District attorney’s progressive policies face blowback from Louisiana’s conservative Legislature

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams promised to address the city’s history of prosecutorial and police misconduct when he was elected four years ago, but now he’s facing an investigation by Republican politicians who are concerned he is abusing his power.

Williams, a Black Democrat in an overwhelmingly conservative district, replaced a hard-nosed, tough-on-crime incumbent when he was elected in 2020. Since then, he’s focused on responding to what he describes as the “sins of the past” in New Orleans, and in a state which has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country. Conservative lawmakers and officials are concerned he is arbitrarily putting people convicted of violent crimes back on the streets given the state’s high homicide rates in recent years.

Over the past three years, Williams’ office reports having voided convictions or reduced sentences in several hundred cases via a process known as post-conviction relief that allows the court to consider new evidence after all other appeals have been exhausted. The landmark civil rights division of Williams’ office has reviewed old cases, leading to exonerations and plea-deal releases based on constitutional violations or legal practices his office considers unjust. Critics point out post-conviction relief was employed sparingly in the past by the district attorney’s office.

Williams has agreed to appear before a state senate committee on Sept. 5 over his office’s use of post-conviction relief.

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