New Orleans judges: funds shortfall may force mass release of indigent defendants News
New Orleans judges: funds shortfall may force mass release of indigent defendants

[JURIST] Just one month after New Orleans courts began preparations to resume trials [JURIST report], two New Orleans judges said that criminal courts may have to release as many as 4,000 indigent defendants, many of whom stand accused of felonies, due to lack of funding and resources to hire public defenders. Judges Calvin Johnson and Arthur Hunter of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court [official website] were the first to suspend prosecutions [AP report] in their courts, but they expect the other 10 judges to follow suit. On Friday, Hunter subpoenaed Louisiana Senate President Donald Hines [official website], Louisiana House Speaker Joe Salter [official website], and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin [official website] to testify at a February 23 hearing on the inadequacy of public defender funding.

Louisiana is unique, as it relies almost exclusively on local traffic tickets and parking fines to generate the revenue for the defender's office. As a result of the Hurricane Katrina disaster [JURIST news archive], the annual budget has been dropped from $2.5 million to $500,000. Public defenders represent close to 80 percent of criminal defendants in New Orleans. USA Today has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.