New Orleans has the highest incarceration rate of any city in the country. The jail now houses roughly 1 percent of our population. We need a more just justice system that distinguishes between small and violent crimes and stops locking people up indiscriminately.

• In New Orleans, almost everyone is forced to remain in jail awaiting trial unless they can pay bail, even if they are not a flight risk or a danger to the community. Because of this, poor people charged by the police with non-violent offenses are forced to wait in jail before they even go to trial, costing people their jobs and separating them from their families. You shouldn’t end up in jail because you can’t afford to pay bail for a misdemeanor or traffic violation or even most nonviolent felonies. We need comprehensive pre-trial services that stop treating people accused of petty and large crimes in the same way.

• New Orleans is one of two remaining cities that still pay the jail based on the number of people it holds each day. We need to end this funding system that creates a perverse incentive to keep as many people in jail as long as possible.

• A larger jail does not mean a safer community; before Katrina, the Orleans Parish Prison had 7,500 beds and the city still had one of the highest murder rates. If we have a larger jail, we will be forced to fill it in order to pay for the upkeep. A special study commissioned by the Mayor’s office recommended that the new jail have 1,438 beds. We need to stick with this recommendation and cap the new jail at 1,438 beds.

In conclusion, to create a more just criminal justice system, we want:
(1) the full implementation of the new pre-trial services program
(2) City Council, the Sheriff, and Mayor Landrieu to change the Orleans Parish Prison funding format so that it is budgeted like every other city function
(3) to Cap the new Orleans Parish Prison at 1,438 beds;