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As Katrina approached the criminal justice system was already
disfunctional. An incompetent criminal clerk of court, elected judges
on the take and a district attorney who violates the law, all
contributed to make
the Criminal District Court in New Orleans the hub of a Criminal
Justice System that was (and still is) disfunctional and contributes to
the
extraordinary
crime rate in this city (more than 10 times the national average murder
rate).
Criminal justice is organized under the State Constitution with
each Parish having its own system of courts, jails, and prosecutors.
The Mayor has no control over the courts, elected judges, clerks, district
attorneys, sheriffs and jails. The system in Orleans is replicated in each of
the other parishes so there are actually six criminal justice systems
in the metro area. In Orleans the Civil District Court is another entity, with its own courts, judges, clerk, and even a civil district sheriff (for whatever purpose that might serve).
Of course it is all duplicated in Jefferson Parish, St. Tammany,
St. Charles, Plaquemines and St. Bernard. Fortunately for those
jurisdictions their systems seem to be working much better.
After the storm matters were significantly worse. The criminal courts
building flooded and remained closed. Evidence was lost and records
corrupted. Accused were "lost" in the system. The more hapless
evacuated a flooding jail then languished without court apperances until they were discovered
by volunteers like a group of Tulane Law School students. Criminal
courts ran out of temporary accomodations. The revolving door
continued to release violent criminals.
It is believed the ineffectiveness of this "system" further contributes
to crime by encouraging individuals to come to New Orleans to
perpetrate their crimes because they know the consequences of getting
caught here are light compared to other jusisdictions like Houston.
Sixty days, the so called "misdemaeanor murder" is the current urban
legend, and that only applies if you are in the unlucky 12% that gets
caught. (By the way the 12% includes the domestic murders which are
usually caught.)
In 2006 the Mayor, acknowledging the ineffectiveness of the criminal
justice system in the city has been working with federal
authorities to make sure criminals caught in New Orleans are prosecuted
elsewhere.
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