Council considers measures to stop Phase III jail expansion, but it’s unclear whether they will succeed

A New Orleans City Council committee advanced one measure and discussed another on Tuesday that were both aimed at avoiding a federal court order to construct a new jail facility to house detainees with serious mental illness — a project known as Phase III. 

The council voted to advance a motion directing the City Planning Commission to study an alternative “retrofit” option to Phase III that would renovate existing space in the current jail building for just $9 million, rather than constructing an entirely new building for $51 million — about $39 million of which would be covered by FEMA funds. 

The retrofit plan has been recently championed by Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the City Council and some local criminal justice reform advocates.

But because the city’s jail has been under a federal consent decree since 2013, the decision isn’t solely up to the city government. And other parties in the consent decree litigation — including the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, the United States Department of Justice and civil rights lawyers representing the plaintiff class of people detained in the jail — have argued that the retrofit option isn’t a viable alternative.

U.S. District Judge Lance Africk, who oversees the consent decree litigation, has agreed with those parties, and ruled repeatedly that the city must move forward with Phase III.

“Judge Africk has pretty much indicated he’s only going to accept Phase III,” James Austin, a jail consultant who developed plans for the retrofit option, told council members on Tuesday. “It would be a big deal if Judge Africk said he was open to other options.”

Austin said that if all the parties came to an agreement on an alternative, Africk would likely have a change of heart. To that end, the council discussed a resolution to ask the City Attorney to request a status conference with the court overseeing the consent decree in an attempt to find consensus on an alternative to Phase III. The committee didn’t actually take a vote on the resolution, however, in part due to concerns from the public that the council was backing off its commitment to the retrofit option. Councilman Joe Giarrusso, who introduced the resolution, said he would be adding amendments to allay those concerns before it was considered by the full council. 

Read the full article here: https://thelensnola.org/2021/07/27/council-considers-measures-to-stop-phase-iii-jail-expansion-but-its-unclear-whether-they-will-succeed/