Highlights in Local Activism Against the Prison Industrial Complex

Here on the Louisiana Justice Institute blog, we have been following developments in the Danziger Bridge investigation and other police violence and corruption cases, as well as activism against abuses at Orleans Parish Prison and other aspects of the Prison Industrial Complex, since early on the history of this blog. From protests to lawsuits and reports and criminal prosecutions, we have reported on resistance to the criminal justice system in this city and state. Below is a collection of some highlights from our reporting over the past few years.

2011 Danziger Bridge Trial:
-Did New Orleans Media Contribute to Police Violence After Hurricane Katrina?
-Danziger Trial Presents Opportunity for Systemic Change.
-Chilling Testimony in Opening Weeks of Danziger Trial.
-Danziger Bridge Police Trial Exposes NOPD Corruption... Again.
-Lawyers for Police in Danziger Shootings Offer Passionate Defense.
-Prosecution rests in Danziger trial.
-Defense rests in Danziger Trial, Insisting Victims were armed.

Additional 2011 Reporting:
-January 2011: Prisoner Abuse at Tangipahoa Parish Prison.
-January 2011: Baton Rouge further criminalizes sex workers.
-February 2011: In Louisiana, Odds of a Death Sentence 97% Higher If Victim is White.
-February 2011: Activists Harassed During Vigil at OPP.
-March 2011: NOPD attack Mardi Gras parade.
-March 2011: First National Conference of Formerly Incarcerated Persons Convenes In Alabama.
-March 2011: US DOJ report on NOPD.
-March 2011: Louisiana's Crime Against Nature law.
-April 2011: Raymond Robair trial.
-May 2011: The Waguespack family and the NOPD.
-June 2011: Will Judge Raymond Bigelow Face Investigation?
-June 2011: Jena Six activist sentenced to 15 years in prison.
-June 2011: NOPD continues to target sex workers.
-June 2011: Sex Offender Registration for Sex Workers Ends in Louisiana.

2010 Reporting:
-February 2010: Officers fight charges and reform.
-March 2010: Activist Parnell Herbert discusses police accountability.
-March 2010: Police harassment of Mardi Gras Indians caught on video.
-March 2010: Police harassment of "copwatch" activists challenged in court.
-March 2010: LJI calls for federal intervention in the NOPD.
-March 2010: Police Association of New Orleans Works to Protect Killer Cops.
-April 2010: Questions raised about search for new police chief.
-April 2010: Landrieu blasts critics in police chief search.
-April 2010: New coalition, Community United for Change, challenges NOPD.
-May 2010: M. Endesha Juakali discusses history of struggle against NOPD violence.
-June 2010: Community United for Change continues to challenge NOPD.
-June 2010: ACLU of Louisiana Releases Report on NOPD's Lack of Respect for First Amendment.
-June 2010: ACLU of LA challenges Gusman's plans for larger prison.
-June 2010: Guest commentary on juvenile justice.
-July 2010: Report on LGBT youth in juvenile justice system.
-July 2010: Torture in St. Tammany jail.
-September 2010: Activists march across Danziger Bridge.
-September 2010: Small successes at the Innocence Project.
-October 2010: Why New Orleans needs a smaller jail.
-October 2010: How the NOPD (mis)uses its citywide alert system.
-November 2010: Sex Worker Advocates Highlight New Orleans Human Rights Violations at United Nations.

2009 Reporting:
-October 2009: Investigations of Gretna police actions on Crescent City Connection after Katrina.
-November 2009: Local activist fights unfair charges.
-December 2009: Former New Orleans Black Panther and criminal justice activist passes on.

Monday Candlelight Vigil for Adolph Grimes III, Thursday Meeting for Consent Decree

This announcement comes from the family of Adolph Grimes III:

The Grimes family will be hosting a candlelight vigil on Monday, August 16th at 6 PM on the corner of Governor Nicholls and Claiborne (1700 block side) in New Orleans. The vigil will take place on what would have been Adolph Grimes III’s birthday. Adolph was killed by police fire New Year’s Day 2009. See this CNN news story for more information.

Next week, Community United for Change will also have a meeting to gather input for the Consent Decree that community activists - supported by the initiative of Louisiana Justice Institute - have been drafting to present to the Department of Justice. This Consent Decree, it is hoped, will become a contract between the federal government, the city of New Orleans, and the
community. According to Community United for Change:

We must insure that every possible effort has been made to include as many people of New Orleans as possible. It is therefore necessary for the community to come together at least one last time to ensure all voices are heard and that all persons are clear with the direction we want the Consent Decree to go.

CUC is excited to announce a final meeting of the Peoples Consent Decree forum where all additions, corrections, and changes can be aired publicly for the crafting of the final draft of this important document. This meeting will be Thursday, August 19, beginning at 6:00pm at the Treme Community Center

We are encouraging everyone who has any interest in making the contract a living document that can reduce the brutality, harassment, disrespect, inhumanity, and murder of the Black and the poor residents of New Orleans, to come and take the time to put your footprint on this Consent Decree.

For more information you can contact CUC at 504-251-2201 or cuc.nola@yahoo.com.

Federal Investigation and Activist Responses to Police Violence

Family members of Raymond Robair, a man who was killed by police in the Treme neighborhood just a few months before Hurricane Katrina, finally received some vindication for their efforts to receive justice. On Thursday, two New Orleans police officers were indicted on federal civil rights charges in the case. As the federal investigations of New Orleans police continue, it has become nearly impossible to argue for any solution that is not systemic - it is clear that this department is rotten to the core.

Activists are continuing to pressure for systemic change. Community United for Change has issued a call for young people who have experienced police harassment to come to a meeting next week in the Treme neighborhood. According to the invitation:

Young people, more than any other age group, are on the receiving end of police harassment, brutality and murder. If you or your friends have been jacked up by the NOPD terrorists without cause, we need you to come forward. Your testimony will help to end NOPD profiling and falsely arresting young people. Let’s make some noise ‘til we get it right.

The public hearing will be Thursday, August 5, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm at the Treme Community Center, 900 N. Villere St. (corner of Dumaine St., near Armstrong Park). Door prizes and edutainment by Sess 4-5 and other positive artists. For information, contact Community United for Change at 504-251-2201.

Community United for Change member and longtime activist against police brutality Malcolm Suber will also be part of an interesting panel discussion and film screening next week at Community Book Center. He will be joined by activist and hip-hop artist Sess 4-5 and lawyer and activist King Downing, who has organized nationally against racial profiling and police brutality and was one of the first organizers to work on the Jena Six case. They will be speaking in conjunction with a screening of the video Black and Blue: Legends of the Hip-Hop Cop, a documentary about a special unit of the New York City Police Department formed just to target hip-hop artists.

The event will be Tuesday, August 3, at Community Book Center, 2523 Bayou Road, from 6:00pm to 9:00pm. For info call 9311-7614 or 948-7323. The event is sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee and Community Book Center.

In a sign of how far our entire criminal justice system needs to go, this week, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that "two New Orleans men who have waited in jail for nearly nine years without coming close to trial on a 2001 murder haven't had their rights violated by the delay." Clearly, we are a long way from the basic human rights we need.

LJI Injustice Index: The State of Criminal Justice in New Orleans:

July 2010: Oppression and Repression for All
“We are dedicated to maintaining the highest moral and ethical standards, through the principles of pride, honesty, trust and courage.”
-NOPD Mission Statement

Maintaining the Highest Moral and Ethical Standards:
• New Orleans is ranked 2nd in the nation for police misconduct.
• NOPD receives an average of 555 citizen complaints of misconduct per year.
• On average, 162 NOPD officers are disciplined per year for misconduct
• In 2010 alone, 16 New Orleans Police Department Officers have been either convicted or federally indicted for violent crimes against New Orleans residents.

A Waste of Resources:
• While the total number of arrests has been reduced by 7%, traffic arrests increased by 45% from 6,874 to 9,985 over a one-year period.
• Only 13% or 7,945 of the 59,974 Orleans Parish arrests were felony arrests, and 6% of arrests resulted in a violent felony conviction.

Criminalizing Non-Criminals – A Booming Business:
• 86% of all arrests were for misdemeanors, municipal, traffic violations, and other arrests
• Over 3,400 (or 77%) of traffic arrests were for license violations such as driving with a suspended or invalid license.
• NOPD Averages about 6,000 traffic stops per week.
• New Orleans Police Officers make an average of two stops per each of the 118,464 resident commuters each year.
• The odds of those traffic stops resulting in a citation: 1:3
• The odds of those traffic stops resulting in arrest: 1:31

Is Everybody Really Breaking the Law?
• According to an audit of the Orleans Parish Traffic Court’s processing system, 30% of all cases processed by court personnel had the potential for processing errors. Of the 90,000+ traffic citations processed by the court annually, 27,000 were possibly erroneously processed, resulting in the issuance of illegal arrest warrants, license suspensions, and illegally impounded vehicles.
• With the average traffic citation of $110.00, the City of New Orleans can make up to $3,000,000 per year in fraudulent fines and fees.

Photo from April, 2010 Community United for Change demonstration, New Orleans, LA.

Activists Plan Protest and Further Actions Against Abuse by NOPD

Pressure continues to rise against Ronal Serpas, Mayor Landrieu's new police chief. Activists protested outside Serpas's swearing in ceremony on May 11, and have continued to hold protests, with more than fifty people gathered outside city hall at the most recent demonstration.

The members of Community United for Change, a new coalition that has formed to struggle on issues of police accountability, are continuing to organize responses to law enforcement violence. Organizers report that they have received "numerous complaints concerning the Sixth District Police Officers and the manner in which they are handling the citizens and residents of New Orleans. Beatings and evidence tampering are constant complaints." CUC members say it is time to respond with action.

Community United for Change has sent out a notice that they are calling for "Direct Action by way of an informational picket line" at the Sixth District station. Activists add that "A clear message must be delivered to the new administration that abuse and misuse will not be tolerated by the 'boys in blue.' The culture of corruption that has been the earmark of the NOPD must end."

The protest is today, Tuesday, June 1, at 4:00pm. It will be followed by a 5:00pm press conference to "call attention to the abuse and misuse of police authority." Both events will be at the Sixth District station, 1930 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, in Central City.

Community United for Change has also scheduled a series of public hearings to give the community an opportunity to testify about violence they or their family members or community have received or witnessed from the NOPD. Testimonies will be handed over to the Department of Justice to encourage further investigations of police corruption. The CUC is asking for "all social justice advocates, concerned citizens, and organizations that deplore injustice and the dehumanization of the New Orleans people" to attend these hearings.

The next public hearing is scheduled for Craige Culture Center, this Thursday, June 3rd at 6:00pm. The schedule for all upcoming CUC hearings is:

Thursday, June 3: West Bank - Craige Cultural Center, 1800 Newton Street.
Thursday, June 17: New Orleans East - Mosque 46, 4201 Downman Road.
Thursday, July 1: Central City - Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 1823 Washington Avenue.
Thursday, July 15: Hollygrove - Evening Star Baptist Church, 8926 Hickory Street.
Thursday, August 5: Treme - Treme Community Center, 900 N. Villere.

All hearings are from 6:00pm-9:00pm. For more information on the hearings or protests, call Community United for Change at 504-251-2201.

Victims of Police Brutality and Community Leaders Demand US Justice Department widen its Probe of NOPD

A newly formed coalition, Community United for Change, will be holding a picket line and press conference to announce their demand to US Attorney General Eric Holder and the US Justice Department to widen their present investigation of the NOPD to include all instances of police violence, abuse and murder over the past 30 years.

* When: Tuesday April 20, @ 11:00 am
* Where: 600 Camp Street
* Who: Community United for Change

"We don't want the investigation to look at just 8 instances of abuse. We believe there are scores of victims in our community and scores of murderers and abusers on the NOPD" said Peggy Williams. Family members of victims who have received no relief on the local level will join with families who are currently included in the 8 cases being investigated. Together they will add their voices to demand an enlarged probe.

The Assistant US Attorney Perez stated that the New Orleans Police department is suffering from a "Crisis of Confidence", He continued by saying, "I'm very, very disturbed by the allegation we're investigating . . . We certainly intend to use every law enforcement tool at our disposal to ensure that wrongdoing is uncovered and that in the long-term systems are put into place to prevent these problems from happening".

Organizers of of CUC said that they "are holding Perez to his words by demanding that an enlargement of the federal investigation be given to all acts of deprivation by the NOPD."

They also will announce the convening of a public hearing to be held at 6pm, Thursday, April 22 at St. James AME Fellowship Hall on 219 N. Derbigny Street. The public hearing will take testimony from victims, witnesses and family members of the deceased to present to the US Justice Department in support of our demand to widen the probe.