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Clancy: Getting elected is easy, fulfilling campaign promises is the hard part

Susan Hutson's big win against Sheriff Marlin Gusman will have long-range impact on the city's criminal justice system.

NEW ORLEANS — Progressive voters redefined the city's political landscape in recent years, most recently by electing former Independent Police Monitor Susan Hutson as the new sheriff. Hutson joins District Attorney Jason Williams as a champion of criminal justice reform.

But getting elected is the easy part. The hard part is turning campaign promises into practical realities — and real improvements. Hutson will oversee a troubled jail that for almost a decade has been under a federal consent decree. She'll have to convince a judge to modify his order to build a free-standing health care unit.

And in the long run, she, Williams and others will have to make New Orleans safer. Because that's what people want, and expect, most of all.

RELATED: Watchdog report says Orleans DA's office pursuing fewer violent offenders

RELATED: Susan Hutson defeats long-time Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman

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