Despite New Orleans’ homelessness rate having dropped 34% since 2020, the visibility of homeless encampments has led to the creation of a new Office of Homeless Services and Strategy to address the issue. The office’s director, Nathan Fields, said he believes that rising housing and insurance costs are to blame for homelessness in New Orleans..
Mar 10, 2021
In SUPPORT to SB 7, “An act relating to expanding access to expungement and sealing of criminal history records”
Chairman Sears Jr. and members of the committee,
My name is Anthony Lamorena, and I am a government affairs associate for the R Street Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization. Our mission is to engage in policy research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government in many areas, including criminal justice reform, and that is why we are interested in SB 7.
Here at R Street, we have been longtime supporters of initiatives that aim to expand expungement eligibility for individuals who have made mistakes but deserve another chance. Record-clearing measures, such as SB 7, can promote human dignity, preserve public safety, ensure healthy families, and create limited and effective government.
Thank you for the opportunity to address the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on questions relating to pretrial and bail reform. These are critical questions with significant and far-reaching implications for the civil rights and welfare of millions of Americans, and I am especially thankful that the Commission has chosen to investigate and shine a light on these issues.
My name is Lars Trautman and I am a resident senior fellow of criminal justice and civil liberties policy at the R Street Institute in Washington, D.C. In this role, I study bail and pretrial practices in the United States and advocate for improvements that will create a more equitable, effective and efficient criminal justice system. Earlier in my career, I served as an assistant district attorney in Essex County, Massachusetts. In that capacity, I participated in hundreds of arraignments, gaining firsthand experience with bail determinations as well as insights into some of the system’s flaws.