The N.O. jail’s population limit is 1,250. It was above that throughout last year.

“Just being in jail for one day makes it way more likely you’re going to reoffend, and that’s just because it’s so disruptive,” said Jared Fishman, a former U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor and founder of Justice Innovation Lab. 

“For every additional day, the likelihood of recidivism, of losing your job, of impacts on housing and family, it shoots up,” Fishman continued. “It’s a humanitarian issue and a civil rights issue, because we shouldn’t be detaining people unnecessarily. But it’s also a huge taxpayer expense and a public safety issue, because the longer we keep people in there that don’t need to be in there, we’re going to be paying for it multiple times over.” 

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