By Matt Sledge and Lea Skene | Nola.com | April 25, 2020 A federal judge made his dismay plain this week after he surveyed the conditions inside a state prison in Washington Parish with at least 29 confirmed coronavirus cases. Nearly 80 prisoners were sleeping in bunks an arm’s length apart in the Rayburn Correctional…
By Matt Sledge and Jeff Adelson l Nola.com I April 11, 2020 New Orleans residents are calling 911 a hundred fewer times each day since the city shut down to halt the novel coronavirus, with crime reports falling in major categories like homicides, robberies, carjackings, auto burglaries and thefts. Serious crime stats have dropped in…
By Matt Sledge l Nola.com I April 6, 2020 Three days after a reputed 6th Ward gang leader was released from jail — in part because of the danger posed to inmates by the novel coronavirus — he was shot dead on the block where police accused him of peddling heroin. The Sunday afternoon death of 33-year-old Glynn…
By Mike Perlstein l WWLTV I April 6, 2020 NEW ORLEANS — Due to the threat of the coronavirus, the accused leader of a New Orleans drug gang was released from jail Thursday on a recognizance bond, a form or release requiring no money. Glynn McCormick’s release came less than two years after his original…
By Matt Sledge and Mike Perlstein l Nola.com and WWLTV I March 30, 2020 The commander and three members of an Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office internal investigations unit abruptly resigned on Friday. The departures came amid an internal investigation into irregularities involving work hours and private employment, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the…
By Mike Perlstein l WWLTV I March 30, 2020 The commander and three veteran investigators of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office internal investigations unit abruptly resigned Friday amid an internal investigation into irregularities involving their work hours and time spent away from the office, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation. The resignations…
NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser of the District of Louisiana today urged the public to report suspected fraud schemes related to COVID-19 (the Coronavirus) by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) hotline (1-866-720-5721) or to the NCDF e-mail address disaster@leo.gov. In coordination with the Department of Justice, Attorney General William…
By Sam Hanna Jr. | The Franklin Sun | March 4, 2020 While tort reform is expected to dominate the headlines in the regular legislative session that begins next week, it isn’t the only hot topic the Legislature will entertain. Among the 1,120 bills that lawmakers pre-filed in the House and Senate as of close…
By Andrea Gallo and John Simerman | Advocate | March 2, 2020 Louisiana’s judges have promised the Legislature over and over again that they can clean up their own scandals and hold themselves to an ethical standard that instills respect from the public. But if the bills pre-filed for the upcoming legislative session are any…
By John Simmerman and David Hammer | Nola.com | February 18, 2020 Some of the New Orleans city building inspectors who signed off at key points of the construction of the Hard Rock Hotel before it pancaked and collapsed on Oct. 12, killing three laborers, do not appear to have been properly certified for the…