New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams reportedly released 23 allegedly violent convicts before a new statewide law went into effect banning post-conviction compensation agreements without greater oversight.
Louisiana Act 10, which took effect on August 1, increases state oversight of post-conviction appeals.
The bill was introduced during a special crime-related session in the Louisiana Legislature and passed on March 5.
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According to Fox 8, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams reached post-conviction relief agreements with at least 28 inmates between March 5 and August 1.
According to Laura Rodrigue, former Orleans Parish prosecutor and founder of Bayou Mama Bears, that number is even higher: 42.
New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams was funded by George Soros during his campaign before he was sworn in in January 2021. (New Orleans District Attorney’s Office)
“When the criminal session ends, we see that the bill has obviously been signed. And then we see, you know, exponentially more (prisoners) until they reach 42 in 2024,” Rodrigue said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
A document obtained by Fox News Digital confirms the number of 42 inmates re-sentenced against the Bayou Mama Bears in 2024. None of the inmates granted relief were women.
“What really bothered me as a former prosecutor was Williams’ statement in response to media inquiries. He stated and maintained his position that he was ‘determined to right the wrongs of the past,'” Rodrigue said.
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“The really interesting thing we found about the convictions he reversed was that there was no evidence in his own pleadings that there had been any past misconduct,” Rodrigue added. “So he was only releasing people he wanted to release.”
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Laura Rodrigue of Bayou Mama Bears argues that the majority of those released under the 2024 mitigation plan are violent offenders. “Most of them are murder and armed robbery: They’re going to be mostly violent crimes, because otherwise the sentence isn’t long enough to even care about it. So they’re going to be people serving long sentences. A lot of them have murder.”
Liz Murrill, Louisiana’s attorney general, is the first woman to hold that office in the Pelican State. She is a registered Republican. (Office of the Attorney General of Louisiana)
Louisiana Republican Senator Jay Morris has called for an extraordinary session of the House on September 5 to examine the actions taken by Williams’ office in connection with the release of the prisoners.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill issued the following statement: “We have only filed a motion to intervene in one case, and that is a case involving a denial and subsequent appointment of a defense attorney as prosecutor. So this is a clear conflict of interest, in addition to the dismissal being illegal and presumptively unconstitutional. We are reviewing a number of other cases where the prosecution, a criminal judge and a defense attorney improperly agreed to dismiss the case after conviction.”
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Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and state Senator Jay Morris did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
