Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson is reacting to complaints that her department lacks transparency. Hutson has taken to court documents and interviews that the Sheriff’s Department shares information and data with defense attorneys and the New Orleans City Council.
It was a claim by the MacArthur Justice Center of New Orleans that started the controversy by accusing the Sheriff’s Department of failing to provide documents related to violent incidents at the Jail. An attorney for the Department maintains that any missing materials are due to the task of completing investigations, not a campaign to withhold information.
In a separate problem, City Council crime analysts lost access to the Sheriff’s Office link on data and information transfer. This triggered a question by a City Council member to which the Department responded by putting the blame on the analysts inactivity.
According to the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, attorneys for the MacArthur Foundation are asking a federal judge to force the Sheriff to turn over documents and material following a series of violent incidents, fatal fights and a suicide. The move was the first time in six years the Foundation asked a judge to enforce its right to documents within 14-days of a request.
In response, the Sheriff’s Department filed in federal court arguing they had already turned over documents and videos regarding the incidents. The department also said they can turn over filed documents that don’t yet exist because of ongoing investigations.
“That delay is due to the gargantuan task of sorting all of the available camera footage and interviewing all of the relevant witnesses, all of which is necessary to complete the requested reports,” Graham Bosworth, counsel for the Sheriff’s Office, wrote in court filings.
