Rachel Gassert News Today

There was mixed reaction Wednesday when residents weighed in on Gov. John Bel Edwards' plan to secure the Bridge City Center for Youth.

The governor signed Louisiana’s first law restricting isolation for youth after two suicides and a ProPublica, NBC News and The Marshall Project investigation into harsh conditions in a new state juvenile facility.

Officials want to roll back changes made for therapeutic ‘Missouri model’ of care

An investigation by ProPublica, NBC News and The Marshall Project found that youth in a Louisiana lockup were held in solitary around the clock for weeks.

A bill seeking to repeal the state’s 2016 Raise the Age law will go to the full Senate for debate

A bill to repeal Louisiana's 2016 "Raise the age" law passes a Senate committee without objection. The law ass...

Teens at Louisiana’s newest juvenile lockup, Acadiana Center for Youth at St. Martinville, were held in solitary confinement around the clock, shackled with leg irons and deprived of an education. “This is child abuse,” one expert said.

Louisiana juvenile advocates question whether youth transfer was legal

New Orleans City Council voted unanimously Thursday to expand its curfew and truancy laws to include 17-year-olds. The vote was taken up as part of the council’s consent agenda, held for “routine or non-controversial matters.” But the expansion, introduced by Councilmembers Jay Banks and Cyndi Nguyen, has sparked controversy. Council members listened to several statements opposing the expansion. Commenters cited data from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which reported that during the sum...

Alyssa Berry / WRKF For the second time in eight months, a bystander video capturing a Baton Rouge police officer restraining a Black teenager is sparking outrage and prompting calls for reform. The video, posted to social media on Sunday, shows the officer wrapping his arm around the neck of the boy as he pinned him to the ground. Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome has pledged a “thorough” investigation and advocacy groups say the incident reinforces longstanding concer...