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District attorney’s progressive policies face blowback from Louisiana’s conservative Legislature

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams promised to address the city’s history of prosecutorial and police misconduct when he was elected four years ago, but now he’s facing an investigation by Republican politicians who are concerned he is abusing his power.

Williams, a Black Democrat in an overwhelmingly conservative state, replaced a hard-nosed, tough-on-crime incumbent when he was elected in 2020. Since then, he’s focused on responding to what he describes as the “sins of the past” in New Orleans, and in a state which has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country. Conservative lawmakers and officials are concerned he is arbitrarily putting people convicted of violent crimes back on the streets given the state’s high homicide rates in recent years.

Over the past three years, Williams’ office reports having voided convictions or reduced sentences in several hundred cases via a process known as post-conviction relief that allows the court to consider new evidence after all other appeals have been exhausted. The landmark civil rights division of Williams’ office has reviewed old cases, leading to exonerations and plea-deal releases based on constitutional violations or legal practices his office considers unjust. Critics point out post-conviction relief was employed sparingly in the past by the district attorney’s office.

Williams has agreed to appear before a state senate committee on Sept. 5 over his office’s use of post-conviction relief.

A new law passed by a Republican-dominated Legislature earlier this year went into effect in August, effectively stripping Williams of his ability to engage in post-conviction relief without the approval of the Republican Attorney General. But state legislators had previously enacted a law in 2021 allowing district attorneys to amend sentences, even in cases without clear legal error, through post-conviction plea agreements with approval from judges.

Since 2021, Williams’ office reports as of late May having voided more than 140 convictions and reduced sentences in at least 180 cases, often re-sentencing them to lesser charges.

Conservative lawmakers have expressed concern that Williams’ office has been acting without transparency. Attorney General Liz Murrill said she is taking a “close look” at these cases and warned that convictions should not be changed “simply because the district attorney has a difference of opinion” from the courts and Legislature.

Williams is part of a wave of more than 50 progressive prosecutors who in the past decade have sought to reduce incarceration rates and review past cases where constitutional violations or excessive sentencing may have occurred. These prosecutors have more often faced blowback from ideological opponents at the state level than from the voters who elected them, typically in liberal cities with large Black populations, said Rebecca Goldstein, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

The concerns raised by Louisiana officials are largely in response to a social media campaign driven by Laura Rodrigue, a former prosecutor and daughter of the previous district attorney. Her advocacy group Bayou Mama Bears has warned Williams is endangering public safety and highlighted instances where his office resentenced or released people convicted of violent crimes.

Williams has said there has been no misconduct in his office’s use of post-conviction relief and that he is simply following through on his campaign promises.

“This is not just waking up and saying, ‘Hey, let’s try something new,” Williams said. “This is listening to the community and answering and trying to deliver.”

Williams has focused in particular on reviewing non-unanimous jury convictions. A 2020 Supreme Court ruling had declared these convictions unconstitutional. While the ruling did not automatically apply retroactively, Williams has not blocked people convicted prior to 2020 by non-unanimous juries from applying for post-conviction relief on these grounds.

The state has been in the process of reckoning with law enforcement practices rooted in white supremacist history such as non-unanimous jury convictions, said Colin Reingold, legal director of New Orleans-based advocacy group Promise of Justice.

Louisiana has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country, locking up 1,067 per 100,000 of the state’s residents, according to a recent report from the Prison Policy Initiative.

“If incarceration actually provided public safety we’d be the safest place in the country, but we’re not,” said Will Snowden, a law professor at Loyola University and former New Orleans public defender.

Following the election of a Republican-dominated state government last year, Louisiana’s Legislature convened a special session on crime in February and passed new laws, including expanding methods to carry out the death penalty and eliminating parole for most people in the future.

Republican Governor Jeffy Landry has stated these laws are necessary to “deliver true justice to crime victims” and “enact real change that makes Louisiana a safer state for all.”

Williams has maintained that rebuilding trust in the criminal justice system helps increase public safety and said his office engages with victims and their families as they consider post-conviction relief cases.

Despite the ongoing clash over post-conviction relief, Williams and the Attorney General’s office have said they are working productively together in other areas such as addressing juvenile crime.

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This story has been updated to correct that Williams is a Democrat in a conservative state, not a district.

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Associated Press journalist Sara Cline in Baton Rouge contributed to this story.

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96.



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End of Manitoba legislature session includes replacement-worker ban, machete rules

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WINNIPEG – Manitoba politicians are expected to pass several bills into law before the likely end of legislature session this evening.

The NDP government, with a solid majority of seats, is getting its omnibus budget bill through.

It enacts tax changes outlined in the spring budget, but also includes unrelated items, such as a ban on replacement workers during labour disputes.

The bill would also make it easier for workers to unionize, and would boost rebates for political campaign expenses.

Another bill expected to pass this evening would place new restrictions on the sale of machetes, in an attempt to crack down on crime.

Among the bills that are not expected to pass this session is one making it harder for landlords to raise rents above the inflation rate.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Father charged with second-degree murder in infant’s death: police

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A Richmond Hill, Ont., man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his seven-week-old infant earlier this year.

York Regional Police say they were contacted by the York Children’s Aid Society about a child who had been taken to a hospital in Toronto on Jan. 15.

They say the baby had “significant injuries” that could not be explained by the parents.

The infant died three days later.

Police say the baby’s father, 30, was charged with second-degree murder on Oct. 23.

Anyone with more information on the case is urged to contact investigators.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Ontario fast-tracking several bills with little or no debate

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TORONTO – Ontario is pushing through several bills with little or no debate, which the government house leader says is due to a short legislative sitting.

The government has significantly reduced debate and committee time on the proposed law that would force municipalities to seek permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a car lane.

It also passed the fall economic statement that contains legislation to send out $200 cheques to taxpayers with reduced debating time.

The province tabled a bill Wednesday afternoon that would extend the per-vote subsidy program, which funnels money to political parties, until 2027.

That bill passed third reading Thursday morning with no debate and is awaiting royal assent.

Government House Leader Steve Clark did not answer a question about whether the province is speeding up passage of the bills in order to have an election in the spring, which Premier Doug Ford has not ruled out.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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