New Orleans and D.A. Jordan Office In Crime Shambles

    April 3, 2007
    Bayou Buzz
    Opinion
    By Jeff Crouere

    New Orleans is once again suffering through a bloody spate of murder and violent crime throughout the city. Yesterday, four people were murdered, increasing the murder total this year to an astounding 54, outpacing last year’s record pace. In 2006, 162 people were killed, the highest in the nation per capita and establishing New Orleans as the Murder Capital of the nation. It seems New Orleans is not about to relinquish that sad distinction anytime soon.

    The problems contributing to the murder mayhem are multi-faceted. New Orleans has leadership problems in the NOPD. Too many good officers are leaving the force and new crime strategies need to be implemented. Many of the supposed new proposals have not materialized, such as hundreds of crime cameras which were supposed to be placed throughout New Orleans.

    At the root of the problem is a broken criminal justice system. Too many criminals are being released back onto the streets of the city. For example, an Orleans Parish Judge just announced that he will exacerbate the problem later on in the month when he will release dozens of inmates from jail due to his concerns with the public defender system.

    At the root of the public safety problem in New Orleans is the horrible relationship between the NOPD and the District Attorney’s office. Police claim that they arrest hardened criminals, only to find them back on the streets committing serious crimes only days later. Judges have thrown out cases because the District Attorney’s office did not handle the case correctly or did not prepare charges in a timely fashion.

    Last year’s record of incompetence is stunning. In the 162 murder cases in New Orleans, only one person was convicted of a crime and it was for a lesser charge. Of course there are problems out of District Attorney Eddie Jordan’s control. It is difficult to provide witness protection, it is very hard to convene juries, there is a lack of adequate crime fighting facilities and court houses have not been restored post Katrina.

    However, desperate times require innovative solutions and Jordan and his staff have not provided any. His problems began at the very beginning of his tenure when he fired experienced staff members and replaced them with political friends and novices. The citizens of New Orleans lost hundreds of years of experience in the firings which have been shown to be racially discriminatory.

    Yesterday, Jordan and his attorneys were attempting to defend his actions in court. Jordan was in federal appeals court trying to overturn the 2005 jury finding that Jordan’s firings were in violation of labor laws and were racially discriminatory. A lawsuit by 43 fired workers led to a $3.4 million verdict against Jordan that is accumulating interest to this day.

    Jordan fired 53 white employees, while only 2 African-Americans were fired. Jordan fired investigators, legal assistants and clerical support staff who were experienced. These unjust firings were a devastating loss to not only his office, but to the entire city

    By throwing out experienced white employees and replacing them with political cronies in a racially discriminatory manner, Jordan did the entire city a disservice. His office has never recovered from those horrible mistakes that were made at the beginning of his term.

    Today, New Orleans is still paying a high price for Eddie Jordan’s mistakes. His office is still ineffective, disorganized, inefficient and clearly incompetent. In the Murder Capital of the nation, it is scary for a city to have such a dysfunctional District Attorney’s office. It is a tragic consequence of Eddie Jordan’s election in 2002, a mistake that will hopefully be corrected by the voters of New Orleans next year.

    Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 8:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and Noon till 2 p.m. weekdays on several Louisiana radio stations.



National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)
1660 L St., NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
(202) 872-8600 • Fax (202) 872-8690 • assist@nacdl.org