Council looks at the jailing of uncooperative crime victims
Source: Associated Press
Kevin Mcgill, Associated Press
Updated 7:15 am CST, Thursday, February 7, 2019
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — City Council members in New Orleans were set to discuss a resolution Thursday calling for an end to the jailing of sexual assault or domestic violence victims who resist testifying against their suspected assailants.
An independent New Orleans watchdog group, Court Watch NOLA, condemned the practice of "material witness" arrests in a report released in 2017. A representative of the organization is expected to testify at Thursday's council meeting.
District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office said in a Wednesday news release that its review shows that, in the last five years, only 28 people have been taken into custody on material witness warrants, which can result in jail, or the threat of jail, for victims who won't cooperate.
. . .
Court Watch NOLA has called for an end to the arrest and jailing of domestic violence and sex crime victims and a protocol for the use of material witness warrants in other cases that would weigh factors including safety and emotional trauma of the victim.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Council-looks-at-the-jailing-of-uncooperative-13597202.php
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