home

Captial Defenders in New Orleans Need Help

Update: Please read Stranded by Clive Stafford Smith in today's Guardian. Mr. Smith founded The Justice Center, which needs help as outlined below:

************
Original Post 9/1/05

The Justice Center, located in New Orleans is home to four cutting edge, non-profit criminal defense offices. It houses:

  • The Louisiana Crisis Assistance Center, a capital trial office providing indigent defense in Louisiana for over ten years.
  • A Fighting Chance, a specialist capital defense investigative team.
  • The Capital Appeals Project, the statewide office for capital appeals in Louisiana.
  • The Innocence Project of New Orleans, part of the national network of innocence projects working to free those wrongly convicted.

They need help. From their bulletin:

In order to set up a temporary office we need the following:

• Office space: a substantial amount of office space has already been donated by the Gulf Region Advocacy Center;
• A new server, with back up tape drive capable of recovering and maintaining our data;
• Remote server hosting to allow broadband access to our files for staff at the temporary office and those who are still located in other states;
• Desktop or lap top computers for 8 staff to work on;
• Three laser printers;
• A copier machine;
• Desks and chairs for 10 staff (half of this has already been donated by the Gulf Region Advocacy Center);
• Office supplies – pads, pens, filing cabinets, hole punches, staplers, highlighters, post-it-notes – you name it, we need it;
• Phone and fax lines and an internet connection and networking;

Due to the urgent need for the offices to regain access to the server and its data we have made arrangements to have our data restored and a new server established. This will end up costing about $9,000 and has been put on a credit card. The Gulf Region Advocacy Center, itself a cash strapped non-profit, has already generously donated office space and some office furniture, as well as a fax machine.

We would also be grateful to receive assistance for our staff who are now homeless and have lost their possessions.

If you are able to donate goods, services or cash or have any questions about the Justice Center please contact us: Richard Bourke, rbourke@thejusticecenter.org or Christine Lehmann, christinel@theusticecenter.org or make an on-line donation.

< A Monumental Failure of Leadership | NOLA Mayor to Feds: Get Off Your As*es >
  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


  • Display: Sort: