The name “Orleans Parish Prison” still stirs outrage in New Orleans, even after its rebranding as the Orleans Justice Center. From the abandonment of inmates during Hurricane Katrina to the federal consent decree still in place today, the jail has long symbolized the city’s deep-rooted failures around incarceration, mental health, and racial justice. Big Easy […]
In February of this year, The Lens Nola published an article entitled After George Floyd's murder, the New Orleans City Council created a committee to hear from 'historically marginalized communities.' It never met. The committee was formed, in part, as a response to the request by local social justice advocates to examine how the city's resources […]
It was chilly Saturday morning at 2:00 a.m. when my neighbor looked outside and saw a white-haired man with only one leg trying to use his walker as a wheelchair. The man appeared agitated and was being harassed by teenagers. Thinking he could probably take care of himself, my neighbor went back to sleep. About […]
Bruce Reilly, J.D., Vice President of Voice of the Experienced VOTE took to social media last weekend to criticize ANTIGRAVITY Magazine for a story about the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition’s (OPPRC) Help Not Handcuffs (HNH) campaign that was based on misinformation. Help Not Handcuffs is an effort to create a non-police crisis response team—often […]
Leaders of OPPRC reached out to their supporters yesterday to correct any misconceptions members might have had about the Help Not Handcuffs (HNH) campaign based on inaccurate information published in a recent article in by Antigravity Magazine, which touched on issues surrounding Orleans Parish Prison New Orleans. OPPRC's Sade Dumas voiced strong concerns about the […]
The Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) today moved one step closer to their goal of creating a non-police crisis response unit. By unanimous vote, the New Orleans City Council established an advisory task force that will create a model for crisis response. Council President Helena Moreno authored the resolution to create the task force. […]
City Councilmember Jay Banks pledged Saturday to support "Help Not Handcuffs," a non-police crisis response alternative currently being advocated by the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC). "You have a partner in me," Banks told a standing-room only crowd including many District B residents. "I am committed to doing what I can to make this […]
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