District Attorney Fights Inmate Releases

    May 7, 2007
    The Times Picayune
    By Gwen Filosa

    Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan said Monday his office will fight all attempts by a local judge to release poor inmates awaiting trial without court-appointed attorneys.

    "No one will be released," said Jordan, outside the criminal district courthouse Monday, moments after Judge Arthur Hunter issued yet another ruling that finds the public defender system in a crisis with too many clients and not enough money or time to adequately defend people.

    "This crisis not only violates the civil rights of indigent defendants, it has now become a violation of human rights," Hunter said, ruling from the bench.

    But the appellate courts have not allowed Hunter's ruling, which includes releasing 36 poor suspects locked up at the parish prison, to take effect. The release from jail does not mean the charges disappear, Hunter noted.

    That's because releasing suspected criminals is not the answer to the dearth of attorneys available to take on poor people's cases, said Jordan, who added that everyone in jail has had a chance to go before a judge to determine an appropriate bond.

    "The solution is not to release anyone," said Jordan. "This process of releasing everyone circumvents the whole bonding process."

    Instead of release, Jordan said, the court system must seek out attorneys in New Orleans to pitch in.

    Hunter on Monday also announced that his Section K courtroom will begin drafting private lawyers from New Orleans to represent poor inmates. Having already exhausted a list of volunteers from the private bar since he started assigning them to cases on April 27, Hunter issued forms to dozens of men and woman Monday who arrived at court to answer to criminal charges without attorneys, saying they cannot afford one.

    Defendants wrote down their names and addressed on the forms and turned them into Hunter's staff -- a first at Tulane and Broad, legal observers said.

    "Simply appointing a private attorney does not appear to be the solution," Hunter wrote in his ruling. "And it is clear the appointment of private attorneys will present the court with the same problem facing the public defender's office -- inadequate funding."

    Hunter plans to assign private practice attorneys to poor defendants on his docket by June 8.

    The typical rate in federal court for such an attorney who takes on a poor person's case is about $92 an hour.

    Jordan, however, said he is grateful that only one of the 13 judges at Tulane and Broad has supported releasing poor inmates from jail while their cases play out in court.

    "Obviously, we only have one judge making these decisions," Jordan told reporters Monday. "Apparently, (the public defender program) are able to provide adequate representation in other sections of court."

    The poor defendants that Hunter wants released from jail face charges that vary widely, from drug possession to prostitution. But Jordan said he doesn't care what the alleged crimes are.

    "I consider all crimes serious," Jordan said. "Whether it's drugs or an alleged theft, they are all serious."



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