N.O. DA, Council continue to spar over domestic violence cases
16th December 2019 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
After two weeks of friction and barbs between the Orleans Parish District Attorney and members of the New Orleans City Council over the prosecution of domestic violence cases, Mary Claire Landry just wants everyone to move on.
Landry, the executive director of the New Orleans Family Justice Center, has grown weary of the controversy surrounding the City Council’s criticism of the DA for allegedly ignoring domestic violence cases.
“I just want us to move on from this,” Landry told The Louisiana Weekly last week. “All the finger-pointing is not helpful for anyone.”
Just exactly who got what wrong and when regarding the bickering over domestic-violence prosecution continues to develop, but following an apparently productive Dec. 6 tete-a-tete between DA staffers and representatives from the NOFJC and UWSELA, all parties appear willing to work together to find ways to better protect and defend victims of domestic violence.
Despite some lingering defensiveness and sarcastic passive-aggression traded between all involved, everyone involved said last week that they are willing and able to hold domestic abusers accountable.
“We take these and all our criminal cases very seriously, and [we] evaluate each one for potential prosecution based on its individual merits,” Cannizzaro said in a follow-up press release issued Dec. 11 that combined further potshots at the City Council with passionate defense of his office’s record on domestic-violence cases.
“We are transparent in our procedures, and [we] could have explained them fully to uninformed Council leaders, had we been invited to participate in a legitimate discussion,” Cannizzaro added, swiping snarkily at Councilmembers.
“Domestic violence prosecutions rely almost entirely upon the willingness of the victim to cooperate and appear throughout the prosecutorial process,” he added. “That is reality, and it is not ‘victim-blaming’ to state that fact. If our politicians would do their part and allocate funding commensurate to their on-camera concerns, the system could improve. But until that happens, we welcome the advocates’ support of our endeavors to find alternatives to prosecution that might keep families safely together, when possible. And to enhancing services for victims when it is not.”
In a parallel release issued Dec. 10, the UWSELA and NOFJC acknowledged that representatives from their organizations became better-informed on the issue following their meeting with the DA Dec. 6, but the release also expressed on-going concerns of prosecution of domestic-violence cases and of the treatment of victims.
“Following a three-hour meeting last Friday between representatives of United Way of Southeast Louisiana, the New Orleans Family Justice Center and District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office, we came away with a deeper understanding of the procedures, protocols and challenges faced by those who prosecute domestic violence offenders in New Orleans,” the release said.
The release also questioned the numbers Cannizzaro had given in defense of his offense, asserting that the full picture isn’t as simple as it seems.
“We were pleased to learn that each and every domestic violence case brought to prosecutors by police is individually screened and evaluated on its own merits,” it stated. “However, we were concerned to know that, there are only three assistant district attorneys covering seven sections of municipal court, each handling about 1,500 misdemeanor cases respectively.”
UWSELA president and CEO Michael Williamson followed up the press release with a statement to The Louisiana Weekly.
“Our release demonstrates the bipartisan, collaborative approach United Way employs on all public policy issues – and this instance is no different,” he said last week. “The safety and well-being of domestic violence survivors is our primary interest, and we can only provide the necessary protections when we work collaboratively with elected officials and partners to understand the data and build solutions.”
The controversy over facts, figures and motives behind each party’s verbal volleys erupted about three weeks ago. At their Dec. 3 meeting, the members of the City Council – spurred by numbers produced by data analyst Jeff Asher, a contractor who works with the Council on public-safety issues – lambasted Cannizzaro’s office for allegedly dismissing nearly 91 percent of the domestic violence charges brought to the Municipal Court. It also criticized what appeared to be a minuscule 6.6-percent conviction rate.
Councilmembers were supported by representatives from community organizations like the NOFJC and United Way of Southeastern Louisiana that offer shelter and other services to victims of domestic violence. In addition to lamenting the apparently high rate of case dismissals, critics have also pointed to Cannizzaro’s tendency to jail witnesses who fail to cooperate with prosecutors and to what they felt amounts to victim-blaming.
However, following the council meeting Dec. 3, Cannizzaro held a press conference to defend his office’s record of prosecuting domestic-violence cases, noting that, of the cases brought to Criminal District Court, only 24 percent were dropped by the DA.
The NOFJC/UWSELA, however, in its Dec. 10 press release, included a comment from City Council President Helena Moreno, who defended the Councilmembers’ criticism of the DA and the data analysis used to support the Council’s stance. She also reaffirmed the Council’s commitment to reducing domestic violence and improving support services for victims.
“I’m so pleased that advocates and the representatives from the District Attorney’s Office have committed to work closely together,” she said in the release. “When victims feel the system will protect them, the more likely they are to participate. I know that the City’s Health Department is also engaging in robust work around domestic violence and they too want to be part of collaboration, as does NOPD, and judges from Criminal, Municipal and Civil District courts.”
A representative of Moreno’s office declined further comment to The Louisiana Weekly.
Cannizzaro responded a day later with his own press release that lauded the representatives of the UWSELA and the NOFJC for their willingness to discuss the issue with an open mind and willingness to adjust the group’s views and approach, adding that the meeting on Dec. 6 between the parties produced common ground.
“The plight of New Orleans’ domestic violence victims should never be exploited for political gain in the manner we saw attempted last week by the City Council leadership,” Cannizzaro said in the statement. “Fortunately, these advocates were more interested than local politicians in learning about the processes and challenges of prosecuting domestic violence cases in both the Criminal District and Municipal courts.”
Cannizzaro’s press release pointed to figures that show that the OPDA office dismisses misdemeanor domestic-violence cases at the same rate as the national average of roughly 80 percent. He also asserted that a fair amount of cases – between 10 and 15 percent – targeted by the City Council are actually transferred to Criminal District Court, where his office vigorously prosecutes a large amount of those cases.
A spokesperson for the DA’s office declined further comment to The Louisiana Weekly. However, by late last week, many involved in the controversy expressed exasperation with the possible pointlessness of the squabbling.
“What is the point to all this?” Moreno, told the The Times-Picayune|New Orleans Advocate. “At the end of the day, we need to be focusing on how we’re going to be getting together and collaborating and not getting stuck on who is to blame for what. I’m over that. I’m on to, ‘How do we improve things?’”
In her interview with The Louisiana Weekly last week, the NOFJC’s Landry issued thoughts along the same lines. Although she admitted that her organization and other groups lobbed their initial criticisms of the DA without knowing the full picture of the situation, she also firmly reinforced her and her group’s dedication to keeping the DA’s feet to the fire when it comes to domestic-violence cases.
“There’s enough blame to go around,” she said.
She added that the battle against domestic violence isn’t one-dimensional and requires all involved to be on the same page.
“It will take a community effort to do this,” she said. “We all need to be committed together in the interest of victims. [The debate has] been just a waste of energy when there’s so much work to be done. We have to get this right.”
This article originally published in the December 16, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
