Lift up, don't lock up New Orleans
Here's the message we sent to our members. After you’ve read it, please add your voice.
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Last February, New Orleans' ColorOfChange members, in partnership with the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana and the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition, secured a monumental victory for the city's future when the City Council voted unanimously to stop the construction of an outrageous 5,800-bed prison and cap the size of Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) at 1438 beds.1
This marked a major step in reforming New Orleans' criminal justice system. However, a critical component to maintaining this progress is ending the per diem funding system--a policy that pays the Sheriff to lock up more residents for more days.
New Orleans is the only major city in the United States that funds its jail based on a per diem system2, billing the city $22.39 for every individual held at OPP per day.3 And, much like the model for private prisons, this has created a perverse incentive to keep more people in jail on a daily basis--more prisoners for more days equals more money for the Sheriff's budget. Can you join us and thousands of New Orleans residents calling on Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the City Council to reject per diem funding for OPP in the City's budget and invest in the city's real needs and priorities? It takes just a moment:
http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/OPPperdiem/
Like cities across the country, New Orleans is facing a fiscal crisis, with valuable social services and programs for youth and families the most threatened by impending budget cuts. Yet, the criminal justice system makes up 61% of the city's general fund in the proposed 2012 budget while services for children and families are just 3%.4
Allowing the per diem funding system to continue would subvert the tremendous public support for a smaller jail and block any serious re-investment from incarceration-based policies toward public services and infrastructure. The Mayor and the Council have all agreed that the per diem system should be ended. However, they haven’t yet demonstrated the leadership needed to make this happen. In ending the per diem system, taxpayer dollars can be saved for programs and services that will actually improve public safety.
Your voice can help. Please join thousands of New Orleanians in telling Mayor Landrieu and the City Council that the city's future lies in investing in, not locking up, our communities. And when you do, please ask your friends and neighbors to do the same.
http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/OPPperdiem/
Thanks and Peace,
-- Rashad, James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
May 21st, 2012
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References
1. "Smaller jail is approved by New Orleans City Council," Times-Picayune, 02-03-2011
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/02/smaller_jail_is_approved_by_ne.html
2. "DOJ calls conditions at OPP Unconstitutional," Louisiana Justice Institute, 09-12-11
http://louisianajusticeinstitute.blogspot.com/2011/09/two-years-after-doj-calls-conditions-at.html
3. "Sheriff clashes with New Orleans City Council over prison costs," Times-Picayune, 06-29-11
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/06/sheriff_clashes_with_no_city_c.html
4. "NOCOG's Guide to the City Council 2012 Budget Hearings," New Orleans Coalition on Open Governance
http://www.nocog.org/New_Orleans_Coalition_On_Open_Governance/Home.html