Newly released inmates are getting access to healthcare thanks to a partnership between the Louisiana Department of Health and the Department of Corrections. Halen Doughty has more…
Cut 1 (31) “I’m Halen Doughty”
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Governor John Bel Edwards says reducing minimum mandatory sentences for some nonviolent offense will be part of his criminal justice reform package in the regular session. Jeff Palermo has more…
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Louisiana native Paul Rainwater is a finalist to become the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Emelie Gunn has more…
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The Department of Corrections and the Louisiana Department of Health are teaming up to get health coverage for newly released inmates. DOC Medical Director Dr. Raman Singh says they are helping incarcerated inmates enroll in Medicaid so that once they are released, they can continue to receive the care they need.
Singh says DOC is all about reentry and making sure released offenders succeed in their communities. He says this is good for the taxpayers as well because reducing the recidivism rate keeps inmates out of jails. He says this new program will also give offenders access to primary care physicians, instead of emergency rooms.
Cut 5 (11) “cost efficient care”
Singh says the first phase of the program is being implemented in 7 DOC state facilities, with 230 offenders already linked to a health plan. He says from there the fully electronic system will be put in place at the local prisons, and eventually in the entire department.
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Governor John Bel Edwards plans to present a criminal justice reform plan to lawmakers that looks at reducing minimum sentences for some nonviolent offenses. Edwards says the state is looking at proven strategies that have worked to reduce the prison population in other southern conservative states.
Edwards says we have to find a way to lower the state’s incarceration rate, because Louisiana spends $600 million a year on the Department of Corrections, which is a costly number during these tough budget times. He admits many district attorneys oppose reducing minimum sentences.
Edwards says the package he will present ahead of the regular session in April will be based on the recommendations made by his Criminal Justice Reform Task Force. He says the reforms will reduce state spending, incarcerate fewer people, and have a lower crime rate and less recidivism without jeopardizing public safety.
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Sources say Louisiana native Paul Rainwater is one of two candidates to become the next director of the Federal Disaster Management Agency. Rainwater has an extensive background when it comes to disaster recovery from his time as a city administrator in Lake Charles to when he was former Governor Bobby Jindal’s Chief of Staff. U.S Senator John Kennedy says Rainwater would be a great choice.
The other candidate is reportedly Mark Merritt, a private consultant from Atlanta. Kennedy says there are still several other positions that have to go through the confirmation process before they get to FEMA. He says this includes the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch…
A final decision on who Trump will nominate to direct FEMA may not be made until April or May but Kennedy says until then…
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A Baton Rouge man convicted of killing his 5-year-old son will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Last month 38-year-old Vernell Day, Jr. was found guilty of second degree murder for beating his son Jay’v’une Bergin to death in 2014. District Attorney Hillar Moore says with that conviction, there was only one way the sentencing could go.
Cut 13 (10) “life imprisonment”
Police say Bergin was taken to the hospital in August of 2014 after suffering multiple blows, and the child died two days later. Moore says this man belongs behind bars. He says this is exactly what the life sentence is made for.
Cut 14 (09) “different positions”
Day’s attorneys said in court that he had no intention of hurting his son and that his daughter was in his custody for years without being hurt. But Moore says with a 50-percent survival rate for his children, Day doesn’t deserve a pat on the back.