It’s Monday morning in the Municipal and Traffic Court of New Orleans — misdemeanor rush hour in a city that traffics more heavily than most in public drunkenness and disturbing the peace.

Fifty-two arrestees, outfitted in orange and maroon jumpsuits, await their first appearance before a judge. Most...

Jailed people are pictured at the Orleans Justice Center jail on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Clerical errors are a common cause of “ghost warrants,” which can send someone to jail for an outdated or defunct warrant that still appears on the person’s...

Last month, Causey Davis found himself in handcuffs in the back of a New Orleans police cruiser, bewildered. Held there for over an hour, he was finally informed that an inaccurate arrest warrant—which court records show was dismissed 25 years ago—had somehow appeared under his name in the cops’ com...