District Attorney Jason Williams is continuing his call for changes in how the New Orleans juvenile court use electronic monitoring of juvenile offenders on conditional release. This comes after a 15-year-old who was wearing an ankle monitor was shot and killed in New Orleans East last week. That monitor, officials say. was not being monitored in real-time.
Williams says not only do the courts need to mandate real-time monitoring of juvenile offenders on release, he says the state needs to set a uniform policy for dealing with these offenders.
"We need stricter rules on that, as it relates to young people, because they don't know what to expect," Williams said. "As of right now, it is a hodgepodge of what the response will be for this young person if there will even be a response to that violation."
Williams told WWL's Tommy Tucker that under state law, juvenile judges have wide discretion on how they address juvenile offenders who violate the terms of their release.
"They could have a warrant issued for his arrest and have him brought into court, or they could say to his lawyer we want him brought in to have a hearing about why he was out, or they can ignore it and do nothing," Williams said.
Williams says giving judges this latitude emboldens teen offenders who feel as if they can get away with violating court orders.
"I don't think it's draconian to say that if you're not where you're supposed to be when you're on a monitor that you are immediately yanked back into the system," Williams said. "This is not a right. It's not in the Constitution that you get to have an ankle monitor."
Williams added that parents and loved ones of offenders would rather see their children spend a few days or even a year in jail for violating the terms of their release than to see them dead.
"This is not just about protecting the public," Williams said. "This is about protecting the public and the young person from being a victim of violence themselves."
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