New Orleans Public Defender’s “Redeem Team” Says: “Re-entry Is Never Over”
Journalist Radley Balko published an interview on March 15, 2025, with five former state prisoners in Louisiana now employed as peer advocates with the Public Defender’s office in Orleans Parish. Known as the “redeem team,” the five men help facilitate communication and understanding between attorneys in the office and their clients facing criminal charges, pursuing appeals or preparing for release. Team members say that the job is vital, providing both a career and a purpose.
Robert Jones, 52, is the only exonerated team member, spending 23 years in the state penitentiary in Angola before his 2015 release; he sued for his wrongful conviction and won a $2.05 million settlement in August 2021.
Louis Gibson, 49, served 25 years of a life sentence without the possibility of parole for a crime committed as a juvenile, before the Supreme Court of the United States declared such sentences unconstitutional in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012).
Everett Offray, 47, served 27 years for a 1996 murder before successfully arguing on appeal that he suffered ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) at trial; he then took a plea deal to a lesser charge and was released in 2022.
Terry Pierce, 66, served 41 years for a 1980 killing before he, too, successfully appealed claiming IAC; like Offray, he then took a plea deal and was released in 2022. Michael Banford, 51, was also released in 2022; he served 29 years for a 1992 murder before his sentence was commuted by former Gov. Jon Bel Edwards (D).
Helping clients understand their cases, team members share real-world incarceration experiences with those considering plea deals. For those pursuing appeals, they help navigate re-entry from prison to society. “You may think you’re all right, but you’re not,” Jones declared.
“Re-entry is never over,” Gibson agreed. “It is an ongoing process. I tell people to treat reentry like they’d treat substance abuse. You never fully recover. It’s always one day at a time.”
Source: The Watch
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