The Justice Center in New Orleans
For 12 years the Justice Center in New Orleans campaigned for poor inmates facing the death penalty. Now it has been completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Clive Stafford Smith, the human rights lawyer who founded it, says hope is also lost for scores of its clients. This article, by Clifford Smith, talks about what a loss to the anti-death penalty community this is as well as gives you ways to contribute to the creation of a new building:
I have spent much of the last three days sifting through photographs on the internet of the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, looking for clues as to what has happened to the Justice Center at 636 Baronne Street, New Orleans. This was the home of the Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center (LCAC), the charity I founded in 1993, and that I left behind, thriving, when I returned to England almost a year to the day before Katrina struck. The LCAC, which provided legal representation to poor people facing the death penalty, was the last hope for scores of people facing the death penalty in the Deep South, including Britons such as Nicky Ingram, Krishna Maharaj, Kenny Richey and Jackie Elliot.
Posted by Angela at 01:42 PM
