Meetings Held

Friday, December 10, 2021 - This afternoon State Representative Pat Moore led a team meeting with Judge Ben Jones, Court Administrator 4th Judicial District Court. Team members present were Betty-Ward Cooper, Monroe City School Board, Pastor Earl Davis and volunteer business owner Tom Malmay. The meeting was structured with an agenda. As you would expect, Judge Jones was a wealth of knowledge and insights and provided valuable input. A more detail readout from the meeting will be provided once the notes are prepared.

November 23, 2021

4th Quarter Steering Team Meeting - Monroe Probation & Parole

State Representative Pat Moore met with the Louisiana Prisoner Reentry Initiative group and was the guest speaker. Those present were Carol Toliver, Women at the Well Home House Manager; Pearl Wise, Community Volunteer; Erin Woods, Goodwill; Nathan Nelson, Goodwill/Community Coordinator; Nathan Hall, Louisiana Delta Community College; Amber Bowlen, Ouachita Parish Correctional Center; Billy Varner, Renewal Center/DeSiard Street Shelter; Brad Nolan, Probation and Parole; Lynn Stevens, Goodwill Director of Workforce Development; Pastor Woods Watson 1st West in West Monroe.

State Representative Moore served as the Interim Member on the State Administration of Criminal Justice Committee. She talked about its mission, some of the bills introduced during the 2021 session, and on June 15, 2017, Governor Edwards signed into law (10 bills) the most comprehensive criminal justice.

Is it working? We are no longer No. 1 but No 2. In 2018, the DPSC reported a total saving of $12.2 million in the first year of implementation.

My question again, is it working. Yes, but we have to do more.

Since then, there have been ongoing commitments to making changes to the system

1. House Bill 77 Virtual meeting

2. Senate Bill 354 Improve reentry

3. House Bill 344 prohibits the use of solitary confinement for pregnant women

I also talked about the need to do more to save our Black Males. Below were my talking points.

Louisiana is in the top 10 states with the most prisons:

• Louisiana 50,000 inmates (5,000 inmates on Life Sentences)

• Oklahoma 42,200

• Alabama 45,000

• Mississippi 30,000

• Arizona 41,000

• Arkansas 25,000

• Texas 223,000 (10,000 Life Sentences)

• Missouri 32,000

• Georgia 101,000 (9,000 Life Sentences)

• Florida 176,000 (13,000 Life Sentences)

Considering that right now, there are about 2.2 million people locked up across America.

What percentage of inmates in Louisiana are black?

In Louisiana, Black people constituted 33% of state residents, but 52% of people in jail and 67% of people in prison. Since 1970, the total jail population has increased 665%.

Black men accounts for 32% of the prison population but only 6% of the overall U.S. population. They are five times more likely to be incarcerated during their lifetime than white men are and they are more likely to serve longer sentences than white men are (on average, 19% longer).

Black men have lower levels of educational attainment.

Only about 28% of Black men (aged 25-29) have a bachelor’s degree or higher, while about 30% of Black women, over 40% of white men, and nearly 50% of white women do. Comparatively, Black men have fewer opportunities to receive higher education because those with a felony record face limited access to federal student loans.

On average, Black men experience higher unemployment rates, lower labor force participation rates, and lower earnings than their white male counterparts.

In 2017, 26% of Black households lived in high-poverty neighborhoods as compared to just 5% of white households.

Do poor people commit more crimes?

Yes. People born into the bottom 10% of earners are 20 times more likely to wind up in prison.

This is why we must do more to reduce the crime and violence amongst our Black males.