By David Jacobs | The Center Square 15 hrs ago
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FILE - Prison, jail, inmates
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(The Center Square) – Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Johnson is asking district judges to minimize the number of people in parish jails in hopes of restricting the spread of COVID-19.
In a letter issued Thursday, Johnson urged judges to work with prosecutors, public defenders and sheriffs to conduct a “risk-based assessment of all detainees.”
For those charged with misdemeanor crimes other than domestic abuse battery, she favors a “nominal bail amount” or release with an order to appear in court at a future date. For those convicted of a misdemeanor, judges should consider a release with supervised probation, Johnson says.
Johnson suggests reducing bail obligations for people charged with a nonviolent offenses. For other types of charges, courts still could “re-examine the nature of the offense and criminal history, if any, to determine if any bail revisions are appropriate.”
Johnson says judges should confer with the Department of Probation and Parole to consider alternatives to detention for parole violations. And she urges law enforcement to consider issuing summons and citations for misdemeanors and nonviolent offenses in lieu of arrest.
The ACLU of Louisiana applauded Johnson’s requests, which are consistent with the organization’s call to reduce prison and jail populations to protect public health amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Public health experts have been warning that our prisons and jails could become powder kegs of this disease, putting additional strain on our hospitals and endangering millions of lives,” said Alanah Odoms Hebert, ACLU of Louisiana’s executive director.
LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — A 31-year-old Louisiana woman is accused of stealing more than $175,000 from the local nonprofit she was working for, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
A news release said Meaghan J. Boudreaux of Sulphur transferred $169,000 from the organization’s account to her personal account between January 2019 and November 2020, and also added herself to the organization’s insurance plans without having premiums deducted from her pay.
The sheriff’s office said it began investigating Dec. 10, after the organization filed a complaint saying that an auditor had found questionable transactions after Boudreaux stopped reporting to work.
She turned herself in on Dec. 21, was arrested on a charge of theft of at least $25,000, and was released on $50,000 bond, the statement said.
Sheriff’s office spokeswoman Kayla Vincent says she does not know whether Boudreaux has an attorney who could speak for her. An online search did not turn up a phone number for Boudreaux at the address given by the sheriff’s office. A text message requesting comment from a Meaghan Boudreaux at a different address in Sulphur was not immediately answered.
