Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office

The mission of the CRD is to reduce the effects of past harm done to vulnerable communities by the State—including by its failure to provide essential services to people of color—and to build a culture of integrity within the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s (OPDA) office that builds community confidence in our institutions and prevents future harm.

The conviction and sentence review unit of the Civil Rights Division reviews past convictions and sentences sought by the OPDA that have harmed vulnerable communities, either because OPDA has obtained a wrongful conviction or because it has pursued extreme sentences that do nothing to improve public safety. Wrongful convictions include convictions of the actually innocent, convictions obtained in large part by the unethical or illegal conduct of state actors, or convictions obtained by racially discriminatory laws, policies or practices. The assistant district attorney (ADA) will be responsible for conviction review of potential wrongful conviction cases. Specifically, the ADA will:

• Screen and assess the cases as they are referred to the CRD for review;
• Lead conviction review on a number of assigned cases;
• Supervise investigation and victim and survivor outreach
• Liaise with defense counsel or—where an inmate is pro se--recruit pro bono defense counsel
• Make recommendations to the Chief regarding disposition for each case.
• Make recommendations for disposition;
• Represent the State in court in all relevant proceedings
• Perform other duties necessary for effective conviction review and the CRD. 

This position will report to the Chief of the Civil Rights Division and work closely with all division staff and other divisions as necessary.