New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams has reportedly released 23 inmates suspected of violent offenses before a new statewide law goes into effect that bars post-conviction relief without greater oversight.
Proposition 10, which took effect in Louisiana on Aug. 1, increases state-level oversight of post-conviction relief.
The bill was introduced during a special criminal session of the Louisiana General Assembly and approved on March 5th.
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Between March 5 and Aug. 1, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams reportedly entered into post-conviction relief agreements with at least 28 inmates, Fox 8 reported.
The number is even higher — 42 — according to Laura Rodrigue, a former Orleans Parish prosecutor and founder of Bayou Mama Bears.
New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams received funding from George Soros in his election campaign before being sworn into office in January 2021. (New Orleans District Attorney’s Office)
“Once the crime session is over, you can clearly see that the law has been signed, and then exponentially more crime starts happening. [prisoners] Until I turn 42 in 2024,” Rodrigue said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
Documents obtained by Fox News Digital confirm the number of inmates Bayou Mama Bears has resentenced so far in 2024: 42. No women were among the inmates who received relief.
“What really bothers me as a former prosecutor is, [Williams] When speaking to the media about this, the president said he was “committed to righting the wrongs of the past” and has maintained that position,” Rodrigue said.
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“What’s really interesting that we found about the convictions that he was trying to vacate is that there was absolutely no evidence in his own plea that he had any prior wrongdoing,” Rodrigue added. “So he was just releasing people that he wanted released.”
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Laura Rodrigue of Bayou Mama Bears argues that the majority of people released using post-conviction relief in 2024 will be violent offenders. “Most of it will be murder and armed robbery. Most of it will be violent crimes because if the sentence isn’t long enough it’s not worth worrying about. So it’s going to be people serving long sentences. There are a lot of people being released for murder.”
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murray is the first woman to hold that office in the Pelican State, and she is a registered Republican. (Louisiana Attorney General’s Office)
Louisiana Sen. Jay Morris (R-Monroe) has announced he will convene a special legislative session on Sept. 5 to review actions taken by Williams’ office related to prisoner release.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill released the following statement: “We have only filed one motion to intervene, and because that case involved a defense attorney’s resignation and subsequent appointment as a prosecutor, the relief is not only unlawful and presumptively unconstitutional, but a clear conflict of interest. We are investigating numerous other cases in which district attorneys, criminal court judges and defense attorneys improperly agreed to post-conviction relief.”
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Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murray and state Sen. Jay Morris did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
