Success: Smaller New Orleans Jail Approved

In an argument that’s been going back and forth for years now, one side in New Orleans fought for a smaller prison, something that would have the potential to change the city’s notoriety as a hub of incarceration. The other side, mainly led by the local sheriff, Marlin Gusman, held onto the jail-culture, requesting sometimes a larger prison and other times, to keep the old one open.

The argument was finally resolved last week when the New Orleans City Council voted to approve a new facility, one that’s only a fraction of the size of the crumbling leviathan that it's to replace.

At one point in recent history, Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) used to hold inmates at both the local and state level, contained one bed for every 65 Orleans’ residents. The current institution has 3,500 beds and has served to make the city not just the most incarcerated in the United States, but the entire world.

Under the approved plan a new jail will be built containing 1,438 beds, the same number recommended by the New Orelans mayor’s working group back in November. Back then it wasn’t met with complete support, with the dissent mainly coming from the sheriff, who at one point wanted a new prison with a whopping 8,000 beds.

It isn’t clear what caused the sheriff to change his tune, though there were several conditions originally approved by the working group that would be altered or abandoned before the city council passed the measure with the Sheriff’s support. These conditions, Gusman said, were in violation of state and federal regulations, though no local media sources have commented on the specifics of these abandoned conditions.

So what moved the city council to pass a measure that would reduce the current OPP capacity by about 66 percent? Well the city of New Orleans is motivated to change after watching their people suffer at the hands of failed policies and laws, and a move to criminalize and incarcerate even some of the most low risk offenders.

Supported by both local reform activists and well over 150 Change.org members, the city council first voted to allow the police to focus on the more serious crimes, issuing tickets rather than arresting the lowest level offenders.  This move, as reported by Matt Kelley, would serve to decrease the number of Orleanians being locked up (usually for a single night) for crimes that didn’t necessarily warrant incarceration.

Now, with a smaller city prison, it’s hoped that New Orleans will stay the path of local reform. A beautiful city rich with history and culture, New Orleans seems to have two sides—the side that Mardi Gras tourists see and the side that revolves around local crime, law enforcement, and the hulking OPP. There’s absolutely no reason for a city the size of this one to have such a large prison, unless they plan to fill it. The now-crumbling OPP had become a symbol of despair for the city, one that will hopefully be abandoned as the wrecking ball ushers in change.

Photo Credit: Caitlin Regan