NEW ORLEANS — In June, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson brought the criminal justice system to a screeching halt when she pulled all of her deputies from courthouse security duty, forcing the building to close, wiping out that day’s docket.
After immediate protests from other justice officials, Hutson re-instated the deputies by the next day. But over the past few weeks, the sheriff’s shortage of deputies has once again dramatically slowed the pace of justice at criminal court.
This time, according to documents obtained exclusively by WWL-TV, Sheriff Hutson is citing the deputy shortage as the reason she can only bring incarcerated defendants to court two times a week for each of the 12 sections of court.
“Pre-COVID, we had 14 transport deputies that would bring jail residents to court on a daily basis,” Hutson wrote to the judges in a letter dated Sept. 15. “Currently OPSO has 5 transport deputies.”
Not only does each section of court get inmates brought to court only twice a week, the number of inmates each trip has been reduced to six at a time. It used to be more than twice that number.
“OPSO’s staffing levels are at critically dangerous lows…I know that you experience these deficiencies in real time as you execute your vital role in our system,” Hutson wrote.
Hutson goes on to write that she is having daily meetings on how to re-deploy deputies to service the court, but the letter does not propose any solutions or timetable.
Rafael Goyeneche of the non-profit Metropolitan Crime Commission believes that not only is Hutson creating bigger headaches for the sheriff’s office down the road, she is possibly in violation of state law.
“It doesn't get more fundamental than the sheriff in charge of the jail bringing the inmates to court,” Goyeneche said. “It doesn't mean she has to transport them to other cities. It means bringing them one block from her custody in the jail to the courthouse.”
Goyeneche and others say fewer inmates means fewer court hearings, and those delays can keep more inmates in the local jail longer, expanding the jail population and exacerbating the existing deputy shortage.
Hutson’s letter to the judges was in response to an invitation for the sheriff to meet with them at one of their weekly “en banc” meetings. Hutson declined the invitation, stating that “before I speak with the entire Criminal Court, I would rather have a plan to address the concerns.”
Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:5539 dictates that all sheriffs “shall execute all writs, orders, and process of the court or judge thereof directed to him.” Goyeneche believes that those processes include bringing inmates to court.
“The due process rights of those inmates are being delayed and denied by her policies, contrary to state law,” he said.
City Council President Helena Moreno agrees.
“I think it's going to be real problematic for the sheriff based on the fact that she's likely violating the law,” Moreno said.
Moreno said she has been trying to work with top officials in the sheriff’s office to find solutions. She said the council is open to giving the sheriff more money in the mid-year budget cycle, but while other criminal justice agencies have submitted proposals on why they need more funding, the sheriff has not.
“Other cogs in the criminal justice wheel certainly are in line to get additional funding during this mid-year, we can't seem to get her numbers correct and straight to see if we can work this out as well,” Moreno said.
With recent data already showing an uptick in the jail population, Goyeneche believes those numbers will continue to increase as the NOPD beefs up patrols and makes more arrests.
There are 217 homicide cases waiting to be tried, Goyeneche said, along with more than 700 violent felony or gun cases. If more court cases are delayed because defendants aren’t brought to court, Hutson will find herself in an even worse predicament.
“It's going to create even more staffing issues for the sheriff,” Goyeneche said.
WWL-TV reached out to Sheriff’s Office spokesman Philip Stelly for comment, but he said the office had nothing to add beyond what Hutson wrote in the letter to the judges.