Congressman Carter and DA Williams Announce $2.3M+ in Federal DOJ Grants to Orleans Parish Civil Rights Division
NEW ORLEANS, L.A. –Today, Congressman Troy Carter joined District Attorney Williams, Louisiana State Representative Royce Duplessis and several advocates and stakeholders to announce more than $2.3 million in federal grant funding from the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).
Awarded specifically to the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Civil Rights Division (CRD), these funds will be used both to advance these leaders’ shared goal of increasing safety and delivering justice for the people of New Orleans. These grants, among other actions, will allow the District Attorney’s office to increase DNA testing and cold case investigations in order to identify the correct violent perpetrators and restore trust in the criminal legal system.
Managed by the BJA, the four grants were awarded by four funding programs including 1.) Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence, 2.) Emmett Till Cold Case Investigations and Training and Technical Assistance, 3.) Innovations in Reentry Initiative: Building System Capacity & Testing Strategies to Reduce Recidivism and 4.) Upholding the Rule of Law and Preventing Wrongful Convictions Site Based and Training and Technical Assistance.
Congressman Troy A. Carter Sr. spoke at the press conference and shared the following statement:
“I am proud to have played a role in securing for over $2.3 million in federal grants for New Orleans that will help us achieve our goals of building safer communities, advancing justice, and holding wrongdoers accountable within our criminal justice system.
“These grants will advance the District Attorney’s office’s ability to protect the public and deliver justice by increasing DNA testing, reviving cold case investigations and more.
“When crimes go unsolved, and innocent people are put in prison, people lose faith in the criminal justice system and criminals believe they can act with impunity. We cannot let this stand.
“That’s why I am proud to have assisted in providing resources to assist in clearing our DNA testing backlog, investigate cold cases and prevent wrongful convictions.
“Alongside programs to reduce recidivism, these resources will expand law enforcement’s capacity, stretch taxpayer dollars, and will protect the community while ensuring the justice system is truly providing justice.
“I am also so proud that these grants will aid people as they re-enter society after incarceration having served their sentence.
“I would like to thank Chad Sanders for being here on behalf of the First 72, an organization that does such great work ensuring the formally incarcerated not only don’t reoffend, but become successful members of society.
“One of these grants will create a task force that will be responsible for reentrants who have been released as a result of the efforts by the Civil Rights Division.
“Those who have spent longer times incarcerated may be in need of enhanced services to address specific needs – this task force will tackle those issues and help reduce recidivism, bring workers back into the economy, and save taxpayer dollars.
“From both moral and policy perspectives, helping people find jobs, re-join communities, and avoid recidivism, is the right thing to do.
“I am proud to have advocated with the Biden administration for these grants and grateful that they have been awarded to New Orleans.
“I know public safety is top of mind for the people of this great city and of the Second Congressional District, and it’s my number one issue as well.
“I will continue to partner with local, state and federal officials to help bring resources and supports to southeast Louisiana, and will continue to support policies that both improve public safety and continue to infuse greater justice into our judicial systems.
“Thank you, DA Williams, State Rep. Duplessis, Chief Maw, Andrew Hudley, Chad Sanders, and all of the other officials, government staff and advocates, for all that you do to make our communities safer and more just.
“I look forward to doing all I can at the federal level to support your critical on-the-ground work.”
More details on these federal grants are below:
POST CONVICTION DNA TESTING OF EVIDENCE PROGRAM
Totaling $574,636, OPDA received a three-year grant from the BJA’s Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence program to support the office’s work around DNA testing in postconviction review of violent felony offenses and ascertaining accurate evidence to secure the correct conviction. Supported by Congressman Troy Carter and State Representative Royce Duplessis, these funds will ultimately elevate the office’s work of 1.) securing real justice for victims by ensuring that the people who have caused serious harm are accurately identified and held accountable and 2.) delivering justice for those wrongly-convicted.
For more on the BJA’s Postconviction Testing of DNA Evidence program, please visit bja.ojp.gov or click here.
EMMETT TILL COLD CASE INVESTIGATIONS AND TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Totaling $500,000, OPDA received a three-year grant from the BJA’s Emmett Till Cold Case Investigations And Training And Technical Assistance program to launch and implement the Undoing Jim Crow Cold Cases Initiative. Supported by Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, State Representative Royce Duplessis, Southern University Law Center Professor Angela Bell and Xavier University of Louisiana Professor Helen Malmgren, the purpose of this initiative is to review, investigate and prosecute unsolved homicide cold case murders, occurring before 1980, suspected of having been racially motivated. Also, the initiative will include support for victims’ families and stakeholders impacted by these cases.
UPHOLDING THE RULE OF LAW AND PREVENTING WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS SITE BASED AND TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Totaling $300,000, OPDA received a two-year grant from the BJA’s Upholding The Rule Of Law And Preventing Wrongful Convictions Site Based And Training And Technical Assistance program. Studies show that public safety is not improved when someone is wrongly-convicted. In fact, it decreases public safety because the real perpetrator is left to reoffend and the public doesn’t trust that the criminal legal system can accurately hold people accountable. And as the city with the most exonerations, New Orleans has seen the adverse impacts of countless wrongful convictions first hand. To increase public safety by improving public trust, this grant will support the office’s work around identifying and undoing wrongful convictions in New Orleans. Specifically, the OPDA launch and implement the Orleans Parish Conviction Accuracy and Integrity Project: Orleans Parish Justice Project with Innocence Project New Orleans (IPNO). With the ultimate goal of making neighborhoods safer, the project will tackle past harms head on and ensure that the OPDA and other law enforcement agencies don’t cause future harm.
INNOVATIONS IN REENTRY INITIATIVE: BUILDING SYSTEM CAPACITY & TESTING STRATEGIES TO REDUCE RECIDIVISM
Totaling $1 million, the OPDA received a four-year grant from the BJA’s Innovations In Reentry Initiative: Building System Capacity & Testing Strategies To Reduce Recidivism program. In DA Williams first year in office, the OPDA began saving the state approximately $5 million in tax payer dollars annually by vacating the sentences of nearly 100 people who had been wronged or forgotten by the criminal legal system. With each of those people having served more than 20 years of a life or life equivalent sentence, the OPDA recognized the need for appropriate reentry support and services to ensure they are appropriately reoriented back into society. In partnership with the First 72+ and the Louisiana Parole Project, this grant will support the convening of a task force that will be responsible for reentrants who have been released as a result of the work of the CRD. This grant is expected to serve a population of reentrants who have typically spent more time incarcerated than the average reentry client and will be in need of enhanced services to address specific needs.
The OPDA’s mission is, and will always be, to increase safety and deliver justice. These grant opportunities help the OPDA’s work of creating safer communities by helping the office to rebuild public trust. Through countless wrongful convictions and unethical behavior, the community trust in the OPDA has been damaged. Studies show that in order to make safer neighborhoods and families, community engagement is paramount. The goal is to use each of these grants to create trust in the OPDA by showing community that this office is focused on being fair and building a criminal legal system that serves all people.
For more on these funding programs, please visit bja.ojp.gov.
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