them know and call home.

More information on the No Papers No Fear Ride for Justice is at www.nopapersnofear.org.

Mayor Landrieu (Hardly) Responds to one of New Orleans' Most Urgent Issues, By Rosana Cruz

From our friends at Bridge the Gulf:
On November 29th, a coalition of over 30 local organizations delivered a petition with more than 2,200 signatures to Mayor Mitch Landrieu, calling for reform of Orleans Parish Prison. Specifically, the petition demanded that the Mayor formally commit to capping the size of the new facility being built by the Sheriff’s Office at 1,438 beds, and that the City Council end the “per diem” budget system for the jail. Under the “per diem” system, the Sheriff’s budget is set per person per day they’re held in the jail, creating an incentive to keep people in jail for longer.



The petition delivery happened just days before the City Council was set to vote on the Mayor’s budget, which included the Sheriff’s budget for the jail.



Two days later, rather than providing leadership and making clear his position on the jail size issue, the Mayor’s office sent the following reply to Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC):

December 1, 2011

Dear Concerned Citizens:

Thank you for your passion and energy regarding this extremely important issue. I am committed to transforming New Orleans’ criminal justice system and a right-sized jail is an important piece of the puzzle. Throughout the last year my administration has initiated a transparent public process regarding the prison facility. This open dialogue has been constructive and is still ongoing. I look forward to continuing this work together.

Sincerely,

Mitch

Mitchell J. Landrieu
Mayor, City of New Orleans

This condescending response is completely devoid of any mention of the 1,438 cap or the per diem system. We at OPPRC fear that the Mayor’s non-committal stance is an indication that back-room deals are still being cut, in order for the Sheriff to build a larger facility.


The fight over the jail size has been going on for more than a year. One year ago, in response to mounting pressure from a diverse range of community groups and individuals, Mayor Landrieu convened the Criminal Justice Working Group, to determine the size of the new jail facility. The Working Group recommended the City cap the number of beds at 1,438, and the New Orleans City Council included this number in the ordinance that approved zoning for the construction of the new jail facility. But Mayor Landrieu has made no formal commitment to adhere to this recommendation.

The time for a formal commitment from the Mayor has come.
 
 
“You can’t bring a group together to answer a vital question and then just abandon the answer that they offered when it becomes politically inconvenient,” said Norris Henderson, Executive Director of VOTE (Voice Of The Ex-offender), a member organization of OPPRC (and the organization I work for). “The fact is that OPP needs to be reformed and it needs to be smaller. We believe the Mayor should listen to the thousands of individuals who signed this petition and commit to the cap. New Orleans doesn’t need more than 1,438 jail beds.”



The proposed cap would still leave New Orleans at 43.8% more jail beds per capita than the national average, even if the city reaches a population of 400,000.
 


The City Council responded to the petitions by committing to end the per diem system within the year. At least they appear to be taking the issue more seriously then the Mayor. But the time for action to stop New Orleans’ over-incarceration is past due.
 


New Orleans is at a crossroads. The Mayor can listen to the thousands of people, locals, criminal justice experts, crime victims who are asking for a brighter, smarter way forward, or he can choose to keep New Orleans in the dark ages, home of America’s largest jail. Let’s invest in real justice, Mr. Mayor. Save the city’s resources and invest in things that prevent crime, not this jail that has only made our crime problem worse.


Rosana Cruz is Associate Director of VOTE (Voice Of The Ex-offender). Previously Rosana worked with Safe Streets/Strong Communities and the National Immigration Law Center. Prior to joining NILC, she worked with SEIU1991 in Miami, after having been displaced from New Orleans by Katrina. Before the storm, Rosana worked for a diverse range of community organizations, including the Latin American Library, Hispanic Apostolate, the Lesbian and Gay Community Center of New Orleans, and People's Youth Freedom School. Rosana came to New Orleans through her work with the Southern Regional Office of Amnesty International in Atlanta.

Reconstruction Workers Conclude 24 Hour Vigil at Sheriff's Office

Beginning yesterday at 1:00pm, on one of the coldest days of the year, members of New Orleans' Congress of Day Laborers and their allies began a 24-hour vigil outside the office of Sheriff Marlin Gusman to demand an end to his office's racial profiling and race-based deportation of immigrants held in Orleans Parish Prison. The vigil was timed to begin at the same time that a lawsuit was filed on behalf of two workers who had been held in the prison for 90 days and 160 days.

"Sheriff Gusman violated their rights and violated the constitution," said organizer Denis Soriano. "We see what is happening every day inside of Sheriff Gusman's jail. We have tried to meet with Sheriff Gusman and tried to explain to him, but hes not valuing us as a community. We are holding this prayer vigil to say to Sheriff Gusman, just like he's a human being and wants his rights respected, we also want our rights respected."

According to organizers,

The prayer vigil follows Gusman’s refusal to comply with an Open Records Act requests from the Congress of Day Laborers, as well as his repeated cancellation of meetings to launch a real community dialogue on the issue, even after he publicly committed to do so in front of TV cameras on the steps of the New Orleans federal courthouse on Nov. 15, 2011 after a federal judge ordered the release of one immigrant workers from the Sheriff’s illegal custody.

The vigil opened yesterday with statements from reconstruction workers and their allies. Ezequiel Falcon, a member of the Congress of Day Laborers, described the reason they had gathered.

We're claiming our rights...The majority of us came after Hurricane Katriana to rebuild this city. But now we're seeeing our neighbors, our friends, and our family disappearing from our streets. We want the right to be a permanent and stable community, where taking my daughter to school every day can be a normal act and not an act of extreme bravery. We want our freedom.

Freddy Lopez, another reconstruction worker, described his experience of being arrested and turned over to Homeland Security, and how that experience taught him how important it is to fight back.

We are here not only for the people that have been disappeared but for the people they want to disappear in the future. I have lived, in my own skin, how they try to violate your rights. (Last year) I came from celebrating mothers day with my wife and my child, and a police officer stopped me. I don't know if it's because i am Latino, but he asked me for my documentation. I showed him all of my paperwork and he told me i was going to be arrested for not having a valid license. I was supposed to go to court the next day but instead of taking me to court i was taken to immigration. I was there for two or three months and saw how if people don't speak English they're left there for long periods of time because they can't defend themselves. And that's why we're here on this day: to demand that we get respected (by the police) in the same way we respect them.

Overnight, workers received solidarity visits from activists, church groups, musicians and others, bringing food, hot drinks, and entertainment, including a performance from conscious hip-hop artist Truth Universal and a 3:00am screening of the film Machete projected on the outside wall of Sheriff Gusman's office. Workers left the vigil this afternoon, and marched to the city council, where they have gathered to support a city council resolution calling for a smaller city jail.

Sheriff Gusman Continues to Seek Larger Jail

From our friends at ACLU of Louisiana:
The American Civil Liberties Union today submitted a request to Sheriff Marlin Gusman seeking public records documenting the studies he has generated or commissioned that justify his request for more than twice the number of jail beds than was recommended by a national expert using the Sheriff’s own data.

On November 16, 2010, the Criminal Justice Working Group appointed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu recommended authorization of a new Parish Prison facility to replace the existing Templeman III and IV sites, consisting of no more than 1438 prison beds. This figure was based in large part on a study commissioned by national expert Dr. James Austin, as well as public comments about the need to bring Orleans Parish in line with national best practices in prison reform.

Still unresolved is the ultimate use of city-owned property at Templeman I and II, and whether it will be used to construct additional beds beyond the 1438 recommended by the Working Group. With the Working Group continuing to address that issue, Sheriff Gusman continues to resist the recommended cap of 1438 beds.

“Sheriff Gusman insists that he needs additional prison beds despite the expert recommendations and the conclusion of the Working Group,” said Marjorie Esman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana. “Yet he has never revealed the basis for his claims that 1438 beds is not enough. He should tell the public why the conclusions of the expert retained by the City are wrong, and why the recommendation of Working Group appointed by the Mayor should be disregarded.”

Among other things, the ACLU asks for studies, reports, or data in the Sheriff's possession that would identify an optimal size of the detention facilities. “The Working Group continues to meet, and must have access to all of the available information to make its final decision,” Esman said. “We continue to seek the basis for Gusman's claims that he needs more jail beds, because the people of New Orleans need to know that the decisions will be made based on data and expert recommendations.”

A copy of the ACLU’s request is available online here.

Community Pressure Frees Immigrant Detainee Held in OPP

The following is an update of an earlier story from the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice:

Sheriff threatens to bring immigration agents to federal courthouse, but backs down under community pressure

Antonio Ocampo walked freely into the jubilant embrace of community members today after 97 days in illegal custody at the hands of Sheriff Marlin Gusman. The federal judge ordered Sheriff Gusman to produce Ocampo in an emergency hearing after Mr. Ocampo filed a writ of habeas corpus late Friday. The judge declared that Sheriff Gusman’s incarceration of Mr. Ocampo on an expired ICE detainer was indeed a violation of his constitutional rights. “When the constitution says ‘we the people’ that includes me,” said Mr. Ocampo shortly after his release.

Community members and advocates stared Sheriff Gusman down in a tense face-off that lasted all day. Soon after U.S. Marshall served him an order to appear in court, Sheriff Gusman attempted to turn Mr. Ocampo over to ICE custody. “Sheriff Gusman violated Mr. Ocampo’s constitutional rights and then attempted to deport the evidence,” said Jacinta Gonzalez “We stopped him.” Community protests outside Sheriff Gusman’s office led to a tense meeting in which Sheriff Gusman admitted that his lawyers had called immigration authorities and asked them to arrive at the courthouse. Furious community members demanded that Sheriff Gusman instruct his lawyers to call ICE off. “It is unconscionable that the Sheriff on the day he was to appear in federal court to defend himself against Mr. Ocampo’s allegations would recruit ICE to be his pitbull in an obvious attempt to intimidate Mr. Ocampo. Under threat of further protest and media exposure Sheriff Gusman backed down, disappeared into a back room in his office, and spoke to his lawyers. He immerged minutes later saying ICE would not appear at the courthouse.

Shortly thereafter, the Judge ordered Mr. Ocampo released. In a conversation before press Sheriff Gusman publicly committed to meet with the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice and the Congress of Day Laborers to talk about immigrant detainees and constitutional rights issues in OPP. “There are many more like me in there”, said Mr. Ocampo, “many more whose rights are being violated who don’t know when they are going to come out. I will dedicate myself to working on their behalf.”

Community Demands Immediate Release of Antonio Ocampo after 97 Days in Illegal Detention in OPP

From our friends at the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice:
Federal Judge Hauls Sheriff Gusman To Court After Immigrant Detainee Sues Over Illegal Custody

A federal judge ordered U.S. Marshalls to serve papers on Sheriff Marlin Gusman this morning, demanding that he attend a court hearing today to defend his detention of Antonio Ocampo. Mr. Ocampo sued Sheriff Gusman Friday afternoon, reporting that he had been held in illegal detention for 95 days, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Community members will stage a protest at Sheriff Gusman’s offices at 1:30 pm today, demanding that he release Mr. Ocampo in advance of the court hearing.

Mr. Ocampo filed five separate official grievance forms in Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) to report his illegal detention. “I gave each written complaint to an official at the prison, he said. “I never got any response.” Constitutional experts said the Sheriff violated Mr. Ocampo’s Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Mr. Ocampo filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal court Friday even as he continued to languish at OPP.

“We will confront Sheriff Gusman directly to demand that he release Antonio Ocampo to the community,” said Jacinta Gonzales, Lead Organizer with the Congress of Day Laborers. “Antonio Ocampo has been in illegal detention for close to 100 days. Sheriff Gusman has violated the Constitution. We won’t let him deport the evidence.”

The judge has ordered Sheriff Gusman to appear in court with Mr. Ocampo at 3 pm today. Members of Mr. Ocampo’s community will hold a press conference at Sheriff Gusman’s office at 1:00 pm, demanding he release Mr. Ocampo in compliance with U.S. law.

WHAT: Press conference and protest aimed at Sheriff Marlin Gusman.

WHY: To demand the immediate release of Mr. Antonio Ocampo, on his 98th day in illegal custody at the hands of Sheriff Marlin Gusman.

WHERE: Office of Sheriff Marlin Gusman, 819 South Broad Street, 70119

WHEN: 1 pm, Monday, November 15, 2010.

WHO: Congress of Day Laborers, New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice, and citizens in defense of the U.S. Constitution.

Coalition Concerned with Lack of Transparency on OPP Expansion Plan

From our friends at the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition:
The Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC), a varied group of individuals and organizations from all over the New Orleans community, is concerned by the lack of transparency from the Criminal Justice Working Group, a Mayoral-appointed body charged with evaluating Sheriff Marlin Gusman’s plan to expand the Orleans Parish Prison.

The OPPRC has expressed three key reservations about the Working Group’s process:

1) Lack of attention and opportunity for public input, lack of transparent process. After months of deliberations and with minimal input from the New Orleans community, two public hearings have finally been scheduled to generate community input about the OPP expansion plan. However, the planning for these public hearings has been logistically disorganized—from the lack of timely public notification, to a last minute change of date, to indeterminate venues—and the public has not had access to information such as published proposals, updated budgets, blueprints, designs and regular progress reports. This disorganization and lack of information reduces the opportunity for a cross-section of the population to provide input about a project that could cost taxpayers as much as $250,000,000. Additionally, the OPPRC is concerned that the public will not have an opportunity to review and give input to the recommendations of the Working Group before these recommendations are turned over to the Mayor.

2) The Working Group does not have essential information required to make an informed opinion. The OPPRC contends that it is unacceptable that a publicly funded project that would directly affect the lives of thousands of people could advance without basic information about the jail’s construction cost, financing, operating costs, total prisoner capacity, and use of capacity upon completion. The Working Group has not been provided, or has yet to disclose, an explanation on the total number of prisoners by group the project intends to incarcerate. It is still unclear as to whether the jail will house state or federal prisoners and if so, how many. Further, with NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas’ recent announcement that the NOPD will no longer arrest people with outstanding warrants for non-violent offenses, there is an expected decrease in prisoner length of stay. There has been little consideration, if any, of data on jail sizes in comparable cities around the country, nor has any alternative to the Sheriff’s proposal been sought. The Working Group must factor into its recommendations specific figures related to arrest procedures, prisoner classification, national best practices and prison size. This information is crucial if the Working Group is to make informed and reliable recommendations on the efficacy of the proposed OPP expansion.

3) There is not enough time for the Working Group to deliberate. The Working Group plans to issue its recommendations on the OPP expansion project on November 22nd, 2010. This timeline does not allow the Working Group to generate sufficient public input nor does the timeline engender public trust in the Working Group’s capacity to incorporate the basic information necessary to make informed recommendations.

The OPPRC calls for a third public hearing with at least two weeks public notice and confirmed date, times, and venue before the Working Group submits its recommendations to Mayor Landrieu. Additionally, in preparation for this meeting, the public should have access to up-to-date planning and financial documents, proposals, and reports, including the recently completed “Jail Population Projections Study Base Projection and Alternatives” report furnished by Dr. James Austin.

ACLU of LA Seeks Sheriff's Records Related To FEMA Funding Of Orleans Parish Prison Expansion

From our friends at the ACLU of Louisiana:
Following up on last week's post about a Freedom of Information Act request filed with FEMA, the American Civil Liberties Union yesterday submitted a similar request to Sheriff Marlin Gusman. The FOIA request seeks public records concerning the resources allocated by FEMA for the proposed expansion of the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP).

Despite his plans to dramatically expand the capacity of OPP to 5,800 prisoners, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman has provided no documents showing the funding that he says is committed to the project. Although Sheriff Gusman asserts that the project will be underwritten by FEMA, he has never disclosed the extent of FEMA funds or the conditions imposed upon those funds.

“The public still has no idea where the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to expand the prison is coming from,” said Marjorie Esman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana. “We've asked FEMA for their records, but Sheriff Gusman must account to New Orleans residents so we will know what we will have to pay for his planned expansion. Without that information we can't know whether the money will be well spent.”

Among other things, the ACLU asks for plans or proposals concerning the demolition, rebuilding, repair or expansion of OPP and documents related to funds FEMA has allocated or disbursed for such projects as well as how the use of those funds might be restricted.

The proposed new size of OPP would be large enough to incarcerate one out of every 60 residents of New Orleans. Yet outside experts have shown that the jail's size could easily be reduced if New Orleans were to adopt commonsense criminal justice policies like expanding pre-trial release options, providing community service sentencing, and setting more appropriate and cost-effective sanctions for minor municipal offenses.

New Orleans residents have expressed mounting concerns during the past year about whether this massive expansion of OPP is warranted. These concerns prompted the New Orleans City Council to postpone in July final approval of Gusman’s expansion plans until a special working group convened by Mayor Mitch Landrieu determines the optimal size for OPP. The working group is expected to release its findings in late November.

“We continue to seek independent scrutiny of Sheriff Gusman’s plans, as well as full disclosure of all of the information,” Esman said. “The public simply doesn't know where the money will come from and whether there are strings attached to it. The people of New Orleans deserve to know how much this will cost. Now may be the final window of opportunity to access that information.”

A copy of the ACLU’s request is available online at this link.

ACLU Seeks FEMA Records Related To Proposed Expansion Of Orleans Parish Prison

From our friends at the ACLU of Louisiana:
Increasing Already Excessive Capacity Of Prison Could Be Waste Of Taxpayer Money

The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to determine what resources it has allocated to the proposed expansion of the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP).

Despite his plans to dramatically expand the capacity of OPP to 5,800 prisoners, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman has provided no documents showing the funding that he says is committed to the project. Although Sheriff Gusman asserts that the project will be underwritten by FEMA, he has never disclosed the extent of FEMA funds or the conditions imposed upon those funds.

“There is a massive expansion planned for OPP yet the public has no idea where the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to expand the prison is coming from,” said Marjorie Esman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Louisiana. “We need a better understanding of the source of the funds, how much the City of New Orleans will have to pay, and whether there are better ways to put this kind of money to use. To do that we need more information.”

Among other things, the ACLU’s FOIA request seeks the disclosure of any plans or proposals concerning the demolition, rebuilding, repair or expansion of OPP and any documents related to funds FEMA has allocated or disbursed for such projects as well as how the use of those funds might be restricted.

The proposed new size of OPP would be large enough to incarcerate one out of every 60 residents of New Orleans. Yet outside experts have shown that the jail's size could easily be reduced if New Orleans were to adopt commonsense criminal justice policies like expanding pre-trial release options, providing community service sentencing, and setting more appropriate and cost-effective sanctions for minor municipal offenses.

New Orleans residents have expressed mounting concerns during the past year about whether this massive expansion of OPP is warranted. These concerns prompted the New Orleans City Council to postpone in July final approval of Gusman’s expansion plans until a special working group convened by Mayor Mitch Landrieu determines the optimal size for OPP. The working group is expected to release its findings in late November.

“Independent scrutiny of Sheriff Gusman’s plans is vital to this policy debate,” Esman said. “There is a lot of essential information about the planned expansion of OPP that we don't have. An important component is where the money will come from and whether there are strings attached to it. At a time when the City of New Orleans is struggling for resources, the public deserves to know how much this will cost. Now may be the final window of opportunity to access that information.”

A copy of the ACLU’s FOIA request is available online at this link.

Sheriff Gusman Unveils Plans to Expand Largest per Capita Jail in the US

From Our Friends at the ACLU of Louisiana:

The ACLU of Louisiana calls on the New Orleans City Council to reject Sheriff Marlin Gusman’s plan to expand Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) to 5,832 beds, large enough for 1 bed for every 60 residents. OPP, currently being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice, is already the largest per capita jail in the nation and the City’s own Planning Commission has recommended a smaller sized jail. The Sheriff’s request is scheduled to be heard by the Council this week.

The request comes on the heels of reports that the Sheriff misled the Mid-City Neighborhood Association (MCNO) during a recent meeting on the size of the proposed jail. In response to questions from Mid-City residents, the Sheriff informed the group that the new jail will have 4,500 beds; however, his filings with the City Planning Commission indicate that he plans to have 5,832 beds.

Additionally, the Sheriff has been unable or unwilling to reveal what types of crimes people in his jail are charged with. “The scary thing is that he can’t even tell us who he is housing in the jail. Public drunkenness? Marijuana possession? He simply won’t tell us or doesn’t know,” said Katie Schwartzmann, Legal Director for the ACLU of Louisiana.

What is known is that from January 2007 until June 2009, on average just 2.24% arrests in New Orleans were for violent felonies.3 86% of arrests were for misdemeanors, municipal, traffic violations, and other arrests. At the same time, roughly a third of the prisoners held at OPP are federal and state prisoners who have already been sentenced and should be held at state or federal facilities.

The size of the new jail would dwarf, per capita, the size of the largest jails in America. For example, compare the ratio of 1 bed for every 60 residents—Orleans Parish 2009 population of 354,850 with a jail with 5,862 beds—to:

“The Sheriff’s effort to increase the size of the jail is a classic power grab by a ‘good ole’ Louisiana politician.” says Marjorie Esman, Executive Director at the ACLU of Louisiana. “Having the largest jail in America has not made the city safer. Instead of helping the Sheriff build something that belongs in a totalitarian state, we hope the City will focus on violent crime and continue to create a pretrial detention policy that releases people who are not a threat to public safety.”