Recent editorials from Louisiana newspapers:
April 10
The Advocate on recent church burnings in Louisiana:
As the approach of Easter summons Christians to the holiest day on the church calendar, three historically black churches in St. Landry Parish lie in ruins, ravaged by fires that state fire marshal believes are connected.
That’s terrible news, but we’re gratified that State Fire Marshal Butch Browning and other Louisiana officials are working together to investigate the fires and determine what happened.
No one has formally concluded that the fires were deliberately set, but the destruction of Greater Union, St. Mary and Mount Pleasant churches within days of each other is obviously suspicious. Black churches have sometimes been targeted for violence, particularly during the civil rights movement, so the sight in 2019 of black churches aflame has a painful historical resonance.
Easter reminds us that Christian communities are sustained by people, not buildings. We know that the congregations of the affected churches will prevail over their loss, and we’re heartened by the outpouring of support for church members from people across Louisiana and the nation.
If these fires were deliberate, we hope those responsible face justice soon.
Easter affirms the promise of renewal in the wake of brutality. We hope that message of hope is comfort to everyone who embraces these churches as their spiritual home.
Online: https://www.theadvocate.com
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April 7
NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune on ending practice of holding inmates after they’re ordered released:
Louisiana seems poised to do something about the shameful practice of holding inmates after they are supposed to be released.
Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration will ask legislators to order the Department of Corrections, sheriffs and clerks of court to come up with solutions.
DOC suggested the strategy.
“Everybody agrees that there needs to be a group put together of all the stakeholders . to figure this out,” DOC general counsel Jonathan Vining said in an interview. “If you just pass a law that says, ’DOC do it better,’ that’s not going to get us to where we need to be,” he said. “It’s going to require legislation that is going to make all three parties come to the table and report back to the Legislature.”
That makes sense. Solving this problem will take buy-in from sheriffs, clerks and the DOC.
And there must be a solution.
When inmates have served their time in prison, they ought to be released promptly.
A ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2011 found that it’s “clearly established law that a prison official must ensure an inmate’s timely release from prison.” ’’Timely release” has been defined as less than 48 hours.
Louisiana isn’t even close to that standard.
DOC, the Orleans Justice Center and other local jails routinely hold people for weeks or even years past their release dates, according to a 2017 state audit and court records.
One state inmate was jailed an extra 960 days, almost three years beyond the official end of his sentence. That’s outrageous.
“The criminal justice system is based on the idea that if you do a crime, you serve your time and then you go free. And that going free part is not being carried out correctly in Louisiana,” civil rights attorney William Most told NOLA.com ’ The Times-Picayune reporters Emily Lane and Richard Webster for a February story.
DOC’s initial response to the legislative audit was that calculating releases is a “very complex and ever changing” process.
That isn’t acceptable. Calculating release dates is part of their job.
In 2017, the auditor asked two DOC employees to “calculate release dates on the same offender, and each used a different method. The two results differed by 186 days.” That amounts to a difference of about six months.
If you are waiting to get out of jail and go home, six months is an eternity.
It’s not just the Department of Corrections. The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, which runs the city jail, contributes to the problem.
The sheriff’s office “has a policy of holding inmates in custody - regardless of whether they should be free - until the Department of Corrections says,” Mr. Most, the civil rights attorney, wrote. “As a result, there is a whole class of people who are regularly and automatically being overdetained by OPSO policy.”
One problem is that the sheriff’s office drives inmates’ paperwork to the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel once a week. That is unbelievably antiquated.
OPSO acknowledged that it would be better to send the records electronically, which is what Jefferson Parish does. Every sheriff’s office should be able to do that.
There is a financial cost in addition to a human one. Shreveport attorney Nelson Cameron said the state held his clients a combined 2,216 days too long. The average cost to house an inmate is $54.20 per day, which would come out to an extra $120,107 paid by taxpayers.
Those extra costs occur many times over the course of a year.
The legislative auditor recommended replacing the department’s 1980s-era data system - the Criminal and Justice Unified Network, or CAJUN. That system has a history of inaccurate record-keeping, auditors said.
The Department of Corrections tried to replace CAJUN in 2015, but the new system only lasted 46 days because the department didn’t properly test it or train staff, the audit said. That was a waste of $3.6 million.
The employees calculating sentences must be trained properly, and parish sheriffs and clerks must do everything they can to get inmates processed out of jail as soon as they are eligible.
The Legislature should make sure this happens.
Online: https://www.nola.com/opinions
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April 7
The Courier on sales tax collections:
As this year’s legislative session kicks off … , lawmakers will have an important matter before them: sales taxes.
That might not sound like an exciting topic, but Louisiana has painted itself into a corner using an overly complicated and hyper-local method of collecting those taxes. And now, its antiquated system could deprive state and local governments of untold dollars in Internet sales taxes. In addition, the current system amounts to a disadvantage to local detailers who are losing business to online sellers that don’t have to tax their customers.
Fortunately, state Rep. Tanner Magee is leading a common-sense effort to replace 64 different sales tax collection agencies - each parish collects its own taxes - with one statewide collection system. Doing so will get Louisiana on board with nearly every other state. Only one other state does things Louisiana’s way, a good way to know that we are out of step and behind the times.
More importantly, the way we are doing things will likely keep us from being able to collect sales taxes on Internet sales. A Supreme Court decision sets the ground rules for those collections, and part of the prerequisite seems to be a statewide collection system. There is debate about the exact meaning of the court ruling and whether it disallows Louisiana’s system, but why take the chance.
Meanwhile, failing to collect the sales taxes on Internet sales is punishing local retailers. Imagine that you want a $100 product. Why buy it locally and pay around $110 when you can order it online for just the $100 cost? When we make it unfeasible for local customers to shop locally, the retailers suffer. And we all suffer by losing out on the tax revenue that supports schools and builds roads, among other vital services.
As a further detriment to businesses that operate in multiple parishes, those businesses have to file taxes in each parish - rather than just once at the state level.
As a result, numerous business groups have endorsed Magee’s plan. On the other side are the Louisiana Municipal Association and the Louisiana Police Jury Association, which are opposed. They argue that local tax collection agencies are more familiar with smaller tax districts and local retailers than a state agency would be.
In the end, though, Magee’s measure has an internal logic that is undeniable.
“Why wouldn’t we want a streamlined process? Why would we want a Byzantine way of doing things instead of one thing?” Magee asked.
Why indeed?
Online: https://www.houmatoday.com
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