[420 Girl]

New Orleans -District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro says moving some misdemeanor cases out of criminal court would speed up the prosecution of violent crime cases.

There are 2,200 open cases in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court - 700 of those are simple marijuana possession cases.

And some say that's clogging the system.

"This is a court that is designed and its main purpose is to handle the serious and violent offenders, the crimes that are in the City of New Orleans. If we could remove one-third of that docket out of the criminal district court and place them in the municipal court, where all the other misdemeanor cases are handled, then it frees up some of our resources to concentrate on the more violent offenses," says District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro.

Cannizzaro's idea to move simple marijuana possession cases to municipal court gets strong backing from criminal justice watchdogs at the Metropolitan Crime Commission.

"This isn't about being soft on crime. This isn't about legalizing marijuana. It isn't about not taking enforcement action because it's still a criminal offense in municipal court just as it would be in criminal district court," said Rafael Goyeneche.

While moving simple pot possession cases from Tulane and Broad a block away to municipal court may sound simple, it has become a complicated issue.

The move affects almost every division of the criminal justice system financially especially when it comes to criminal court.

"It's all, almost always about the money, almost always," says former Chief Judge Calvin Johnson.

The current chief judge at criminal court claims it's not about the money but declined to do an interview. But Johnson talked candidly on the topic.

"The actual needs of the community should drive funding, not funding driving or defining what the needs are."

Cannizzarro says criminal court would lose about $300,000 that comes from fees and fines imposed on marijuana possession offenders. If the cases move to municipal court, so does the money.

Johnson admits that is a hardship for criminal court judges, but says the city's criminal justice leaders need to look at the bigger picture.

"The city is going to have to come to the realization that the city council is going to have to look at how the criminal justice system is funded in New Orleans. No one really wants to talk about it from this perspective, but it's time now for us to do so," said Johnson.

Councilman James Carter heads the the City Council's Criminal Justice Committee. He's studying Cannizzaro's idea and doesn't believe money is an issue.

"I would hate to think that's the motivation here. I think that the people on our criminal justice system are more so concerned about the safety of the citizens than any monetary issues," said Carter.

There's another dynamic included in this $300,000 criminal court budget loss. That money comes from fees and fines paid by simple marijuana possession defendants. Those fees are imposed by the judges, and some believe that's a conflict of interest.

"You can't as a judge sit up there and depend on your court operating based on the fines that you access against the person who's in front of you. It kind of makes us look bad. It made us look bad as judges to say that if I have an opportunity to pose a sentence and if probation is available, or I can impose fines and it means I'm going to get the benefit of those fines," said Cannizzaro, who used to be a criminal court judge.

A spokesman for Cannizzaro's office says under state law the DA can move the simple marijuana possession cases to municipal court without input from other parts of the criminal justice system, but Cannizzaro says he'd rather have everyone on the same page.

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