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3,000 NOLA Criminal Cases in Limbo and Doubt

By Last Night in Little Rock, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Tue Sep 27, 2005 at 09:36:27 AM EST
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by Last Night in Little Rock

USA Today reports on the chaos in the criminal justice system in New Orleans that is just starting to rear its ugly head, at least as far as the public is concerned: defendants, victims, and witnesses are missing or scattered, courts and lawyers are out of business, the police force lost hundreds who went AWOL and have their jobs in jeopardy. It is a long and compelling article. The criminal defense list servs have been on this since the flood.

Just the first three paragraphs are here:

Evidence from an estimated 3,000 criminal cases in New Orleans has been submerged in the toxic floodwaters that swamped police headquarters and the courthouse. It's unknown whether the evidence will be usable in prosecutions.

Thousands of witnesses and victims involved in the cases are scattered across the nation, and New Orleans authorities face an enormous task in locating them.

More than three weeks after the flooding from Hurricane Katrina began to devastate New Orleans, the crippling impact to the city's justice system is becoming more clear. A problem that began with the breakdown of the city's police force during the chaos and looting that accompanied the flooding has ballooned into a crisis local and federal officials say could make it difficult for New Orleans to maintain order on its own for years.

< FEMA's Brown Before the House Defending Self and Agency | NOLA Police Chief Retiring >

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    3,000 NOLA Criminal Cases in Limbo and Doubt | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Re: 3,000 NOLA Criminal Cases in Limbo and Doubt (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:21 PM EST
    Sounds like time to triage cases. If I were the New Orleans DA I'd begin by dismissing without prejudice every misdemeanor on the docket that hadn't become a conviction yet, to stop the speedy trial clock running, and by surveying my DAs to determine which of my felonies I could prosecute without physical evidence, dismissing all but the most serious of the rest without prejudice. Deferred prosecution plea bargains might also start looking good. If they could save 90 serious cases out of 3,000, they'd have done a yeoman's job of it.

    Re: 3,000 NOLA Criminal Cases in Limbo and Doubt (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:21 PM EST
    IF you are stupid enough to think that the US can house most if not all of its criminals, then you are stupid enough to vote for Bush. Jails are not the answer. Are you going to just keep locking everyone away until nobody is left?? I bet there won't be a crime spree due to the NOLA folks taking a holiday. Well....maybe the attorneys will....they won't have income! HA!

    Re: 3,000 NOLA Criminal Cases in Limbo and Doubt (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:21 PM EST
    Narius, I feel you are about to get slammed in the posts to follow but from me, Amen brother.

    Re: 3,000 NOLA Criminal Cases in Limbo and Doubt (none / 0) (#5)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:21 PM EST
    Of course some crimes require prison sentences, the most heinous (murder, molestation) require life in prison. But what gets my goat is the rapist getting out in 3-5 to make room for the non-violent drug dealer doing 10-20. It makes no sense, and it certainly does not serve the 99%. Lock 'em up is not a one size fits all solution. But we are OT.

    Re: 3,000 NOLA Criminal Cases in Limbo and Doubt (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    The sense of the criminal justice system has plaqued the U.S. since John Quincy Adams tried to do something about it. If you go through it yourself you get a birds eye view of what real corruption is. The sense made in the end simply involves attorneys counting money and prosecutors vying for political positions. Justice is seldom served as our fore fathers wanted.

    Re: 3,000 NOLA Criminal Cases in Limbo and Doubt (none / 0) (#7)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    nar- statistically you are safest from having your stash robbed:
    In 1970, 16.3 percent of all federal inmates were imprisoned on drug-related charges; in 2002 that percentage had risen to 54.7 percent.
    Feel safe? Oh, and prison seems to train prisoners to become professional.
    Bureau of Justice statistics also show that as of 2001, nearly 70 percent percent of all released prisoners will be rearrested within three years.
    link America has the greatest amount of its population imprisoned in the world. Does that mean that we are the most civilized country or the least? Or is it that the prison industry is just another 'big business'?

    3,000 NOLA Criminal Cases in Limbo and Doubt | 6 comments (6 topical)