ARTHUR IN THE NEWS

As crowds descend on Bourbon Street in the run-up to the Super Bowl, they'll be met by a layer of checkpoints aimed at enforcing new restrictions that state officials say will keep the crowds safe. But the new ring of defenses won’t keep out one of the deadliest weapons in America: the firearm.

Ever since the 9/11 terrorist attacks that took down the World Trade towers in New York, cities been more aware that these tragedies can happen anywhere. In particular, the city of New Orleans as been declared a soft target for a terrorist attack, partly because of the large crowds that gather here, on our streets.

As a former New Orleans Police Department officer, I can tell you from first-hand experience that being a New Orleans Police officer is a tough job. You will be placed in dangerous situations and have to make split decisions to protect people, even if it means disregarding your own safety.

On Saturday afternoon, I sat down for two-and-a-half hours with a group of young African American men, between the ages of 18 and 22, hearing what they think about our city.

Have you ever wondered who profits from those extra fees when you pay your property tax online? Or your Sewerage & Water Board bill? Or those annoying traffic camera tickets? It’s not the City. But it can be. We’re likely talking about millions of dollars that we can use to build the city we deserve at no extra cost to our citizens.

When I was a New Orleans police officer, the legislature often changed laws and we as a police force had to adapt. Otherwise, any arrests or charges would be ruled illegal, something I also decided as a criminal court judge.

If we bring the right people to the table and think outside the box, we can reduce insurance rates, bring down heat levels within our city, put our youth to work, have strong roofs, dry streets, cooler neighborhoods and be a national leader in climate adaptation.

I grew up in New Orleans East. My family moved to the East in the 1960s when it was known as Gentilly East. We lived in a double at 4930 Rhodes Drive (built by Horace Bynum Sr.) on the same street where the Rhodes family (Funeral Home owners) lived and a street over (Rosemont Place), from where CORE Leader Don Hubbard lived. We all lived on that part of Chef Menteur Highway known as the GAP. I attended elementary school at Jefferson Davis, (presently Kipp Morial), Livingston Middle School and Abramson Senior High School (9th grade). I played NORD football, basketball, baseball at Pradat Park and met friends from the Blue Goose, Academy Park and Flake Avenue. I lived in the East while I finished St. Aug, Loyola University, Loyola University School of Law, and while I worked as a NOPD police officer and began my practice as an attorney. Although I do not presently live in the East, I still have family, friends living, working, owning businesses in the East and I attend the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church. The East, and its people have nurtured and inspired my career of public service over more than four decades. So when I talk to people about the East, I remember how it was and what it can become. The potential for development in the East is as great now, as it was in 1970, but the first thing we must do is make it safe. There are a few things we can do: Request the State Police actively patrol I-10, I-510, and Chef Menteur Highway 24/7/365. Assign NOPD Traffic Division and Special Operations officers in unmarked cars patrol Crowder, Read, Bullard, Michoud and on a rotating basis Downman, Morrison, Hayne, Lake Forest, Dwyer, Gentilly and Almonaster. Assign community policing to hot spots in the Seventh District. Revitalize Joe Brown Park to be a regional sports destination and assign year round supervisors to playgrounds focusing on sports, art, music, technology and STEM. Work with the Orleans Parish School Board to establish early childhood learning and summer camps in the neighborhood schools. Build a City Hall Annex to include state/federal offices with free covered parking on the Lake Forest Plaza site. Expand the New Orleans East Hospital to become a centerpiece for prenatal care services, diabetes prevention, establish a nursing school and a pipeline with the high schools, universities/colleges and medical schools to increase the number of African Americans entering the medical professions. Develop Lake Pontchartrain from the South Shore to Lincoln Beach. Work with Delgado Community College and NASA to teach skill trades and technology in the high schools. Build the necessary infrastructure to attract investment to the Almonaster Corridor. Plan and build resilient infrastructure for equitable and environmental sustainability.(Disaster preparedness, water and flood management, sustainable energy) If we do these things, without playing the political games of “who you know” rather than “what you know”, then the East can be what it was meant to be-a place to be safe, raise and educate our children and enjoy the quality of living.

Recently, I attended a showcase at the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center, where this city’s arrested youth are held pre-trial. I was invited by artist Journey Allen, who directs youth education for the Young Artists Movement (YAM), the citywide mural initiative that I helped to found eight years ago.

Governor Jeff Landry has issued a call for a special session tasking the Louisiana legislature to consider a number of measures to address crime. There are people who favor the crime special session, those who oppose and others who think it does not go far enough.

In the wake of the America Street fire that killed three young children, we need to do more in New Orleans to prevent and address family violence — as a city and as neighbors and friends of those in abusive relationships, say the writers, in this Lens op-ed.

As the jail population climbs toward its maximum capacity – 1,250 – as set by the City Council, it’s clear that we must take a close look at what happens inside the Criminal District Courthouse.

Arthur Hunter, Jr. served as a judge in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court for more than 20 years before retiring in 2020. Most of the people who came before him, he said, were in court for nonviolent offenses. Some were dealing with mental health issues or drug addiction. Others just lacked economic opportunity or education, Hunter said.

If we want to diversify our economy, promote business development and reduce crime, then we must provide career training opportunities in high-demand fields. Delgado Community College-Workforce Development, Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO Inc.), and I joined together, along with regional businesses, industry employers, and local community leaders, to establish the Orleans Career Project.

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, but across the country state legislators are introducing bills to essentially make gay and trans people second-class citizens.

I took a tour of the new home of the National Alliance on Mental Illness(NAMI) New Orleans, and it reminded me of when I was a Mental Health Court judge, and that mental health issues are not solely restricted to people living under the interstate or begging for money at intersections.

Catina Curley was beaten by her husband over a number of years until one fateful night, she shot and killed him. Catina Curley was arrested and because of an ill-trained NOPD and district attorney’s office, she was charged with second degree murder.

We are all too aware of what I call the “Stray Bullet Phenomenal”, which is being killed or wounded in a stray bullet shooting. It can happen by being an innocent bystander, watching TV in your house, eating in a restaurant, or driving your car on the interstate.

I grew up in New Orleans East. My family moved to the East in the 1960s when it was known as Gentilly East. We lived in a double at 4930 Rhodes Drive (built by Horace Bynum Sr.) on the same street where the Rhodes family(Funeral Home owners) lived and a street over (Rosemont Place), from where CORE Leader Don Hubbard lived.

When I was a judge, I presided over domestic violence cases and sent domestic violence offenders to jail. Recently I was appointed to the board of directors of the New Orleans Family and Justice Center, which provides services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, and child abuse.

Across the country, communities are arguing how to fix a broken mental health care system. Most of the arguments are political fights over public safety and housing. Oddly, they are equating homelessness with mental illness and both with violence and crime.

There is a feeling permeating our city: When you leave your home you are not safe, no confidence in city leadership and the streets are a mess. Even if the streets were paved and floodproof but you are getting carjacked, it would not matter, because we still are not safe.

At first glance, the bright mural feels like a snapshot of New Orleans, complete with joyful families and iconic streetscapes. But the teenagers who created the mural — all youth held in the city’s juvenile detention center — didn’t want to portray the city they knew, where almost no one — not from families, schools or neighborhoods — told children they were loved. So they deliberately omitted the city’s bleakest aspects, its gun violence, neglect and poverty.

Recently The Wall Street Journal published a headline stating, “New Orleans Has America’s No. 1 Murder Rate. ‘We’re in a Crisis.'” A headline that not only affects the hospitality industry, but also the safety and psyche of the people who live and work here.

Recently, the Wall Street Journal printed a headline stating, “New Orleans Has America’s No.1 Murder Rate. ‘We’re in a Crisis”. A headline that not only affects our hospitality industry, but also the safety and psyche of the people who live and work here.

There’s a popular quote that says, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.” We will not be safe from stray bullets, driving in our cars, getting gas or simply pulling into our driveways if we do not strategically attack the violent crime and criminals that engulf New Orleans.

On June 23, President Joe Biden announced a comprehensive strategy to ensure public safety. To implement his strategy, the president has offered to make available federal law enforcement officials to work with local police agencies to target violent criminals and “keep guns out of the wrong hands.”

Supporters erupted in applause Friday as a New Orleans judge acquitted Catina Curley of second-degree murder in the killing of her husband, finding that the fatal shooting in 2005 was a justified act of self-defense.

A program a New Orleans judge launched last fall is helping high school students get ready for a future career in criminal justice. Criminal District Judge Arthur L. Hunter Jr. launched the Allen Ray Bolin Trial Advocacy Workshop last fall, which he said is designed for high schoolers who might want to be a lawyer and maybe eventually a judge.

In 2010, Judge Arthur Hunter Jr. saw the need for such a program with the imminent return of thousands of Louisiana veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Hunter said he decided to start the program, which mirrors similar ones for mentally ill, drug-addicted and domestic-violence defendants, because he wanted to try to prevent veterans who had committed a minor crime from escalating to more serious ones.

This week the Supreme Court is to hear argument in Arizona v. United States , the case that may determine the constitutionality of that state's 2010 law regarding illegal immigrants. Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Utah have passed similar laws authorizing police officers to detain and question people about their immigration status.