New Orleans: A city where the cries for justice are ignored
on November 6th, 2007 at 11:37 am
The criminal justice meltdown in New Orleans?
By Bill Quigley, Contributing Writer
louisianaweekly.com
“We are faced with the daily reality of an imminent collapse of our criminal justice institutions.”
New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley
Some say crime causes a city to be under siege; others say crime is the symptom of a city under siege. Either way, New Orleans is in serious trouble. Our criminal justice system is in unprecedented crisis.
Thursday there were four murders in 24 hours in New Orleans. Over the weekend three more people died from gunshots. So far this year, 170 people have been murdered in New Orleans – a rate seven times the national average.
The District Attorney of New Orleans just resigned at the insistence of the Mayor, the Attorney General and several legislators. His office owes a group of discharged employees a federal civil rights judgment of over $3 million – and neither the City nor State was willing to pay unless he resigned. There is high turnover in the office and thousands of people arrested have been released because the office could not timely decide whether to charge them with crimes or not. His resignation will not make New Orleans any safer.
Katrina severely damaged an already dysfunctional criminal justice in New Orleans. In fact, what has occurred and is happening now in New Orleans is really neither “justice” nor a “system.”
Before Katrina, New Orleans averaged 1000 violent crimes each quarter. In the second quarter of 2007, New Orleans reported over 1300 violent crimes – despite the fact that not many more than half the people of New Orleans are back.
Black on black crime continues to dominate. Of the 161 homicide victims in 2006, 131 were black men, along with most of the suspects. Many victims and the suspects were teenagers. About two-thirds of the deaths of 2006 have gone unsolved. (more…)
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As I have said numerous times on this site, if ANY real attention is going to be placed on this issue–both by national media and the Black blogosphere, New Orleans should consider making David Duke an honorary mayor for one week. Also, hire someone to spread nooses around the city. I assure you that in that case, Rome will be built in one day!
