17.Nov.2011 French Quarter Graffiti — er, Crime Fighters
I’ve written recently about the NOPD program for preventing future felonies by cracking down on misdemeanors. The theory behind it is that a small percentage of the population is responsible for the majority of the crime and just diverting a few young people from pursuing this lifestyle can make a big difference in future crime [...]
22.Sep.2011 Mayor Leads Expedition Up… A Crime Summit
On Saturday, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu told an audience of nearly 2,000 activists, students, officials and relatives of murdered children that over a six month period last year, “a student at John McDonogh was more likely to be killed than a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.” Over that period, five teenagers, all John McDonogh students, [...]
13.Sep.2011 Premature Adjudication
The framers of the Constitution dealt with and were determined to prevent the tactics of tyranny. The Bill of Rights reflects this in that every mandate benefits the individual, usually by forcing government to follow strict procedures to protect these rights. When they wrote the Sixth Amendment guaranteeing a speedy trial, their intent wasn’t to [...]
09.Sep.2011 Ex-Con Job Fairs… It’s a Fair for All
We Americans love a redemption story… theoretically. We argue on chat boards for the right of athletes and actors to resume their multimillion dollar careers once they’ve “paid their debt to society.” Yet for those who didn’t win the genetics lottery we simply complain about recidivism, our own safety and then we build more prisons. [...]
25.Aug.2011 Innocence Is Not Quite What It Used To Be
Have you ever admitted guilt when you were innocent? Then I’m assuming you’re married — but don’t feel bad, it seems we’re hard-wired for this type of confession. But seriously folks…. Researchers are finding out just how easy it is to get innocent people to confess to crimes they did not commit – even if [...]
22.Aug.2011 How Much Can You Drink Before You’re Drunk?
New Orleans is a city that has always considered drinking to be a companion to living. Alcohol is paired with everything from meals and music to carpentry (truly — there’s not a right angle in the entire city). Festivals revolve around it, championships are assisted by it and tourists arrive expecting it. We as a [...]
12.Aug.2011 No One Can Hear You Scream in Cyberspace
You can’t escape the talk of how crime has made the streets unsafe. Is it common knowledge yet that you’re not safe in a virtual environment? Prolific spammer Sanford Wallace has long been an annoyance but it seems he’s found a way to upgrade to prospective criminal. Wallace is under federal indictment for allegedly stealing [...]
02.Aug.2011 From Bike Theft to Murder?
Recently I read an article in the Times Picayune which got me thinking about cycles of crimes: “NOPD approach to lesser crimes questioned by those focusing on murder rate.” At heart of the article is the NOPD’s focus on setting up stings for crimes such as bike theft and prostitution. As we all know, New [...]
14.Jul.2011 City Learns That Education is the Answer
The City of New Orleans may very well be on its way to showing that education is the key to lowering crime rates. The Times Picayune just ran a great article featuring local kids who’ve benefited from the one-on-one instruction at NOPLAY – “New Orleans Providing Literacy to All Youth” — an educational program dedicated [...]
02.Jul.2011 Justice is Slow in Coming
One of the guiding principles of every just and compassionate society is the strong protect the weak. This ideal is the bedrock of our criminal justice system when it comes to violent crimes. This is especially true when it comes to predatory sex crimes like rape and child molestation. As a society we show little [...]
I am a New Orleans Criminal defense lawyer, and the managing attorney of NOLA Criminal Law. I am a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, with over 17 years of experience as a criminal defense attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana. Please visit my website for more.
