In 2019, law enforcement seized over $12 million in cash or private property from property owners in the state of Louisiana through a practice called civil asset forfeiture. Upon a showing that the property may have been implicated in a crime in civil court, the seizing agency can then take possession of the proceeds from...
Public safety is of paramount importance. To achieve it, those who commit a crime must be held to account. But it can’t end there. Ideally, after accountability comes restoration—and a clean slate. One of us writing this op-ed, Scott, is a former probation and parole officer. The other, Josh, is a former incarceree who has...
To quote Right on Crime’s director, Derek Cohen, “prison is for the people we’re scared of, not the people we’re mad at.” However, this is not always the case in Louisiana, where a person who commits multiple felony offenses can lose their freedom for extended periods of time — even life — regardless of how...
The 2020 Louisiana Regular Session convened with a freshman class of 46 representatives and 18 senators, with Republicans holding a majority in both chambers. A conservative, pro-business legislature brought a refreshed interest in criminal justice reforms focused on making Louisiana reentry ready. These reforms included the removal of barriers for the formerly incarcerated through expanded...