After qualifying for sheriff election, Susan Hutson joins council member, reform advocates opposing new jail facility

Former New Orleans Independent Police Monitor Susan Hutson told The Lens on Wednesday that she is opposed to a proposed new city jail facility, called Phase III, that the city has been ordered to build to house detainees with serious mental illness or medical needs.

Hutson, who resigned from the public, independent watchdog agency last month after over a decade, is seeking to take over the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail, from incumbent Sheriff Marlin Gusman. She qualified for the October election on Wednesday.

Hutson appeared outside of the New Orleans jail on Wednesday afternoon, along with New Orleans City Councilwoman Kristin Palmer and criminal justice reform advocates with the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition and the Vera Institute for Justice, in a press conference to oppose Phase III. 

“My position is I’m against Phase III, and I want to oppose it,” Hutson told The Lens. Her opponent, Gusman, has long argued in favor of the 89-bed addition, which is expected to cost more than $50 million, most of which will be paid with post-Katrina federal dollars.