Orleans Parish Criminal and Civil Sheriff question

[ChrisF202]

What is the difference between the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office and the Orleans Parish Civil Sheriff's Office? Why not just merge the 2 agencies?

[Tim Dees]

What is the difference between the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office and the Orleans Parish Civil Sheriff's Office? Why not just merge the 2 agencies?

Louisiana parishes (whhat are called "counties" everywhere else) have civil sheriffs and criminal sheriffs. Civil sheriffs provide services to the courts and mainly serve legal process and enforce court levies. The criminal sheriff (and his deputies) have general law enforcement duties. Why are there two, and why don't they merge them? The answer is the same everywhere: "Because we've always done it that way."

By the way, Louisiana is a different breed of dog, anyway, as it is the only state where the laws are based on the Napoleonic Code, rather than the U.S. Constitution.

[ChrisF202]

Louisiana parishes (whhat are called "counties" everywhere else) have civil sheriffs and criminal sheriffs. Civil sheriffs provide services to the courts and mainly serve legal process and enforce court levies. The criminal sheriff (and his deputies) have general law enforcement duties. Why are there two, and why don't they merge them? The answer is the same everywhere: "Because we've always done it that way."

By the way, Louisiana is a different breed of dog, anyway, as it is the only state where the laws are based on the Napoleonic Code, rather than the U.S. Constitution.

Isent Napoleonic code "guilty until proven innocent"?

[Tim Dees]

Isent Napoleonic code "guilty until proven innocent"?

Strictly interpreted, almost. In French courts, the Judicial Police do the investigations of serious crimes. The uniformed police - the Gendarmarie - are the order-maintenance guys, and don't do much in the way of investigating. If they decide to prosecute the offense, it means that they have collected a substantial amount of evidence against the accused - much closer to the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt" than just "probable cause." Thus, by the time someone actually appears before a judge, the presumption is that they are probably guilty, and the burden to prove otherwise is on the accused. So, while it's not truly "guilty until proven innocent," it is very close to "presumed guilty until shown otherwise." Close, but not exactly the same thing.

By the way, that is called the "inquisitorial system," where we use is the "adversarial system."

While Louisiana's laws are based on the Napoleonic Code, they still have to be in compliance with the U.S. Constitution, as do all other laws in the United States.

[PhilipCal]

Orleans Parish Civil-Criminal Sheriff

To add to Tim's very accurate post. In Continental Europe, the judge is much more active in the investigation of an alleged crime than in Great Britain, Ireland, or the United States. While there are certainly procedural safeguards,and a certain presumption of innocence, a criminal defense must of neccessity, be very aggressive, while in the adversarial system, a defendant can remain silent. Not a wise course in most cases, but an option anyway. Bottom line. I don't want to be charged with a crime anywhere, but if I absolutely had to, I'd far rather it be under the "adversarial system".