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The recent escape of 10 inmates from New Orleans Prison is the latest wake-up call that proves that federal consent orders do more harm than good when it comes to public safety. The prison, which is part of the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office system, has been operating under a federal consent order since 2013. This is a 12-year federal supervision with little indication from a competency, safety or accountability perspective.
This was not a prison escape from the largest security fortress. These inmates included several confrontations against violent felony, including murder — came from minimal security facilities located on 60% of required staff. It was only hours before they were even discovered that they had gone missing. At the time of this writing, multiple escapes remain large.
The consent order was originally intended as a way to reform abusive or corrupt police and correctional systems. But in reality, they often become vast bureaucratic disasters. It's expensive, unexplainable, slow to adapt, they tie the hands of local officials, encouraging a mindset of avoidance rather than enforcement.
A massive prison destruction in New Orleans' “impossible” without involvement with staff, former FBI fugitive hunter says
If you add shaming to an injury, the so-called federal “monitors” of these consent orders are usually private law firms. This charges taxpayers millions of dollars of monitoring fees. These companies don't have the incentive to close things quickly. Also, all delays will be separate bills paid by the public for paper pushing and partner bonuses, not safety or reform.
The truth is, once enacted, federal monitoring ships become inherently incredible, and new “concerns” emerge when the order is worthy of the person in charge when the order expires. Some monitorships last literally for decades.
Louisiana Governor Blasts “Progressive Promise” after New Orleans Prison's escape
So, under the Trump administration, an executive order was issued last month to review and defeat federal consent orders imposed on law enforcement agencies around the country. The rationale was simple. Let local officials do their jobs without long-distance interference from Washington lawyers and ideologues who have no stock in affected neighborhoods.
The New Orleans Debacle offers a textbook case on how these contracts backfire. The prison consent sentence, supervised by a federal judge and out-of-town monitor, was to improve conditions. Instead, it has resulted in a culture of chronic understaffing, poor morale and indecisiveness. One consequence of a consent declaration is that it is often inability to answer simple and important questions. Who is doing things?
The break-up of plasterers and the federal obsession with microcontrollers have proven to be another failed experiment in governance during crime. New Orleans has just become the latest victim.
This is all unfolding as progressive politicians continue to push the “de-inject” movement nationwide. This keeps pushing the wreck of another ideological train that deals with less prison beds as moral advances, regardless of its impact on public safety. In New York City, for example, Rikers Island, the city's prison, is expected to close soon in favor of scattered “borough-based” prisons.
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The locks in New York City are now almost nobody locked. Will we reduce by 30%?
At some point we have to admit the obvious. Systems designed by federal judges, consultants, academics and law firms do not provide safety or reform. They are causing escape, lawsuits and public distrust.
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Left breaking away and federal obsession with microcontrollers have proven to be another failed experiment in governance during crime. New Orleans has just become the latest victim.
I hope it doesn't come anymore as the escape remains massive.
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