Promise of Justice Initiative

MEDIA CONTACT: THE PROMISE OF JUSTICE INITIATIVE, (504) 529-5955

“It’s a good day for justice,” says Ben Cohen, associate counsel for Rodricus Crawford. Today,

the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office announced that they will not retry Rodricus

Crawford in connection with the death of his infant son.

Mr. Crawford was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death when his

one-year-old son, Roderius, died in 2012. Roderius was suffering from pneumonia at the time of

his death, and bacteria in his blood indicated that the death was due to sepsis. After his trial,

more evidence was discovered that called the prosecution’s case into serious question.

While so many lawyers, advocates, and supporters stood with Rodricus, the Louisiana Supreme

Court reversed his conviction on November 16, 2016 after hearing lead counsel Cecelia Kappel’s

oral argument.

This case has always been about injustice and the disproportionate use of the death penalty in

Caddo Parish. Justice Breyer recently cited this arbitrary use of capital punishment as a reason

for questioning whether we should have the death penalty at all.

In deciding not to retry Rodricus Crawford, the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s office is

righting this injustice, restoring integrity to their office.

The Promise of Justice Initiative hopes that this allows Rodricus Crawford an opportunity to

grieve, move on with his life and -- with help -- put this all behind him. We also believe it is a

good time to reconsider how we use the death penalty, so Louisiana can put behind it the time of

vengeance and injustice.

On April 4, 2017, Promise of Justice Initiative Board Member, Wilbert Rideau, spoke on an esteemed panel at Tulane University about the impact of Louisiana’s racial history on the current excesses in the criminal justice system.

He was joined by fellow authors who all linked the devastating history of slavery in Louisiana to over-incarceration and inhumane prison conditions.  Mr. Rideau also pointed to economic incentives which drive the continued expansion of the criminal justice system. 

Photo: PJI Director Mercedes Montagnes, Author Gilbert King, Civil Rights Attorney Mary Howell,

& PJI Board Member and Author Wilbert Rideau

Today the Justice Reinvestment Task Force voted through recommendations to make Louisiana’s Justice System safer, more humane and more cost efficient.

The reforms proposed in the final report would ensure consistency in sentencing, focus prison beds on those who pose a serious threat to public safety, strengthen community supervision, clear away barriers to successful reentry, and reinvest a substantial portion of the savings into evidence-based programs and prison alternatives and services that support victims.

The full report can be found here.

While it will take  hard work and determination to ensure these recommendations become law  this coming legislative session, we believe that the Louisiana legislature will do the right thing and make these necessary changes to ensure that Louisiana is no longer the incarceration capital of the world. 

The Governor's Office press release concerning the task force recommendations can be found here. 

On Wednesday March 1, 2017 criminal justice reform groups #cut50, the Promise of Justice Initiative, and Louisianans for Prison Alternatives invited the public and members of the Justice Reinvestment Task Force to come together to discuss the policy recommendations the Task Force will submit to the legislature.

The event was a part of #cut50’s National Day of Empathy campaign aimed at humanizing the lives of people impacted by America’s criminal justice system, including people who have been incarcerated, their families and friends, and crime survivors.

The national day of action was organized by #cut50, a bipartisan initiative founded by Van Jones and Jessica Jackson Sloan working to make our communities safer while decreasing the prison population. In addition to Louisiana, over fifty state and national organizations participated in the Day of Empathy in order to reach hundreds of lawmakers.