-->

Friday, October 19, 2018

Sad Leon is the real victim

John Bel's criminal justice reforms took his allowance away. Emphasis added here by me for fun.
Cannizzaro also complained that the funding wasn't being used to help victims more, specifically that it wasn't being given victims' programs operated by district attorneys.

"We must also be sure, in the rush toward criminal justice reform, the most important demographic is not forgotten or neglected. I speak of the victims of these offenders," Cannizzaro said. "I am hopeful that as justice reinvestment moves forward, that the victims of violent crime and those that advocate for them, will receive a more equitable share of the funds."

Most of the offenders affected by the criminal justice overhaul -- including those who have had their sentences shortened in 2017 -- didn't commit crimes that involve victims. The focus of the criminal justice overhaul was on prisoners who committed nonviolent crimes. Over half of the crimes committed in Louisiana are nonviolent offenses without victims, said officials with the Department of Corrections.

Victims services also are getting a boost in funding thanks to the criminal justice overhaul. The law requires that 20 percent of any savings that is pumped back into the criminal justice system from the criminal justice overhaul be spent on victim services. Edwards announced this week that $1.7 million more is available for victim assistance because of the prison population reduction, though it's not going to programs run by the district attorneys.
The most significant way in which the reforms affect victims of violent crimes at all is in the form of the nice little funding boost it provides for victims services.  Leon doesn't care so much about that as he does that he isn't seeing any of the money himself.  Sounds like somebody's got a victim complex.

No comments: