老澳门开奖结果

NEW ORLEANS 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana today expressed grave concerns about measures contained in Governor John Bel Edwards鈥� executive order that would suspend legal deadlines for district attorneys to file charges against people who are held in jail. In a to the governor and the Louisiana Supreme Court, the organization asserted the move presents a 鈥済rave threat to fundamental civil rights鈥� that would undermine public health and leave thousands of presumably innocent Louisianans to languish in jail in legal limbo. The 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana called on courts to continue to honor legal timelines and uphold due process during the coronavirus pandemic.

鈥淲e understand the need to protect the public from this unprecedented pandemic, but these curbs on due process would leave thousands of presumably innocent Louisianans to languish in legal limbo while doing nothing to advance public health,鈥� said Alanah Odoms Hebert, executive director of the 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana. 鈥淔ar from stemming the spread of this virus, these moves will result in more people confined in squalid conditions where they are at substantially greater risk of infection. It is critical that the governor and the Louisiana Supreme Court instruct courts to continue to conduct daily bail hearings and release from custody everyone who is not a danger to our community.鈥�

The organization noted that when similar measures were put in place following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it resulted in the widespread unlawful detention and widespread over-incarceration that was very difficult to rectify.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to remember that Louisiana tried this after Hurricane Katrina and the results were catastrophic, with thousands of people wrongly trapped in the legal system for months, and lawsuits against sheriffs and the state,鈥� said Odoms Hebert. 鈥淲e hope to work with the governor and the Supreme Court to ensure that these emergency measures are implemented in a way that prevents us from repeating the terrible history of 2005 and protects the public from the coronavirus. It is possible to both protect individual rights and protect the public, and we hope to work together to do so.鈥�

A copy of the letter, which was also signed by Lindsey Blouin, President of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Meghan Garvey Legislative, Chair of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Katherine M. Mattes, Director of the Criminal Justice Clinic and Senior Professor of the Practice Tulane Law School; and Pamela R. Metzger, Director of the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center and Professor of Law Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, is available at:

On Monday, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana co-signed a letter demanding evidence-based plans for the prevention and management of COVID-19 in state prisons, jails, and juvenile facilities. That letter is online at: