ON THE ISSUES
Susan’s Priorities
CARE
To provide for the humane, ethical, psychological, and medical treatment of incarcerated persons
RESPECT THE SIXTH AMENDMENT
End the long-derided and invasive practice of recording phone calls between attorneys and their incarcerated clients, thereby respecting the constitutional right to attorney-client privilege guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment now under increasing threat in jails and prisons across the country.
END SUBSTANDARD MEDICAL CARE
Tear up the contract with the jail’s healthcare provider, Wellpath, LLC, an organization that is the subject of long-standing criticism and dozens of public and private lawsuits in multiple states, including Louisiana, for charges of neglect, health violations and religious discrimination, and instead partner with public health organizations to provide medical care. Doing so will provide improved continuity of care as incarcerated persons return to life outside of jail.
STOP EXTRACTING WEALTH FROM THE INCARCERATED
No one should be unable to connect with their loved ones because they cannot afford the fees to accept a phone call, a process that amounts to millions of dollars each year extracted from the wallets of those who often can least afford it. Putting an end to this tax on the families of incarcerated persons is not only just, but long overdue.
SEXUAL HEALTH IS NOT OPTIONAL
No incarcerated person should be denied access to reproductive or sexual medicine. Feminine hygiene products, STI treatment, and sexual education for life outside of jail should be readily available to those incarcerated and should be offered under a public health provision model versus the existing for-profit, earnings-at-any-cost model on display at jails and prisons across the country, including in Orleans Parish.
CUSTODY
To house those experiencing loss of liberty due to sentencing, trial awaitment, or other circumstances
ENSURE GENDER-CONFIRMING HOUSING
Sex and gender are not synonymous. Housing trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming persons, in all cases, based on their sex versus gender identify has been demonstrated to put them at greater risk for harm. It is time for this harmful practice to come to an end. Incarceration should equate to loss of liberty, not loss of dignity.
HELP, NOT HANDCUFFS
The simplest way to reduce the size of the jail is to avoid increasing the number of individuals who are placed behind bars-this includes those grappling with mental illness. Close to 80 percent of those currently incarcerated at the Orleans Justice Center have mental health care needs. Opposing the construction of a new facility, known as Phase III, for the mentally ill is fundamental to providing “help, not handcuffs” to those who need it and to begin erasing the trend of prisons and jails being the largest providers of mental health services in America.
MUSIC IS NOT A CRIME
Perhaps no city is more defined by its musical traditions than New Orleans. Yet, over the years artists and musicians faced ongoing harassment for trying to make a living. Police officers, who are now barred by local ordinance from arresting street performers for non-violent offenses, have in the past resorted to arresting, ticketing, obstructing and, in some cases, jailing culture-bearers. The sheriff should refuse to participate in any effort designed to flout measures created to protect the city’s greatest asset—its culture—and refuse to take custody of artists or musicians under charges that are dubious at best.
END EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE
De-escalation tactics should be at the forefront of the sheriff’s approach to managing those in custody. Excessive use of force creates an unsafe environment for incarcerated persons and sheriff’s office employees and contractors. More training is desperately needed in how to prevent an altercation from causing severe injury or death. Residents deserve to know that the health and safety of their incarcerated loved ones, or family members who are employed through the sheriff’s office, is a matter of the highest importance.
CONTROL
Take charge of the behavior and surroundings of incarcerated persons and ensure each is safe
CREATE AN EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Studies show that earning a high school diploma helps reduce recidivism and higher levels of educational achievement further drop the risk of reincarceration, strengthens communities and changes lives. Skills training, adult education programs and GED test preparation should play a large role in occupying the time and minds of incarcerated persons for whom they would serve as a benefit.
CULTIVATE CITIZENSHIP EVEN WHILE INCARCERATED
Jails are often filled with people who remain eligible to vote, but not given sufficient access to balloting. Ignoring the conditions and treatment of the incarcerated becomes easier for politicians to do when there are no consequences for doing so on Election Day. It is time to turn the Orleans Justice Center into a voting precinct and add a polling station to the facility, ensuring that the right to vote is never abridged for those who are eligible.
RESUMÉS REDUCE RECIDIVISM
Few things disrupt or impede participation in the workforce quite like having been incarcerated. Sheriffs should do all that is humanly possible to connect those in their custody to employment opportunities before their release. American Job Centers provides job training and career development services during and after incarceration. Implementing this approach to workforce participation is a key element in reducing recidivism, boosting local and state tax rolls, and providing the dignity that comes with employment.
PREVENT IN-CUSTODY DEATHS AND VIOLENCE
No one should die while awaiting trial or because the facility in which they are housed is so unsafe that they become a victim of violence or choose to end their own lives to avoid potential or further abuse. These are the conditions under which incarcerated persons and sheriff’s office employees currently live and work at the Orleans Justice Center and it is time to bring them to an end. Trained civilian professionals should serve as crisis interrupters and develop emergency response protocols, including a revamped, more robust strategy for suicide prevention.
PROVIDE FOR FREE, OPEN VISITATION
Staying connected to family and friends is proven to reduce recidivism – there is no reason to restrict the kind of contact that will decrease the jail’s population. Unlimited visits should be part of our overall plan for criminal justice reform along with ending the punitive practice of charging visitors to park at the Orleans Justice Center. We should strive to make it as easy as possible to stay connected, stay supported, and stay out of jail.
COMPLY WITH THE CONSENT DECREE AND IMPLEMENT STRICT FINANCIAL CONTROLS
The very nature of a consent judgment implies that all parties have agreed to the terms and conditions thereof. Yet, the sheriff, after eight years of operating under the judgment, continues to struggle with the requirements of the agreement and has failed parish residents, their incarcerated loves ones and the employees of the sheriff’s office in doing so. It is time to fully comply with the consent judgment and implement strict financial oversight of the jail’s budget and expenditures, which historically have both operated as little more than a black box.