NEW ORLEANS — The Orleans Parish District Attorney said that "701 releases" are a problem his office needs to address, but they aren't driving violent crime in the city like some are suggesting.
District Attorney Jason Williams held a press conference Thursday to lash out against what he called “erroneous and misleading” information that his office is letting people out of jail because they’re not bringing charges against them fast enough.
Williams specifically addressed reports about 701 releases, which is when an inmate can walk free after the DA’s office misses the deadline to decide on formal charges. The so-called 701 releases have become a political flashpoint as New Orleans grapples with a surge in violent crime.
Williams said that the 701 numbers from 2021 aren’t due to new progressive policies in the DA’s office, but a breakdown of the entire system, including COVID challenges, court closures, a rise in domestic violence cases and victims not cooperating with his office.
“I don’t care what the challenges are. I don’t care what the obstacles are— this office has to work within its existing budget to knock those obstacles down,” he said.
The DA plans to restructure his office, making some leadership changes, moving more people to screen cases and paying ADA’s overtime to screen more cases. He also plans to meet with NOPD more often for charging conferences on armed robberies and carjacking. Williams said they typically only meet on homicide cases.
At the end of the day, Williams says his department is too understaffed to handle the current caseload.
“More crime means more cases, which means more human beings to handle these cases,” Williams said. “I must re-urge the request I have made to the city council and to the mayor to fund our request for more lawyers.”
No matter what restrictions he’s facing, Williams admitted that his office is part of the problem and changes need to be made. His goal is to meet his campaign promise of screening cases in just five days, but he admits the district attorney’s officeis a long way off from that goal.
Even if he does meet that goal, Williams says the New Orleans crime problem won’t suddenly disappear.
“The folks who are frustrated, are rightfully frustrated. I am frustrated as a citizen. This is no way to live. And so, when someone says, well, yeah, this is the DA’s fault. Some of it is my fault. There are a lot of other shoulders that bear responsibility for dealing with the circumstances we’re in right now,” he said. “Whether because of the lockdown, housing insecurity, food insecurity, root causes of crime. There are a lot of things that have to be addressed, but, at the end of the day, the bullet has been fired before the DA’s office or the police office is called into action.”