Last October, reports surfaced that children being held at the Jackson Parish Detention Center were being maced and pepper sprayed for minor altercations. While this type of punishment is illegal in most states, Louisiana’s Office of Juvenile Justice is permitted to use “chemical agents” at its long-term “secure care” facilities, such as Jackson. A new law that puts OJJ in charge of pretrial detention centers is greatly expanding the use of mace and pepper spray on kids. The Lens’ Nick Chrastil reports:
A new state law took effect on July 1 that put OJJ in charge of licensing and regulating all detention facilities. Before then, it was under the authority of the state Department of Children & Family Services. Soon after the shift, newly appointed OJJ director Kenneth “Kenny” Loftin implemented an emergency rule change allowing staff in those juvenile-detention facilities to use “chemical agents” – defined as “any product… which is dispensed by means of an aerosol spray to control an individual’s combative and/or restive behavior.” Under DCFS, staff in detention facilities were barred from using any “chemical restraints,” including pepper spray and mace.
Loftin is the founder and longtime director of a youth detention center in Coushatta that was the subject of a scathing 2022 New York Times investigation that documented a horrific pattern of suicides, escapes and physical and sexual assaults against children. Loftin was not accused of abuse.
Weaponizing tax code against single parents
Some prominent right-wing think tanks and U.S. senators are pushing to use income tax increases on single parents, who are more likely to be low income, to pay for the extension of the 2017 Trump tax law, whose benefits disproportionately benefit the wealthy. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s Carl Davis, writing in a guest column for the Hill, explains the quiet effort to make single parenthood more expensive:
As the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 explains: “It’s time for policymakers to elevate family authority, formation, and cohesion as their top priority and even use government power, including through the tax code, to restore the American family.” When it comes to tax policy, the most prominent idea for accomplishing this is eliminating the head of household filing status, which offers tailored tax brackets and deductions that recognize the financial challenges faced by single parents. In 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump proposed ending the head of household status as part of a massive $6 trillion tax cut plan that would have actually raised taxes for most single parents with dependent children.
Note: Former President Donald Trump proposed eliminating the head of household status during his 2016 presidential campaign, but has not included the same level of detail in his current platform.
The high price of fines and fees
Many state legal systems, including in Louisiana, are financed largely by fines and fees, rather than state funds. These exorbitant costs can quickly add up and place a heavy burden on people with the fewest resources. The Urban Institute’s Aravind Boddupalli and Susan Nembhard, writing in Governing, outline ways policymakers can mitigate the harmful impact that these costs impose:
Eliminate administrative fees levied by courts, which significantly increase the costs of criminal legal penalties. Like California, other states could clear outstanding debts people owe from these penalties. Address racial inequities throughout the criminal legal system. Policymakers, law enforcement officials, judges, and other stakeholders could end the use of both explicitly and implicitly discriminatory practices through drug policy reforms, community-driven violence-interruption programs, and alternatives to jail detention and prison admission.
Food insecurity on the rise
Pandemic relief measures, such as the enhanced Child Tax Credit and expanded food assistance, helped drive down food insecurity to a two-decade low in 2021. But the expiration of those benefits, combined with high inflation, have increased food hardship for the second year in a row. The Center on Budget and Policies’ Catlin Nchako reports:
In 2023, 33.6 million adults and 13.8 million children lived in food-insecure households, compared to 30.8 million adults and 13.4 million children in 2022. Substantial racial inequities in food hardship persisted, with Black, Latino, and Native American households experiencing rates of food insecurity at least twice as high as white, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander households. These inequities reflect the impact of structural barriers rooted in systemic racism, other forms of discrimination, and poverty, all of which make it harder for many people of color to afford food.
Editor’s note: The Daily Dime will take a day off on Wednesday as South Louisiana braces for Hurricane Francine. We’ll be back when the lights come back on.
Number of the Day
$117,527 – Average family liquid retirement savings for Black families in 2022, compared to $380,333 for white families. Structural racial barriers, including occupational crowding, have created inequities in workplace retirement savings. (Source: Urban Institute)