老澳门开奖结果

NEW ORLEANS 鈥� The House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice today passed HB 46, a bill that could significantly reduce Louisiana鈥檚 pretrial incarceration rate. The , which is endorsed by the 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana, the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and a coalition of civil liberties organizations and crime survivor advocates across the political spectrum, would limit the amount of time individuals can be incarcerated without charge to five days in most cases and 30 days for more serious offenses, codifying the right to counsel at the preliminary hearing. House Bill 46, introduced by State Representatives Ted James and Edmond Jordan, seeks to address Louisiana鈥檚 high incarceration rate by curbing unnecessarily long jail stays.

鈥淭oday鈥檚 vote is a necessary step toward ending Louisiana鈥檚 pretrial crisis, which overwhelmingly harms Black, poor Louisianians,鈥� said 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana Executive Director Alanah Odoms. 鈥淥ur state has the highest pretrial incarceration rate in the entire country鈥攁nd it鈥檚 no accident. Our laws allow people to languish behind bars for weeks and months without charge or conviction. If we are going to finally start turning the tide on our mass incarceration crisis, we must start implementing systemic changes, and House Bill 46 will do just that. The 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana is so grateful to Representative James for his leadership in championing this long-overdue measure. And we couldn鈥檛 be more proud of the community support this bill has received so far. This proves that every voice counts and together we have the power to make a difference.鈥�

House Bill 46 received 170 public comments in support of the legislation. The House Committee voted 5-4 to move the bill to the full House of Representatives for debate and another vote. The bill would need 53 favorable votes there in order to move on to the Senate鈥檚 criminal justice committee.

鈥淲e are energized by today鈥檚 vote and excited to see bipartisan support for this bill as we continue to build a movement that dismantles systemic racism and achieves the transformational reforms needed to end this crisis once and for all,鈥� said 老澳门开奖结果 of Louisiana Advocacy Director Chris Kaiser. 鈥淟ouisiana鈥檚 families, communities, and taxpayers have suffered from this crisis long enough. And today we were reminded that it doesn鈥檛 have to be this way. State and local officials can act right now to reverse Louisiana鈥檚 pretrial incarceration epidemic and pass HB 46.鈥�

A fact sheet on the bill is online here: .