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BATON ROUGE 鈥� On the heels of a public opinion poll showing broad bipartisan support for Louisiana鈥檚 2017 Justice Reinvestment Package, hundreds of criminal justice advocates descended on the Capitol today for Louisianans for Prison Alternatives鈥� (LPA) lobby day, culminating in an outdoor rally on the capitol steps.
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LPA is fighting to protect and build on Louisiana鈥檚 , which has reduced the state鈥檚 prison population while saving taxpayer money and reinvesting those dollars into initiatives that reduce crime. A recent LSU survey showed that 70 percent of Louisianans now support the justice reinvestment package, up 9 percentage points from 2018.听
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This year advocates are pushing for sensible, data-driven reforms that will build on this progress. Specifically, , which is scheduled to be heard Tuesday in the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee, would remove nonviolent offenses from the state鈥檚 Habitual Offender Statute, helping to prevent people from being condemned to extreme prison sentences for minor offenses. The coalition is also continuing to press to to create reasonable opportunities for people serving long sentences to apply for parole.
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Members of LPA were joined by state representatives Randal Gaines, Royce Duplessis, and Pat Smith.
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鈥淲e need to put in place policies that give hope to our people,鈥� said Rep. Randal Gaines, who is sponsoring HB 518. 鈥淲e have to address the problems, not the consequences.鈥�
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鈥淟ouisiana鈥檚 historic criminal justice reform package is making our communities stronger and safer 鈥� but more work must be done to reduce our bloated prison population and reverse the tide of mass incarceration,鈥� said Alanah Odoms Hebert, ACLU of Louisiana executive director. 鈥淏y abolishing Jim Crow juries in November, Louisiana spoke loud and clear that they want their elected officials to prioritize people, not prisons.鈥澨�
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鈥淭housands of families across Louisiana have someone dealing with the inhumane punishments and senseless discriminations based on criminal convictions,鈥� said Kiana Calloway, an organizer for Voice of the Experienced. 鈥淲e are residents of every parish, and voters in every district, who only last year ended the non-unanimous jury crafted under Jim Crow. We need our Legislature to continue embracing the value of building us up rather than tearing us down.鈥�
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鈥淚n 2017, we helped pass 10 bills that lowered Louisiana's incarceration rate,鈥� said John Burkhart, field director for the 澳彩开奖 Action Fund. 鈥淲e returned last year in 2018 to defend what we passed the year before, and we successfully defeated several efforts to roll back justice reinvestment. And this year we're back. We are back to defend what we've done. We're back to roll it even further up the hill. We have a lot of fights behind us, and we have a lot more in front of us.鈥�
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is a statewide coalition that brings together a diverse group of stakeholders 鈥� from crime survivors to formerly incarcerated people to community advocates 鈥� working toward reducing Louisiana鈥檚 prison population, improving public safety and dramatically lowering the tax burden of the state鈥檚 criminal justice system.听