We’ve got a fresh logo, an updated website, and a clearer mission and vision to guide us through the end of 2020 and beyond.

The election on November 3 will be unlike any New Orleans residents have seen before. An unprecedented number of current and former public defenders are on the ballot vying for judicial seats. These positions are often filled by prosecutors, which unfortunately means that few judges have worked with defendants or have witnessed firsthand their experiences with the system. It is rare for public defenders to run in judicial races, but that is changing this year across the country and right here in New Orleans.  Of the seven public defense attorneys who are running, three in particular have deep ties to […]

“Rickey” is an awesome 13-year-old who aspires to write rhymes and study art. But a mother struggling with addiction gave him little stability at home and even less adult supervision. At age 10, he started acting out at school and getting suspended. And with more free time on his hands, he began stealing things. Subconsciously, negative attention was still attention. By 13, Rickey had already had multiple arrests. Handcuffing, processing, and jailing a child this young never helps and often exacerbates his or her struggles. There were many ways adults could have responded to Rickey’s misbehavior, but they only resorted […]

2020 has been a tough year in so many ways, but we still have a lot to celebrate in the fight for children’s rights! Three important laws, including the long-awaited Raise the Age Act, take effect this summer to help kids thrive and protect them from the dangers and long-term consequences of incarceration. This progress is the culmination of years of hard work and collaboration with partners, young people, and families and we are thrilled to share it with you today! Raise the Age LA Raise the Age Louisiana finally went into full effect this month! As of July 1, […]

LCCR’s fiscal year came to a close on June 30. Here’s a glimpse at what your support helped accomplish. We’re on the front lines every day, protecting the rights of young people impacted by the justice system: Standing With Kids. LCCR attorneys defended the rights of 534 children in Orleans Parish courtrooms this past year. Meanwhile, our social workers and youth advocates connected our kids with the resources they need to grow up healthy and leave the justice system behind for good. Support from people like you helped: 97 children enroll in school 119 children connect with jobs or job […]

More than 200 kids are currently being held in Louisiana’s juvenile prisons, separated from loved ones. Over 80% of these kids are Black. As the COVID-19 crisis continues to worsen throughout the country, prison facilities have proved especially vulnerable to outbreak. Louisiana’s Office of Juvenile Justice, in particular, has been failing the children in its care, needlessly putting their health and safety at risk. Thus far, it’s response to the pandemic has been to: Stop testing kids in its care Stop letting families visit their children Stop letting kids out on furloughs Limit rehabilitative programming, like school What has it […]

In April, one of our new clients, “Darnell,” suffered a mental health crisis while his family was under COVID-19 quarantine. Darnell’s mom wanted to get him help, but was too afraid to call 911. As we’re all acutely aware, police involvement can often turn deadly for Black people, and the risk only increases for those with untreated mental illness. So Mom called Darnell’s LCCR social worker instead. Lana stayed on the phone with Mom for much of the night, keeping her calm while talking her through what to do. Eventually, Lana and Mom were able to get a crisis response […]

It’s been a month since the COVID-19 crisis upended nearly all of our lives. And LCCR has been fighting harder than ever for the health and safety of children in Louisiana’s justice system. Calling on the Governor – As of right now, Louisiana accounts for a disproportionate amount of all positive COVID-19 cases in juvenile prisons in the entire United States. Three weeks ago, none of Louisiana’s incarcerated kids tested positive. As of today, 27 have (plus four more in group homes). Three weeks from now, how many more will test positive? Juvenile prisons have already proved ripe for outbreak. That’s […]

When the COVID-19 crisis began in New Orleans, there were 45 children locked up in the city’s jail, and hundreds more incarcerated throughout the state–all in settings extremely vulnerable to outbreak. Since that moment, LCCR has been working tirelessly to promote the safety and wellbeing of these children, as well as all of the children in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. We wanted to share this brief update on how, in a pandemic reality, LCCR is continuing to fight for the rights of kids: Family Needs – This past week we contacted all of our client families to see […]

CELEBRATION FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS CANCELED With concerns about COVID-19 continuing to weigh heavily on everyone’s minds, we have decided to cancel this year’s Celebration for Children’s Rights event. The safety of our guests is just too important to jeopardize with a party. We hope to see you next year!​ ——————— With our Celebration for Children’s Rights coming up on Thursday, June 18 (6-8pm), we’re excited to introduce our Pascal Calogero Champion of Justice awardee for 2020: Denese Shervington, MD, MPH. “Dr. Shervington’s advocacy over the past decade has been reshaping how our city comprehends and responds to trauma – especially […]