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New Orleans- The $270 Million Lockup: Will New Orleans? Sheriff Stand in the Way of Rebuilding a Smaller and Smarter Orleans Parish Prison?

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

?Yesterday, the City Council embraced the evidence-based projections, voting unanimously to decommission the old buildings and cap the new jail at 1,438 beds. This is a promising sign that New Orleans can relinquish its position as the overincarceration capital of the world to become a national leader in criminal justice reform. But Sheriff Gusman may still stand in the way. The week before the vote, Sheriff Gusman sent a letter to the council stating that he would be "unable to comply" with these limitations, and new revelations suggest that he may be able to build another jail on a neighboring lot without city approval. ? The $270 Million Lockup: Will New Orleans? Sheriff Stand in the Way of Rebuilding a Smaller and Smarter Orleans Parish Prison? New Orleans' incarceration rate is the highest in the country ? the city locks up three times more people than the national average...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on February 06, 2011 (boomark / email).