New Orleans DA released violent convicts onto the streets before new oversight law took effect: report

New Orleans DA Jason Williams reportedly released 23 convicts, allegedly violent, before a new statewide act came into effect preventing post-conviction relief deals without greater oversight.

Act 10, which came into effect in Louisiana on August 1, increases state-level oversight on post-conviction relief.

The legislation was introduced during a special crime session in the Louisiana legislature and agreed upon March 5.

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In the time between March 5 and August 1, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams reportedly struck post-conviction relief deals with at least 28 prisoners, according to Fox 8.

According to former Orleans Parish prosecutor and Bayou Mama Bears founder Laura Rodrigue, that number is even higher: 42.

"When the crime session ends, we see the law has obviously been signed. And so then we start to see, you know, exponentially more [prisoners] until they hit 42 for the year of 2024," said Rodrigue in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

A document obtained by Fox News Digital confirms the Bayou Mama Bears' number of 42 prisoners resentenced in year-to-date 2024. None of the prisoners offered relief were women.

"What really bothered me as a former prosecutor was the statement that [Williams] made in response to media requests about this was that he had stated, and has maintained his position that he was ‘committed to undoing the wrongs of the past,’" said Rodrigue.

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"The really interesting thing we found about the convictions that he was undoing was, there was not any evidence in his own pleadings that indicated that there was any wrongdoing in the past," added Rodrigue. "So he was merely just releasing people that he felt like releasing."

Orleans Parish DA Jason Williams did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Bayou Mama Bears' Laura Rodrigue argues that the majority of those released using post-conviction relief in 2024 are violent offenders. "Most of them are murder and armed robbery: it's going to be mostly violent crimes because otherwise the sentence isn't long enough to even care. So it's going to be people who are serving lengthy sentences. We have many of them on murder."

Louisiana State Senator Jay Morris (R-Monroe) has announced a special legislative session slated for September 5 to review actions taken by Williams's office in connection with the prisoner releases.

Liz Murrill, Attorney General for Louisiana, released this statement: "We have only filed a motion to intervene in one case, and it’s a case involving a recusal and subsequent appointment of a defense attorney as a prosecutor, so it’s a clear conflict of interest in addition to the relief being contrary to law and presumptively unconstitutional. We are reviewing a number of other cases in which the DA, a criminal court judge, and a defense attorney improperly agreed to post conviction relief."

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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.