City news THE
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Maroon
FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2013
No money, More Problems Video leak, consent decree brings Orleans Parish Prison under scrutiny
Gerald Herbert/ AP PHOTO
In this photo combo, New Orleans Sheriff Marlin Gusman, left, speaks to reporters at a news conference outside the construction site of new jail facilities in New Orleans on Thursday, April 4; at right, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu speaks during a news conference at City Hall in New Orleans, on Tuesday, Feb. 5. A political brawl has broken out between Gusman and Landrieu. The jail has come under scrutiny recently for a video showing inmates using drugs, drinking beer and one prisoner with a handgun in 2009. The jail is run by Gusman, but funded by the city. Landrieu is upset over an agreement Gusman reached with the U.S. Justice Department to reform the jail, saying the city can’t afford the potential fixes. The sheriff said the city has consistently underfunded the jail and suggested race may be behind the attacks.
Prison safety issues cause concern among university faculty Providing inmates with protection is the most critical reform needed in Orleans Parish Prison that can be made,
especially when taking into account students imprisoned for misdemeanors, according to Loyola University law professor M. Isabel Medina. “I always try to remember that these could be my children,” said Medina. “It could be my child that is taken to central lockup.”
The consent decree is basically calling for the reform of Orleans Parish Prison — a prison that, the United States Department of Justice claims, violates the constitutional rights of its prisoners. According to George Capowich, a criminology
professor at Loyola, Orleans Parish Prison does utilize a classification system meant to separate low-risk inmates from more violent ones. “I know the classification system exists, but at least one story I saw, and I have no way of confirming it, is that apparently,
the classification system isn’t used correctly,’’ Capowich said. Capowich states that classifying inmates is normally a part of the intake procedure. When someone comes in after they are booked, they are house,
see Prison page 5
Pro-gun bills approved by LA house committee LITTICE BACON-BLOOD AP National Writer BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — With gun control being debated at the federal level, Louisiana lawmakers advanced a batch of bills Wednesday they say are aimed at pre-empting any stricter gun laws that could make it out of Congress. In heated exchanges over five hours of debate, the House Criminal Justice Committee approved an array of “state’s rights” gun regulations, including bills that would: —Prohibit the enforcement of any federal restrictions on owning semi-automatic weapons. A requirement that the state attorney general’s office represents
those who may be arrested for having federally prohibited guns was amended out of the bill. —Make it a felony to release or publish the names and addresses of people who own or have applied for concealed handgun permits. —Create the “Louisiana Manufactured Firearms and Ammunition Act” that would allow gun buyers to circumvent any federal gun laws as long as the guns were manufactured in Louisiana. Of his proposal, Republican committee chairman Joe Lopinto said, “I really hope we don’t need this. It’s all about state’s right.” The bills now head to the full House for further debate. The criminal justice committee debated 11 firearm-related bills
that left no doubt to the stance of a majority of committee members on efforts to tighten gun laws. They were not having it. “Don’t Like Guns? Don’t Buy One,” was the message Rep. Terry Brown, an Independent from Colfax, had plastered on his laptop cover that was visible to the audience. Conversely, a majority of the committee voted down two proposed bills they perceived as infringing on current gun laws. The measures would have required gun owners to keep guns in a locked container or apply a safety lock when the gun was not in use and would have required prospective gun buyers to take a safety course before the purchase.
AP Photo/The Baton Rouge Advocate, Adam Lau
Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Bossier City, holds up a sticker in response to questioning by Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport, during the House Criminal Justice Committee’s discussion of House BIll 8 on Wednesday, April 17, at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge.