Yesterday was a big day in New Orleans for advocates of criminal justice and mental healthcare reform, especially the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC). A crowd of community advocates spoke in opposition to the construction of a new Phase III jail for inmates with mental health problems at the city council meeting. These advocates […]
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 […]
People suffering from mental health issues in New Orleans deserve help not handcuffs. They need professionals with mental health training, not guns, to provide them with medical care that will solve the problems they are dealing with, not worsen them. Adults with untreated severe mental health issues generate one in ten calls to the police […]
State Representative Royce Duplessis was adamant on changing what he considered bad policy when he drafted HB 216, known in juvenile justice circles as the Debt Free Justice legislation. If passed, it would eliminate all administrative fees, costs and taxes levied on juvenile offenders statewide. The legislation does not do away with punitive fines or […]
Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) is working to end cash bail and make jails in New Orleans more humane. Established in 2004, OPPRC is a grassroots group of individuals who work to improve the conditions of those held in Orleans Parish detention. The group works to reduce incarceration and create more humane jail conditions. […]
The vote follows the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition’s months-long push to ban the use of the chemical weapon and years of advocating against jail expansion. New Orleans, LA, September 17, 2020—The Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) has put out the following statement after today’s City Council meeting, where council members unanimously voted to […]
The Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) delivered a selection from over 700 letters written by members to consent decree overseers Judge Lance M. Africk and Magistrate Michael B. North last week, urging them to halt progress on the “Phase III” expansion of the Orleans Parish jail. The 89-bed expansion was originally meant to house […]
“We must reinvest those funds in our city’s non-carceral infrastructure, and allocate proper funding to support education, housing, and community wellness.” New Orleans, LA, August 10, 2020—On Monday, the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) delivered hundreds of community letters to Judge Lance M. Africk and Magistrate Michael B. North urging the federal judges to stop […]
“If it takes a village to raise a child, it certainly takes a movement to undo an occupation.” -Ruth Wilson Gilmore Since 2004, the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) — which includes Women With A Vision, Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children, Voice of the Experienced, and New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial […]
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