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OPD Announces Furloughs Due to Plummeting User-Pay Revenue
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 20, 2020
Projected $800,000 Shortfall and Plummet of User-Pay Revenue from COVID-19 Shutdowns Exacerbates Funding and Resource Inequities in New Orleans’ Criminal Legal System
New Orleans – Today, the Orleans Public Defenders Office (OPD) announced the implementation of anticipated furloughs due to a projected $800,000 funding shortfall. COVID-19 has shutdown New Orleans’ courts and criminal legal system, and with it, a significant source of revenue for the office. For nearly a decade, OPD has warned of the dangerous effects of Louisiana’s user-pay system. Today, COVID-19 has exacerbated that broken and inequitable funding structure and built on the backs of poor people.
“We did not make this decision lightly and we regret the problems this will undoubtedly cause for our clients and our community," said Chief Defender Derwyn Bunton, “but we simply don’t have enough money to operate at full capacity. We have been here before and have warned decision makers time and again about the potential fallout. No one should be surprised. What remains frustrating is, even now, we are the only entity within the criminal legal system in this situation. This will have serious ramifications. The inequities are stark and it is our poorest, most vulnerable and disenfranchised citizens who pay the price.”
Furloughs began April 15 for the Leadership and Management teams with remaining staff set to begin May 1. Because of the unique situation created by court closures and virtual proceedings, the furloughs will be less clear than in the prior crises of 2012 and 2015. But the courts should be prepared for immediate delays due to the lack of representation. Should furloughs continue once court resumes, court officials and stakeholders should expect reduced presence of OPD staff and continued delays. This will mean incarcerated defendants could remain unnecessarily detained when they could have otherwise been released on bond or into various diversion programs.
Mitigation plans also call for the elimination of our conflict panel contracts and subsequent refusal of those conflict cases. It also will cease all expert and expert fees utilized for case preparation. These two actions, coupled with the furloughs, will cause the ripple effects of constitutional crisis and have devastating impacts on thousands of poor New Orleanians.
In the month since COVID-19 began its spread throughout New Orleans, OPD immediately called on officials to prioritize the health and safety of those in the jail and begin work to depopulate the Orleans Justice Center as quickly and safely as possible. An ever-growing consortium of scientific and medical professionals have called jails and prisons across the country one of the most vulnerable populations to catastrophic public health crises due to COVID-19. OPD pushed for the closure of the courts to further protect defendants, staff and the public, as well as NOPD to cease certain arrests that unnecessarily increase exposure to the coronavirus during arrest and upon entering the jail. Today, the jail population is at its lowest in decades even as the number of staff and inmates who test positive for coronavirus increase.
OPD has long called on criminal justice stakeholders, local and state officials to establish stable, adequate and equitable funding sources for public defenders. While some progress has been made locally, OPD remains out-funded and out-resourced by the District Attorney at nearly five times the rate, despite representing more than 85% of all defendants in Orleans Parish. OPD implored the Mayor and City Council to establish equity between OPD and the DA while also reiterating the ramifications the longer these inequities remain.
OPD has remained in a pattern of service restrictions since the last funding crisis of 2015 and 2016, where we were forced to refuse cases. In 2012, OPD was forced to cut $1 million and a third of its staff. Inadequate, inequitable and unreliable funding and resources continue to compromise OPD’s ability to provide mandated legal services, brings higher costs in our criminal justice system, delays justice, and ultimately puts public safety at risk.
Should enough funding become available to eliminate the need for the furloughs, OPD staff will return to full court coverage and we will immediately notify stakeholders.
Letter: Reduce Jail Population in the Name of Community Health
Today's opinion piece in the New Orleans Advocate by Chief Defender Derwyn Bunton
Time is running out. Our opportunity to make the parish jail in New Orleans as safe as possible is dwindling. We must, right now, meet the needs of deputies, support staff and medical professionals. To contain and prevent the rapid and uncontrolled spread of COVID-19, we must limit the number of people in the jail. We must understand that jail health is directly tied to community health.
In New York City, the first person tested positive for COVID-19 in jail on March 18. The virus then spread quickly. As of April 2, 231 inmates and 223 corrections staff and health workers were positive. The number is still rapidly rising.
The chief medical officer of New York City’s correctional health service wrote he was “raising the alarm” because there is a “public health disaster unfolding before our eyes.” Limited staff and the inability for effective social distancing means it is unlikely even herculean efforts can slow or stop the swift spread. The chief medical officer pleaded for more people to be released to lower the death toll.
Here in New Orleans, the sheriff last week announced two people held in our jail tested positive. Many more staff and medical workers are infected and quarantined. Staffing is greatly depleted, making access to medical care and treatment scarce and challenging at all levels.
Simply put, jail is inherently unsafe. However, to be as safe as possible, it has to be as small as possible. Our jail population is at a historic low. Leaders within the criminal legal system and community advocates have worked hard to decrease the jail size, but much more is urgently needed.
The Orleans Public Defenders recently identified more than 200 people who can safely be released. We have sent these clients to both the court and the Department of Corrections for consideration. But we must act immediately to prevent, and not imitate, the disaster unfolding in New York City.
Additionally, we must do more to decrease the number of people entering the jail. No more arrests and bookings on nonviolent charges and misdemeanors until we get control over the spread of this disease. We can maintain public safety without sacrificing public health.
Doctors and public health officials are sounding the alarm about the pending disaster at our jail. It is time to heed those warnings and act. The New York chief doctor says the jail is in a crisis “of a magnitude no generation living today has ever seen.” Let’s take steps to save lives and prevent further spread of this virus.
Statement Regarding the Court's Dismissal of Emergency Release Petition
We are disappointed in the Court’s dismissal of our petition yesterday. We filed an unprecedented motion because of these unprecedented times. We hoped the Court would recognize the urgency of the situation and release the classes of individuals we identified for them. We are disappointed that they have declined to do so. We appreciate Sheriff Gusman acknowledging these unprecedented times and the District Attorney’s willingness to work with us.
We have identified more than 200 people currently incarcerated at OJC on charges that are not crimes of violence. Far more than a tiny fraction.
We simply can’t wait to do this piecemeal. Waiting any further might be too long to prevent an irreversible outbreak. We intend to refile and identify the individuals who fall into the outlined categories.
On Friday, March 27, we filed a letter with the Criminal District Court to follow up on our emergency release petition urging them act swiftly on the request. They subsequently denied the petition and issued an En Banc order that simply did not go far enough.
 DDB Follow Up letter re Mass Habeas 3-27-2020.pdf |
OPD Files Emergency Habeas Petition for Immediate Release of Hundreds of Vulnerable People at OJC
OPD FILES EMERGENCY HABEAS PETITION TO CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT EN BANC FOR THE IMMEDIATE
RELEASE OF VULNERABLE AND LOW-RISK INMATES FROM ORLEANS PARISH SHERIFF CUSTODY
Today, the Orleans Public Defenders Office (OPD) filed an emergency habeas petition En Banc to the entire Criminal District Court for the immediate release of vulnerable and low-risk inmates from the custody of the Sheriff. As COVID-19 reaches crisis levels in New Orleans, the threat to our most vulnerable citizens grows more serious without additional immediate and decisive action on the part of the courts.
National and local health experts agree no detention facility can protect against an outbreak of COVID-19. Once inside the jail, the virus will quickly overwhelm the capacity of both the jail and the city’s medical infrastructure.
“We have the opportunity to jump in front of a catastrophic outbreak in the jail, if immediate action is taken,” said Chief Defender Derwyn Bunton. “Bottom line, the jail is not safe – no jail is – for anyone in it. By their very nature, jails are a dangerous place for our clients, the deputies, medical staff, and other jail personnel when it comes to COVID-19. We must do more to prevent the spread of the virus and mitigate the dangers for everyone inside the jail. We are putting hundreds of people in the direct path of the contagion the longer we wait. We are imploring the Court to take action, even as NOPD continues to arrest for nonviolent charges that could otherwise be given a summons.”
New Orleans is facing one of the highest infection rates in the world, and refusing to take action could lead to the Orleans Justice Center becoming ground zero for community infection. At the same time, the vulnerable population inside the jail will consume precious treatment resources, we can conserve these resources with immediate action. COVID-19 is uniquely contagious and uniquely deadly. This is exactly why doctors and health officials urge social distancing and isolation. Reducing the jail population reduces the overall public health risk because it allows jail officials to better utilize isolation and social distancing inside the jail, where such action is at least challenging, and at worst, impossible.
At least eight states and local court systems—in Alabama, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Washington—as well as the District of Columbia, have already taken steps to limit incarceration during this crisis.
The motion requests the release of individuals in the following categories: people with risk factors such as age or underlying health conditions making them more susceptible to COVID-19; people being held on misdemeanor charges; people being held on felony charges that are not crimes of violence and/or sex charges; people being held on just probation or parole detainers; and all people serving a sentence who are within 30 days of their release dates.
“Limiting the impact of the criminal legal system should be paramount. We need to do our part to protect our communities from the threats of COVID-19,” said Bunton. “In this moment we cannot act like some people are unimportant. Right now the message is, ‘if you are poor and unable to bond out, your health and well-being is of far less importance,’ and that is not a message that flattens any curve.”
Media Contact:
Lindsey Hortenstine
404-520-3087
| In Re Vulnerable and Non-Violent Inmates in OJC.pdf |
Washington Post: Coronavirus-Scarred Cities Need Something Bigger than the New Deal Just to Cope
In New Orleans, the city’s budget was strained after dealing with the October collapse of the Hard Rock hotel and a December cyberattack on the city’s computer systems. But a coronavirus-fueled knockout to the tourism industry has Mayor LaToya Cantrell considering layoffs and furloughs of city workers.
The pandemic also has threatened the criminal justice system. Public defense is largely funded through court fees and fines, traffic tickets and seat-belt violations. That money has all but disappeared as the city has temporarily stopped pursuing such cases. If nothing is done to replace the missing revenue, New Orleans Chief Public Defender Derwyn Bunton said he will be forced to make "hard choices" as early as May.
“We were in financial crisis in the best of days,” said Bunton, who has begun reaching out to state and federal officials seeking additional funding. “You zero us out and what looks like a crippled criminal legal system will soon not look like a criminal legal system at all."
Read the full story at Washington Post.
The Marshall Project: Coronavirus Transforming Jails Across the Country
Some sheriffs, prosecutors and defenders scramble to move people from local jails, potential petri dishes for infection.
In Houston, the massive county jail has stopped admitting people arrested for certain low-level crimes. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, people who usually spend their days fighting with each other—public defenders and prosecutors—joined forces to get 75 people released from jail in a single day. And outside Oakland, California, jailers are turning to empty hotel rooms to make sure the people they let out have a place to go.
Across the country, the coronavirus outbreak is transforming criminal justice in the most transient and turbulent part of the system: local jails. Run mostly by county sheriffs, jails hold an ever-changing assortment of people—those who are awaiting trial and cannot afford to pay bail; those convicted of low-level offenses; overflows from crowded prisons.
Even without a global pandemic, many local jails struggle to provide adequate medical care for a population that is already high-risk: many people in jails suffer from addiction or mental illness. Some have died after lax medical care for treatable illnesses.
“Basically, the shit hit the fan,” said Corbin Brewster, chief public defender of Tulsa County. “COVID-19 is just a magnifying glass for all the problems in the criminal justice system.”
Local officials’ responses have run the gamut. In the crisis of the moment, some are adopting measures long urged by criminal justice reformers: declining to prosecute or freeing people who have committed drug offenses or nonviolent crimes; releasing the sick or elderly; trying to reduce the jail population. For example, officials have been temporarily transferring some at-risk detainees to housing units in Kent, Washington, which were built to house homeless people.
But others have stuck to tough-on-crime tactics or rhetoric. The sheriff in Bristol County, near Boston, argued the incarcerated would be safer locked up, as would the public.
Because millions of people each year cycle in and out of jail, experts have long warned that these lockups have the potential to be petri dishes of infection—an assertion coronavirus will test.
