New Orleans - Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro told the crowd gathered at Gallier Hall he spent his first year in office working tirelessly to put his "house in order". He said many things about the criminal justice system were broken, but are now functioning. He hopes thinking outside the box and teamwork will lead to making further progress in reducing the city's violent crime.
In the audience were many of the stake holders Cannizzaro needs to succeed like city council members, the police chief, criminal sheriff and watchdog groups. Cannizzaro proposed a charter amendment that would give the DA's office a dedicated stream of funding. City councilwoman Jackie Clarkson says, "I do agree he has had to spend too much time courting us to get his budget to only adequate." Rafael Goyeneche with the Metropolitan Crime Commission wants to go further saying, "A dedicated revenue stream for the
entire criminal justice system because the system is only as strong as its weakest component."
Cannizzaro made other proposals like moving first time drug possession cases to municipal court to free his staff up to focus on violent crimes. He also proposes a system of vertical prosecution where a prosecutor is assigned the case at the time the crime is committed and handles the case all the way thru the trial process.
More than one observer in the audience noted they do expect to see a reduction in violent crime in the city
this year.
