Day Three - "House of D" - Kathy's Take
Today, we spent the afternoon at the House of Detention. We interviewed defendants who were appearing in front of the judge for the first time since their arrest. We had to determine whether the inmate qualified for indigent status, and therefore could retain OPD's services and most importantly, collect a contact person from each individual to call him or her and let them know that the defendant was arrested and sitting in jail, and what his bail amount was. Defendants gave us numbers for their wives, mothers, other relatives, and friends. One even chuckled a little bit when he gave me the number of his ex-girlfriend to call.
As I interviewed each defendant, I was struck by the state they were in. Some were calm, while others were shocked. One defendant did not even have shoes and was walking around in a pair of ankle socks. Most of the defendants were between the ages of 17-25 and arrested on drug related charges. Our OPD supervisor, Andy, commented that it was the failure of the education sytem the led to these crimes, a reminder that crimes do not exist in a vacuum and were the result of the intersection of multiple social ills.
The hearings began soon after we finished the interviews, and we all looked closely at the television screen in front of us, and listened intently to the computer speakers. Because the city did not have enough resources to bring the inmates from central lock-up to the courthouse, which was only a block away, the judge held hearings via webcam. Although a resourceful way to hold hearings, it still struck me as very odd that although the city did not have the resources to transport the inmates to the courthouse, the judge did not walk over to the House of D to hold the hearings.
The judge inquired into the prior records of each defendant to set the bail amounts. On the drug related charges, he consistently asked how much drugs were found on the defendant because of the New Orleans Police Department policy of arresting individuals using drugs along with anyone found with that person. He quickly held hearings for the 45 inmates we interviewed and we recorded the bail amounts as he set them so that we could call and inform the inmates' relative or whoever that he was in jail and what the bail was set at. Then the room cleared as quickly as it filled and only empty chairs remained.
The "House of D" sits amidst a block of buildings flooded by Hurricane Katrina. With no resources to restore the buildings, they sit abandoned. Plants are quickly claiming territory.
Outside the "House of D," Andy answers our questions.
Mike Akerly, Kathy Hwang, Adam "Tom" Shane, Choya Washington, Suyeon Kim
