Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Landry is pushing for legislation that will make certain juvenile court records public in three Louisiana parishes, despite opposition from incarcerated youths’ advocates.
Youth Records in Mainly Black Louisiana Areas ( Photo: Juvenile Justice Information Exchange )
Most juvenile court records are confidential in the state
The bill proposes to make all adult criminal court records available online to the public at no cost, as well as juvenile court proceedings of 13-year-olds and older who are accused of committing a violent crime or a second felony-grade delinquent act. The legislation is filed as a two-year pilot program, which will apply to three parishes: Caddo, East Baton Rouge, and Orleans, all of which are predominantly Black and have high rates of violent crime.
Advocates for incarcerated youths are opposing the bill, fearing that it would have a detrimental effect on juvenile delinquents who have not been convicted of a violent crime but are simply accused of one. They argue that making records public defeats one major purpose of the state’s juvenile system — rehabilitation into the community — and would risk their opportunities for employment, education, and housing.
Supporters of the legislation cite the three parishes’ large number of violent crimes and want to tamp down on possible leniency in criminal courts in a state that has the nation’s second-highest murder rate per capita. Landry says that the plan will expose who in the system should be held accountable for the failures. Landry also said that if juvenile records become public, the Department of Justice, which he oversees, would create a victim notification system to text and email individuals about upcoming court proceedings and developments related to their cases.
The notification system currently in place is said to need significant improvements
Incarcerated youth advocates argue that creating a victim notification system out of the bill is masking the harmful effects the legislation would have on already marginalized communities, especially as research shows Black youths are more likely to be incarcerated than white juveniles.
Ashonta Wyatt, an education and social justice advocate in New Orleans, said the legislation feels like a targeted attack and that focusing on three parishes — when there is a crime across the state — makes it seem as if those areas are being dubbed the “equivalent of warzones.”
Wyatt acknowledged the high crime in New Orleans but said lawmakers should focus on addressing the reasons behind criminal behavior rather than what is happening in courts.
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