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
Paid in Full
A Plan to End Money Injustice in New Orleans
The role that money—in the form of bail, fines and fees—plays in criminal justice systems has come under increased focus. These practices have long plagued New Orleans, driving jail incarceration and costing struggling families—most of them black—millions. Two federal courts recently ruled that judges cannot lawfully impose money bail or enforce co ...
A Better Way
Global Citizen sat down with Vera’s New Orleans director, Will Snowden, to discuss ending money injustice in New Orleans. The short video that came of that discussion describes how money bail and conviction fines and fees are unnecessary, unlawful, and undermine safety and equity. It points to a better way, set out in Vera’s report, Paid in Full: A ...
Paid in Full
12 New Orleans Neighbors on Ending Money Injustice
Related Work
Voter Tools: Questions for Candidates for New Orleans District Attorney
To be an informed voter, it is important to understand the role of a district attorney (DA) and the impact of the DA’s choices. The Vera Institute of Justice’s New Orleans office developed this tool as a guide for residents participating in DA candidate forums and debates or performing research on the candidates. Voters can use this tool to familia ...
Webinar: How Philanthropy can Impact Black and Brown Communities
August is Black Philanthropy Month, a time to celebrate our rich history of communal giving and highlight the need for funding to help address community needs. On Wednesday, August 26, 2020, Vera New Orleans hosted an important conversation with partner organizations about the ways that philanthropy can take bold action to support social and crimi ...
Who's Got the Power
How to urgently decarcerate Louisiana in the era of COVID-19
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, the novel coronavirus remains a threat to incarcerated people. In Louisiana, there are more than 30,000 people serving sentences in prisons and jails. Many people across the state urged the governor, the head of the Department of Corrections and Public Safety (DOC), and local lawmakers to act within their power t ...
Event: We've Got the Power
A Virtual Event on the Power of District Attorneys in Criminal Justice
District attorneys wield enormous power in the criminal legal system. They have the power to decide the fate of people accused of crimes at every stage of a criminal case. They have tremendous sway over other actors throughout the criminal legal system, including policing practices and enforcement. We, the people, have the power to influence how th ...
Series: Covid-19
A New Vision for Justice in New Orleans
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, 25 percent of the people in jail have been safely released in Orleans Parish without an increase in crime. Before the coronavirus crisis, the criminal legal system assumed these people had to be locked up—despite being incarcerated on low bail amounts and nonviolent charges. But we’ve seen these assumptions—long c ...
Blog Post
William Snowden
Justice & Humanity in a Time of Pandemic Webinar
Facing a crisis no one was prepared for, Vera's New Orleans office swiftly executed a three-part COVID strategy—including statewide education, data analysis, and communication with judges—to assist local and statewide actors in their understanding of what they should know and what they could do, and follow up to help where needed. Vera's New Orlean ...
New Orleans Tricentennial
Visions of Justice
What should justice look like in New Orleans for the next three hundred years? The criminal justice system in New Orleans absorbs the lion’s share of the city’s operating budget. With new and renewed leadership in this important year in our city’s history, it is time to dig deep into what it means to build a system that delivers on the promise of ...
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
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 ...
New Orleans: Who's in Jail and Why?
Quarterly data analysis of incarceration in NewOrleans
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— ...