"It is not a heroic tale. It is about New Orleans."

December 9, 2019 9:18 AM

“Your Honor, Can I Tell The Whole Story?” - A murder in New Orleans, a trial that lasted less than a day, and the lives they entangled for the next three decades. Nick Chrastil at The Atavist and The Lens

Is Jackie Davis The Best Homicide Detective In New Orleans History?, Roxane Brown, Ebony, May 1991

posted by the man of twists and turns (3 comments total)

what a shit situation and what an asshole of a judge.
posted by drewbage1847 at 4:13 PM on December 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

from 2008 [found recently from a ruling by Justice Sotomayor]: Proper route for cases disputed

The allegations that the appellate court illegally denied the appeals came to light when the 5th Circuit [of Louisiana]'s chief of central staff, Jerrold Peterson, committed suicide in his office and left notes that described how he handled writ applications filed by people without attorneys on behalf of the court. The process began in February 1994 and ended May 21, 2007, with Peterson's death.

Last month, the appellate court asked the Supreme Court to allow five of its eight judges to review 299 petitions the high court has received since June, in which people convicted of crimes claim the appeals court illegally ignored their requests that their convictions be reviewed. The 5th Circuit said the five judges who will handle the cases had no hand in the process.

in short: "Wow, for 13 years, the Fifth Circuit had a secret policy to deny all appeals by pro se inmates, and only an ex-employee's suicide from the guilt brought it to light."

the real action is in the footnotes.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 12:27 PM on December 10, 2019

This was during and after the time the cops here were guarding cocaine shipments, shaking down people for bribes, murdering people who complained about them and all other manner of offenses.

The DA's, the judges, the prisons, the whole "Justice System" is one great mammon, devouring those under it's bald eye.
posted by garbhoch at 2:20 PM on December 10, 2019