Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson has ignored a court order to transport recent arrestees from jail to Magistrate Court on weekends and holidays, a judge wrote on Monday while accusing the sheriff of contempt of court.
Criminal District Chief Judge Tracey Flemings-Davillier ordered Hutson to appear Wednesday afternoon to respond to allegations of “willful neglect of duty” and “willful disobedience of a lawful order,” according to a two-page order.
Flemings-Davillier claims that Hutson failed to follow “numerous” requests to resume a practice of transporting detainees on weekends and holidays for their first court appearances. Following the pandemic, the court began holding those hearings by Zoom from the jail, later phasing in a return of weekday transports…