Law Center News
SULC Chapter of National Lawyers Guild’s conducts symposium on mass incarceration
The Southern University Law Center Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) recently conducted a symposium, “The Making of a Prison State: Mass Incarceration in Louisiana,” providing the student body and the Baton Rouge community at-large with engaging discourse on the mass incarceration epidemic.
The March 19th symposium offered three student presentations, “The Origins of the Terry Stop” by Richard Montgomery, “The State of Incarceration: Mass Incarceration in Louisiana, and Proposed Legislative Reform” by Lindsey Linder (SULC), both SULC students; and “The Post Conviction Problem in Louisiana’s Public Records Law” by LSU law student Leah Brett.
Lindsey Linder discusses the need to act on criminal justice reforms now.
Linder’s presentation was part of a report she drafted while working last year for the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) as a participant in the Texas Legislative Internship Program (TLIP). “I had the pleasure of working from January to August 2015 for the coalition. TCJC identifies and promotes criminal justice reform that reduces costly overreliance on incarceration for all of Texas,” she said.
“Seeing firsthand the model of effectiveness that has been so well researched and thought out, I knew it could work in Louisiana.”
The overwhelming mass incarceration rate is “truly a human rights travesty in Louisiana,” she said. Practically speaking, she knows it is a waste of taxpayers’ dollars. “There is money loss through feeding high incarceration, especially with individuals who are no threat to public safety,” she explained.
“’Tough on crime is not smart on crime,’ is a slogan used now in a conservative state, like Texas. The most moderate changes can save hundreds of dollar,” said Linder, who wants to use her experience for the benefit of Louisiana.
“We should act on effective reform, particularly right now when Louisiana is in a budget crisis facing massive cuts to higher education, health care, and the public defenders system. These are the things in place to prevent people from going into the criminal justice system–such cuts will only increase the mass incarceration rate,” she lamented.
One who is enthusiastic about solutions, Linder says, “We must stop cutting in all of the wrong places and do the right thing for citizens of this state.”
Additionally, panelists from social justice advocacy groups, attorneys, policy experts, law professors, historians, and ex-felons provided in-depth conversations and analysis of the privatization of prisons, criminalization of mental illness, the juvenile justice system, draconian drug policies, disproportionate effect of mass incarceration on people of color, and several other pressing issues surrounding the epidemic.
Symposium organizer Gilbert Bayonne and NLG officers Ada Goodly, Raymond Wilkes, and Krystal Wilson, along with the presenters, provided a very informative, thoughtful, and timely program, according to SULC Prof. Wendy Shea. “The variety of topics certainly provided something for everyone,” Prof. Shea said.
“On behalf of SULC National Lawyers Guild, we would like to thank all who enriched the discussion on mass incarceration and its effects on the national, state, and local levels,” Bayonne said.
From left: Richard Montgomery, Atty. Mark D. Plaisance, Atty. Lindsay Blouin, Prof. Wendy Shea, and Gilbert Bayonne.
From left: Raymond Wilkes, Judge Don Hernandez (Retd.), and Gilbert Bayonne.
From left: Raymond Wilkes; Prof. Paul Guidry of the Baton Rouge Community College; Nia Weeks, policy director for WWAV; Norris Henderson, founder and director of VOTE-NOLA; Dr. Don Hernandez; and Gilbert Bayonne.
Richard Montgomery describes the origins of the Terry Stop.
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