From Trump’s Police State to New Orleans’ Ballot: Vote YES for the Fair Chance Amendment
Critical Mass Nola Co-Organizer Eric Gabourel speaking at the No National Guard Rally at the Hall Boggs Federal Building on Tuesday, September 9th, 2025
On a humid New Orleans evening, dozens of riders gathered with Critical Mass Nola, rolling out from the steps of the Hale Boggs Federal Building—the site of the “No National Guard in New Orleans” rally. With music spilling from bike speakers, the ride cut through the streets of the city, moving as one living procession of resistance. From the federal building, the group wound its way across the French Quarter to the marble steps of the Louisiana Supreme Court.
There, Bruce Reilly of VOTE (Voice of the Experienced) stood before the riders and spoke about the fight for the Fair Chance Amendment—a local struggle rooted in the national crisis of mass incarceration. This was more than a ride. It was a moving teach-in, a community engagement action that carried the message block by block that the carceral state is not inevitable, and New Orleans has the power to chart a different path.
VOTE, a grassroots organization led by formerly incarcerated people, has long been at the forefront of this struggle. Their work goes beyond policy papers—it lives in neighborhoods and community centers, at voter registration drives and canvassing tables. They fight to restore the voting rights of people with convictions, to secure employment opportunities, and to guarantee medical rights for those both inside prison walls and coming home. Their vision is simple but radical—a New Orleans where conviction history is not a life sentence of exclusion, but a reality met with dignity, equity, and opportunity.
That is what the Fair Chance Amendment represents. And that is why Critical Mass NOLA took to the streets—to shine a light on the system of permanent punishment and to link the fight for safe streets with the fight for justice.
Trump’s Police State and the Local Struggle
Bruce Reilly of VOTE addressing Critical Mass Nola about the importance of the Fair Chance Amendment (Tuesday, September 9th, 2025).
Amidst a storm of lies, distortions, and half-truths, Donald Trump has escalated his war on working people by seizing control of the Washington, D.C. police department, deploying troops to the capital, and threatening similar takeovers in cities like ours. He dresses this up as “cracking down on crime,” but anyone paying attention knows these federal invasions have nothing to do with public safety. They are about control—about using militarized policing to discipline Black, working-class cities and stifle dissent.
Trump’s rhetoric is built on a false narrative of crime waves and “tough on crime” posturing. Yet the data tells a different story—heavily policed cities are not the safest, and mass incarceration has had almost no measurable effect on reducing crime. What policing and prisons do accomplish—reliably—is the destruction of working-class lives, particularly in Black communities, through perpetual surveillance, over-criminalization of petty offenses, and cycles of poverty, fines, and incarceration.
The truth is simple—crime has social roots. It comes not from some mythical moral collapse but from capitalism itself—poverty, unemployment, housing instability, broken schools, and the stripping of social programs. Instead of addressing those root causes, the ruling class doubles down on prisons, policing, and punishment. Trump is not fighting crime; he is fighting the possibility of rebellion, the possibility of working-class self-organization, the possibility of liberation.
And while Trump deploys troops around the country, here in New Orleans we have a chance—right now—to fight back against the permanent punishment system and strike a blow for real public safety.
The Fair Chance Amendment: A Step Toward Justice
On October 11th, New Orleanians will see on the ballot:
Parishwide Home Rule Charter Amendment
"Shall Article II, Section 2-202(6) of the Home Rule Charter of the City of New Orleans be amended to provide that no law shall arbitrarily and unreasonably discriminate against a person based on conviction history?"
This amendment adds “conviction history” to our city’s Bill of Rights—placing it alongside race, religion, gender, and disability as categories protected from discrimination. It ensures that people with records are considered for jobs, contracts, and services based on their skills and qualifications—not automatically excluded because of past convictions.
The numbers in Orleans Parish make the urgency plain. In 2024, New Orleans jailed an average of 588 people per 100,000 residents, more than double the national rate of 199 per 100,000. This city has been a testing ground for mass incarceration. That’s why this amendment matters. It strikes directly at the logic of permanent exclusion, the idea that once convicted, a person can never again belong to the civic fabric of our community.
Why This Matters
Bruce Reilly of VOTE addressing Critical Mass Nola about the importance of the Fair Chance Amendment.
✔ It strengthens public safety — Stable employment reduces recidivism. A working community is a safe community.
✔ It boosts our economy — New Orleans cannot afford to lock thousands of people out of the workforce. Businesses benefit from wider pools of skilled labor.
✔ It affirms human dignity — Ending permanent punishment means recognizing that people are more than the worst thing they’ve ever done.
It’s time to enshrine fair chances into our city’s constitution. This is about more than jobs; it is about saying that our communities will not be defined by cages and chains.
The Bigger Picture
The police and prison state serves the same purpose nationally as it does locally—to control a working class left desperate by low wages, unaffordable housing, gutted schools, and the collapse of social safety nets. Trump uses fear of crime to justify repression, but the real crime is the wage theft, housing speculation, and corporate looting that go unpunished.
Here in New Orleans, we cannot wait for Washington to change. The Fair Chance Amendment is our opportunity to resist the politics of mass incarceration by building protections into the very foundation of our city’s law.
Vote YES
On October 11th, look through the long ballot—past the sheriffs, clerks, and council races—until you reach the very end. There you’ll find it:
Parishwide Home Rule Charter Amendment
The Fair Chance Amendment
Vote YES. Spread the word. Bring your family, your neighbors, your coworkers to the polls.
Together we can end permanent punishment, build safer neighborhoods, and strike a blow against the racist carceral state. Because real safety doesn’t come from more cops or more cages. It comes from housing, jobs, education, dignity— and from giving everyone a fair chance.