Standing in the hot, July sun outside of New Orleans City Hall Wednesday morning, Bruce Reilly wiped the sweat from his forehead and took the microphone to introduce himself and deliver a message to the city council.
As the deputy director of Voice of the Experience (VOTE) a grassroots organization founded and run by formerly incarcerated people, Reilly wanted to make clear his group’s opposition to the construction of a “special needs” jail building, known as Phase III, at the Orleans Justice Center.
“We're here today to talk about Phase III in the jail, something that we thought was over,” he said. “But similar to Friday the 13th, it's like a villain that just won't die.”
VOTE set up a press conference on the front steps of the building to speak out against the project. The new jail wing features a controversial design known as a panopticon, where cells are arranged in a large circle surrounding a central “command center” in the middle. It’s an architectural concept that dates back to the 1780s that one prison expert described as “chaotic, inhumane, ineffective, overwhelming.”
Orleans Sheriff Susan Hutson does not support the new facility, either. Phase III was introduced by her predecessor, Marlin Gusman, and approved by former Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration. Hutson has written a letter to Federal Magistrate Judge Michael North urging the court to reconsider its support for the project.
“Today we’re trying to make democracy work,” Reilly said outside of city hall. “The people of this city have voted with their feet to not expand the jail into Phase III. And that was done when Susan Hutson overwhelmingly defeated Marlon Gusman, who supported Phase III.”
VOTE’s press conference took place ahead of a scheduled City Council meeting where the project’s cost and alternatives to it would be discussed. The group was in attendance to make public comments to try to convince the council to stand against the project.
“We're going to have our voices heard,” Reilly said to the crowd just before the meeting. “We hope that the city council is with us. They've been with us before and we see no reason why we can't walk out of this thing with this jail dead.”
Inside city hall, conversations grew more heated. Prison-expansion opponents — like VOTE — have previously suggested that the only people supporting the project are contractors who could make money off of building it. They’ve also questioned the motives of any city official who supports the project.
As City Councilmember JP Morrell was on his way into the council chambers, Reilly spotted him and briefly spoke to him. The conversation took a turn, ending with Morrell telling Reilly that implying any level of corruption is uncalled for in an expletive-laden outburst.
“Intimating corruption when you have no evidence is very upsetting,” Morrell said to Reilly. “We can disagree on issues, but sometimes you just say s— that’s just out of bounds, and I don’t appreciate it.”
Morrell then emphasized that he didn’t have “any conversations with any f—--- contractors” before entering the chambers and taking his seat.
Out in the hall following Morrell’s outburst, Reilly said he never meant to imply that a specific councilperson was corrupt and he doesn’t have any hard feelings toward Morrell for the interaction.
“I think it's understandable that if someone even made a hint that I might be corrupt, I would take offense to that, so I don't hold anything against the councilman,” Reilly said, referring to Morrell. “I mean, the thing is, if we're not pushing on each other, what are we doing here?”
Every speaker during the public comment portion of the meeting opposed the Phase III project.
“Jail is bad for people, no matter whether it’s Phase III or what you do, jail is a bad place to be,” said Meghan Garvey, policy counsel for the Orleans Public Defenders Office. “It’s not good for people, and there’s nothing you can do with money, with buildings, or anything that changes that.”
Garvey said the Phase III facility represents a “commitment to failure” because the jail population has been decreasing in recent years but is now “creeping back up.”
“We have a problem with too many people who are severely mentally ill in this jail and no matter what you build, it’s not going to change that,” Garvey said. “The jail is never going to be an OK place to take care of people that are that sick.”
Every council member present, including Morrell, made clear that they do not support the Phase III expansion, each expressing that the money for the facility could be better spent on mental health resources for incarcerated people. The City Council has already called for an audit of the costs associated with the project.
Councilmember Oliver Thomas expressed his disapproval in colorful terms.
“Sometimes my colleagues will tease me about when I wasn’t around and what they used to do,” Thomas said. “But let me say this: this is the goofiest thing I have seen in my entire political life. I’ve never seen something so outrageous — that we would be willing spend money that we don’t have to do something that will not work.”
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR.
