NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams vowed to address the city’s history of prosecutorial and police misconduct when he was elected four years ago. Now, however, he is under investigation by Republican lawmakers who fear he is abusing his power.
Williams, a Black Democrat in a largely conservative district, replaced a hard-line, tough-on-crime incumbent when he was elected in 2020. Since then, he’s focused on addressing what he calls the “sins of the past” in New Orleans, and in a state with one of the highest incarceration rates in the country. Conservative lawmakers and officials worry that he’s arbitrarily putting people convicted of violent crimes back on the streets, given the state’s high murder rate in recent years.
Williams’ office reports that over the past three years it has overturned convictions or reduced sentences in hundreds of cases through a process known as post-conviction relief, which allows the court to consider new evidence after all other appeals have been exhausted. Williams’ office’s groundbreaking civil rights division has reviewed old cases, leading to acquittals and releases based on constitutional violations or legal practices his office considers unjust. Critics point out that post-conviction relief has historically been used sparingly by the DA’s office.
Williams has agreed to appear before a Senate committee on Sept. 5 to discuss 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 seek post-conviction relief without the approval of the Republican attorney general. But state lawmakers had earlier in 2021 passed a law allowing district attorneys to modify sentences, even in cases without clear legal error, through post-conviction plea agreements with judges’ approval.
Since 2021, Williams’ office said it had overturned more than 140 convictions and reduced sentences in at least 180 cases through the end of May, often reducing sentences to lesser charges.
Conservative lawmakers have raised concerns that Williams’ office has acted without transparency. Attorney General Liz Murrill said she looks at these cases “closely” and warned that convictions should not be changed “just because the prosecutor has a different opinion” than the courts and the Legislature.
Williams is part of a wave of more than 50 progressive prosecutors who have tried in the past decade to lower incarceration rates and overturn past cases that may have involved constitutional violations or excessive sentences. These prosecutors have faced more opposition from ideological opponents at the state level than from the voters who elected them, usually 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 a response to a social media campaign spearheaded by Laura Rodrigue, a former prosecutor and daughter of the previous district attorney. Her advocacy group, Bayou Mama Bears, has warned that Williams is endangering public safety and has highlighted cases in which his office has resentenced or released people convicted of violent crimes.
Williams has said there was no wrongdoing in his office’s application of post-conviction relief and that he was simply following through on his campaign promises.
“This isn’t just waking up and saying, ‘Hey, let’s try something new,’” Williams said. “This is listening to the community and responding and trying to deliver.”
Williams has focused primarily on judging non-unanimous jury convictionsA 2020 Supreme Court ruling had declared those convictions unconstitutional. While the ruling did not automatically apply retroactively, Williams did not block people convicted by non-unanimous juries before 2020 from seeking post-conviction relief on those grounds.
The state is working to eliminate law enforcement practices rooted in a history of white supremacism, such as non-unanimous jury convictions, said Colin Reingold, legal director of the New Orleans-based advocacy group Promise of Justice.
According to a report from Louisiana State University, Louisiana has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country, with 1,067 incarcerated per 100,000 residents in the state. recent report of the Prison Policy Initiative.
“If incarceration were actually a public safety issue, we would be the safest place in the country, but we’re not,” said Will Snowden, a Loyola University law professor and former New Orleans prosecutor.
After the election of a Republican-dominated state government last year, the Louisiana Legislature passed a special session on crime in February and new laws were passed, including expanding the methods of execution of the death penalty and abolishing parole for most people in the future.
Republican Governor Jeffy Landry has mentioned These laws are needed to “provide real justice for victims of crime” and “create real change that makes Louisiana a safer state for everyone.”
Williams has argued that restoring trust in the criminal justice system contributes to the safety of the public. He said his office works with victims and their families as they consider cases seeking post-conviction assistance.
Despite the ongoing conflict over postconviction relief, Williams and the attorney general’s office have said they work productively together in other areas, such as addressing juvenile crime.
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Sara Cline, an Associated Press reporter 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 under-reported issues. Follow Brook on the X social platform: @jack_brook96.
