Thousands of cases go through the Orleans Parish Criminal Court each year, at the corner of Tulane and Broad. This fall, voters will have the chance to choose one of a dozen judges who hear those cases, after 41-year veteran of the bench Frank Marullo was forced to retire.
Candidates for the bench offered a view of their priorities for the criminal justice system at a recent forum at the Seventh Ward Community Center.
Three men, all Democrats, are vying for the newly vacated seat: assistant district attorney Kevin Guillory, defense attorney Dennis Moore, and Fourth District Court of Appeal Judge Paul Bonin.
All three agree that the court dockets are too crowded and inefficient – something they say that could be fixed with newer computer systems used in other courts.
At the judicial forum, each candidate sought to define himself in relation to Marullo – a four-decade veteran of the criminal court who retired after a dispute about whether he was too old to serve.
Guillory said judges must make sure the system is impartial.
“I have no shame in being a prosecutor, that I was a prosecutor, but I am not a prosecutor at heart.”
He pointed out he had also been a defense attorney, and said he was focused on justice and fairness.
"I have used my position within the District Attorney’s Office to help to influence change, to influence deals, to make sure that fairness is achievable to all parties, regardless of what neighborhoods you come from, what you look like, what school you went to and what political connections your family may have.”
One job of criminal court judges is picking magistrate commissioners, who sign warrants and set bail after hours. CourtWatchNOLA sponsored the forum. The group’s Simone Levine points out that commissioners are paid 70-thousand dollars a year and they’re allowed to continue practicing law on the side.
“And yet we have absolutely no idea why somebody has become a commissioner," she said. "The whole entire process is decided in secret, behind closed doors. There’s absolutely no transparency.”
Defense attorney Dennis Moore, a second candidate in the race, says the main criteria for commissioners should be whether they’ve practiced criminal law
“You need someone that has been in the court, being a prosecutor or a defense attorney, who actually knows, that ok – they’ve been there 10 years. They’ve done trials. You don’t appoint someone who has never been in the court. You actually have it open where, an open process so the public can see whose application is out," Moore said.
Judicial reform and the state of the criminal justice system are shaping up to be key issues in the race. Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the nation. The Justice Department says Louisiana locked up more than 800 people per 100,000 for the most recent year on record.
Judge Bonin, a third candidate for the seat, argues that wrongful convictions and heavy jail sentences are problematic in Orleans Parish.
“We cannot any of us be pleased with wrongful convictions for which our parish is the leading poster child in the United States of America. That’s number one. Number two: We are over incarcerating. We know this," Bonin said. "We’re over incarcerating from the moment of arrest until people are dying in penitentiaries unnecessarily.”
Bonin has collected endorsements from Orleans Parish Democrats, the Independent Women’s Organization, the Alliance for Good Government, and Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
Bonin says he’s seeking to switch to a criminal court assignment because that’s where over incarceration begins.
“A judge can work to address the problems of wrongful convictions and getting it right, getting it correct at the very beginning of the case by being caring and concerned," Bonin said.
At the forum, Bonin made a pledge that every proceeding possible in his courtroom would be on the record.
"There would be no sidebar conferences from which the public would be excluded at any time, except in those very limited circumstances in which the law requires confidentiality and privacy," he said.
His two opponents weren’t so sure about that last part. Guillory and Moore each said they believe sometimes private talks are required -- for witness safety and other legal reasons.
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