One in Seven adults in New Orleans have a warrant out for their arrest, new data shows

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 are black. All require a public defender. And more than half of them are here, their hands chained against their stomachs, because they missed a court date for a minor crime, triggering an arrest warrant.

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