Criminal Justice Reform LA
The Fight for Criminal Justice Reform in Louisiana
The incarceration rate of people in Louisiana compared to the rest of the United States, and other advanced countries, is staggering. The incarceration rate in Louisiana is 1,052 per 100,000 people, including prisons, jails, immigration detention, and juvenile justice facilities.
The chart below tells the story in blunt detail:
As is true across this country, a significant percentage of the incarcerated persons have not been convicted of a crime. They sit behind bars because of pretrial detention and the inability to pay money bail. The U.S. jail population has tripled in the last 30 years based on these policies.
Most people who cannot pay bail are in jail on misdemeanors such as DUI’s and small amounts of marijuana. Failure to pay bail results in job loss, which results in the inability to pay rent, make car payments, etc. The cost of these policies does not just impact persons charged with crimes; it significantly impacts everyone in society.
In 2020 the ACLU of Louisiana issued a comprehensive report entitled “Justice Can’t-Wait” detailing the pre-trial incarceration system in Louisiana. The report may be found at
A disproportionate number of incarcerated individuals are Black and Brown. The report found that the pretrial incarceration rate in Louisiana is 3 times the national average and the highest of any state since 1970. 50% of the people sitting in jail had been arrest for non-violent offenses, and the average person sat in jail for 5-1/2 months without a trial or conviction.
Key Findings of were summarized in the report (link above) as follows:
Rideshare2Vote stands as an ally with the ACLU of Louisiana in its fight for criminal justice reform. We know that just one of the ways that voter suppression happens is by criminalizing people and keeping them from having the right to vote.
In addition to working on legislation to reduce the number of people sitting in detention while the wait for trial, the ACLU of Louisiana is also pressing elected officials to make police more accountable. They are also focusing on “prosecutorial accountability” – holding district attorneys accountable when they overly prosecute Black and Brown communities. Color of Change (https://colorofchange.org/) is another organization working hard to elect District Attorneys throughout the U.S. who will implement more just policies for Black Defendants, and then hold them accountable after election.
Finally, ACLU of Louisiana has filed suit to challenge the mass and unlawful detention of thousands of immigrants and asylum-seekers warehoused in horrible conditions in private prisons.
Upcoming Special Election in Louisiana
March 20, 2021 is an important Special Election in Congressional Districts 5 and 2 in Louisiana to fill two open seats for Congress. The persons elected to these seats will have an impact on the direction Louisiana goes as it relates to criminal justice reform. Rideshare2Vote understands the intersection between criminal justice reform and voting. That is why we are on the ground in Louisiana. We will be there to take marginalized voters to vote – free of charge. https://rideshare2vote.com/
