New Orleans
Vera's work in New Orleans began in 2006, when the City Council invited us to assess the criminal justice system and propose reforms as part of post-Katrina recovery efforts. Since then, we have become a nexus for advancing evidence-based reform and have demonstrated that change is not only possible but within reach. In partnership with people leading and working in the local justice system, city leaders, and community organizations, we are working to end unnecessary detention and develop innovative, collaborative projects that improve the delivery of justice in New Orleans.
Featured
New Orleans: Who's in Jail and Why?
Until recently, New Orleans was the longtime nationwide leader in urban jail incarceration rate, which today remains at nearly double the national average. Although the population of the city’s jail has been declining since 2009, there is still much room for improvement, including addressing the considerable and persistent racial disparities in arr...
Bail, Fines, and Fees
A look at how bail, fines, and fees in the criminal justice system impact poor communities in New Orleans
The New Orleans criminal justice system, like many other local systems across the country, operates significantly on funding generated from the people cycling through it—from bail and associated fees before trial, to fines and fees levied after conviction. These practices come with hidden costs to defendants—the majority of whom are poor and black—...
Racial Disparity in Marijuana Policing in New Orleans
In national research, self-reported marijuana use is similar across races, but in New Orleans, black people are disproportionately arrested for marijuana offenses, including simple possession. In recent years, some states have legalized marijuana, while the consequences for marijuana possession in Louisiana remain severe—under state law, repeated c...
Related Work
How Should Probation and Parole Define Success?
For over a decade, Vera has worked with the city of New Orleans to reduce their jail population. As a program associate with Vera New Orleans, I’m proud to be a part of this effort. Before joining Vera’s New Orleans team, I was a probation and parole officer with the State of Louisiana’s Department of Corrections. During this time, I amassed countl...
Blog Post
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Jonathan Varnado
Past Due
Examining the Costs and Consequences of Charging for Justice in New Orleans
In New Orleans, as in many cities around the country, nearly every phase of the criminal justice system imposes a financial cost on the “users” of that system, even before they are convicted of a crime. These bail, fines, and fees take a steep toll on the people who face them and their families. They also affect taxpayers, who bear the cost of exc...
Past Due
Examining the Costs and Consequences of Charging for Justice in New Orleans
In 2015, government agencies in New Orleans collected $4.5 million in the form of bail, fines and fees from people involved in the criminal justice system and, by extension, from their families. Another $4.7 million was transferred from the pockets of residents to for-profit bail bond agents. These costs have become the subject of considerable publ...
Past Due
Examining the True Costs of the User-Pay Justice System in New Orleans
Past Due investigates a significant, widespread matter of injustice in New Orleans and throughout the country: the routine imposition of financial bail and sentencing fines and fees on mostly indigent criminal defendants. These practices come with hidden costs to defendants and taxpayers alike, from collections costs to jail time. We will measure t...
Project
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Mathilde Laisne
In New Orleans, the housing authority is helping people with criminal convictions rejoin families
Think about a particularly trying time in your life. Now think about not having a place to stay or family to support you during this time of hardship. Would you have made it? For people recently convicted of a crime, having a place to stay and the support of family are often the most influential factors in their success. But for decades, housi...
Blog Post
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Mathilde Laisne
Justice in Katrina's Wake
Changing Course on Incarceration in New Orleans
In 2005, New Orleans detained more people in its local jail per capita than any other urban jurisdiction in the country. The jail—designed to hold people too great a risk to be released pretrial—was actually used to detain thousands of people too poor to pay a financial bond, with dramatic human and financial consequences. In the 10 years since Hur...
Series: Justice in Katrina's Wake
How pretrial services empower the underprivileged
The first time I was arrested was in 1994. I was five months pregnant with my youngest daughter when I was taken into custody and booked into Orleans Parish Prison (OPP). I spent three days in the booking center with only two cement blocks or the cement floor to sleep on. When I was transferred to the women’s tier, they held me for 60 days on attem...
Blog Post
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Dolfinette Martin
Detention of Alleged Probation and Parole Violators in Orleans Parish Prison
Close to one in five people detained in the New Orleans jail are waiting for a court date (also known as adjudication) to resolve alleged probation or parole violations. This detention affects nearly 2,000 people a year and heavily inflates the local jail population. In this report, Vera conducted a thorough analysis of all probation and parole vio...
Series: Justice in Katrina's Wake
Reform efforts bear fruit, but racial disparities remain
As we mark ten years since Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the levee system, countless pundits and policymakers will lift up New Orleans as an example of resilience. And it is. But it should not have to be. People in New Orleans who’ve been marginalized as a matter of public policy are frequently cited as “resilient” precisely because we have ...
New Orleans Pretrial Services
Watch to learn how New Orleans Pretrial Services helps judges decide who stays in jail and who can be safely released to await trial, reducing the jail population and saving the city money. Interviewed: Ginny Lee, former Director, New Orleans Pretrial Services; Former Criminal Court Judge Calvin Johnson; Michael Cowan, Chair, New Orleans Crime Coal...
Housing and Employment Opportunities within the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO)
Having a criminal record can significantly decrease a person’s chances of finding housing and employment. The Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) seeks to provide housing and employment opportunities for people with criminal records, while also keeping communities safe and healthy. Through research and policy guidance, Vera, along with seve...
Project
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Kayemba Mvula
New Orleans Pretrial Services
Vera New Orleans developed and operates the city’s first comprehensive pretrial services program. The program uses standards established by the American Bar Association and the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies to screen people detained pretrial and establish their risk to public safety or of flight. The goal is to yield greater pu...