DA’s wary of justice recommendations

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Criminal justice reforms recommended by a blue-ribbon panel appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards are getting a cool reception from Louisiana prosecutors, who say the Justice Reinvestment Task Force has a case of “mission creep.”

Bayou Region district attorneys have also given the JRTF report mixed reviews. Their own practices, they say, already encompass the spirit of some recommended reforms. Like the state’s powerful Louisiana District Attorney’s Association, Joe Waitz Jr. of Terrrebonne and Cam Morvant of Lafourche expressed reservations in interviews last week about some provisions of the JRTF report and are in particular supportive of the LDAA objections to points that would mean early releases of violent offenders.


“As ministers of justice and the primary protectors of public safety in the courtroom, the District Attorneys must assure that these recommendations do not endanger the public or hinder the administration of justice,” the official LDAA response to the report reads. “Unfortunately, many of the Task Force recommendations go far beyond the group’s mission and recommend release of murderers, armed robbers, rapists, and sex offenders.”

The task force was established to find ways of reducing Louisiana’s prison population and costs associated with it.

“A chief reason Louisiana leads the nation in imprisonment is that it locks up people for nonviolent offenses far more than other states do,” the task force’s executive summary states. “The Task Force found that the state sent people to prison for drug, property, and other nonviolent offenses at twice the rate of South Carolina and three times the rate of Florida, even though the states had nearly identical crime rates. More than half of those sent to prison in 2015 had failed on community supervision. Among the rest—those sentenced directly to prison rather than probation—the top 10 crimes were all nonviolent, the most common by far being drug possession.”


The LDAA isn’t fully sold and is on record as supporting “the concept” on nine of 27 recommendations. Prosecutors as a group oppose eight and “firmly oppose” seven. More information on three more is needed, the LDAA said, before a position can be taken.

Improvement of the victim registration and notification process, expansion of alternatives to incarceration, a furlough process for inmates with serious medical needs and incentives for inmates to participate in recidivism reduction programs met LDAA favor.

Reducing the window of time for which certain prior crimes would count toward habitual offender status, the LDAA maintains, “would deprive (prosecutors) of a necessary tool to remove career criminals from (your) community.”


Check-ins with prosecutors throughout Louisiana show that all Louisiana district attorneys, while supportive of their association in general, are not always in lockstep with its positions.

The LDAA has been supportive of pre-trial intervention services, a number of which are offered by both Terrebonne and Lafourche.

“I have always been a fan of everything I can do to rehabilitate,” said Waitz. “I have started every program known to man to help rehabilitate. I have no problem reducing victimless penalties and working with the task force in that regard.”


Like the LDAA, whose response he supports, Waitz draws the line at anything that will put violent offenders back on the streets.

“I’m absolutely opposed to reducing penalties for violent criminals,” he said.

Morvant is also no stranger to diversion programs and agrees that prison is not necessarily the best course of action for non-violent offenders, but draws a line with histories of violence.


“We are the last bastion of protection for the community and so we have got to be very careful,” Morvant said. “We don’t want to let someone out to roam out community who is going to hurt people. As District Attorney of Lafourche Parish I do not want to see violent criminals lumped in with non-violent criminals being released from prison early. We have given our word to victims in the past about the sentences those individuals would receive.”

The nuances and distinctions relating to reform are very real things for prosecutors at the local level within their jurisdictions. For example, an offender serving lengthy time for a non-violent offense may have drawn such a sentence because of a violent past.

Waitz’s office has been using squeeze-plays when people prosecutors want off the streets because of violent histories come before them on non-violent crimes. Possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, or possession of weapon during a drug transaction, can be one of the prosecutorial triggers for a hard-line on plea bargains.


“My concern is lumping in people who are serving time for violent crimes or who have committed a lesser crime but have a very violent past, and treating them the same as we would somebody who was a first offender for a violent crime,” Morvant said. “People who have a history of committing violent crimes who commit a non-violent crime, I am going to go after that person.”

Likewise, freeing geriatric offenders who are ill or infirm can have a serious emotional impact on victims of some crimes decades after conviction.

Not too long ago emissaries made inquiries on behalf of Robert Melancon, a Catholic priest who drew a life sentence for aggravated rape in connection with offenses committed over many years against an altar boy in Houma. Melancon’s acts affected other victims, although he wasn’t prosecuted on those charges.


Gov. Edwards stands by the recommendations of the task force, meanwhile, and says change in Louisiana’s system is overdue.

“While Louisiana is the incarceration capital of the world, I refuse to believe that our people are inherently more sinister than in other parts of the world,” Edwards said. “For too long this has been a drain on our state resources and done little to make our cities and towns more secure. Similarly, our community policing standards are outdated and in need of modernization to help meet the new challenges law enforcement officers face daily as they protect communities across Louisiana. The agenda I am proposing is comprehensive and will allow us to keep our streets safe while shrinking our bloated prisons.”

Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc chaired the task force and has faith in findings that have garnered some broad support.


“Now is the time to act and make bold legislative changes and financial investments that will make meaningful changes to our criminal justice system,” LeBlanc said in a statement regarding the findings. “If passed, the proposed legislation will build upon and enhance the changes we have already made that are working to reduce incarceration while improving public safety at the same time.”

Terrebonne authoritiesJAMES LOISELLE | THE TIMES