Some people who once supported New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams are crying foul after Williams announced he was going back on a campaign promise to keep all child offenders in the juvenile justice system. The D.A. is defending his decision in the case of two 15-year-olds charged as adults with murdering a woman.
"I didn't run for D.A. to make friends, I ran to make this city safer," Williams told WWL-TV. "This is absolutely the right decision, in this particular situation."
Williams said in this instance, the juvenile justice system is inadequate, because at most, the two teenage defendants, if convicted, would serve five years.
"That's simply not justice," he said, saying he also promised voters he would prioritize violent offenses.
Local criminal justice watchdog Raphael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, says Williams' reversal shows he is listening to the concerns people have about violent juvenile crime.
"Him taking this stance, reversing his campaign rhetoric, I think sends a message more to the law abiding citizens that the district attorney is listening to them."
Goyeneche says Williams made the mistake during the campaign of saying "never."
"When you say in any profession that you're never going to do things a certain way, or you're always going to do things a certain way, I think you're limiting yourself."
