BATON ROUGE — The chief judge of the 19th Judicial District Court is pushing back against what he calls a misconception that his court is soft on crime.

It is rare for a judge to speak to the media, but Chief Judge Donald Johnson sat down with the WBRZ Investigative Unit for an hour-long interview to address the criticism directly.

Johnson said he is acutely aware of how some state leaders and much of the public currently view the 19th JDC. 

"I would just ask the executives who make such profound statements — you're not accurate with the facts," Johnson said. "Get your facts before you speak, and after you get your facts, align your statements with the facts."

Johnson addressed Governor Jeff Landry's recent characterization of the Baton Rouge judiciary. Landry made those remarks in April, hours after a shooting at the Mall of Louisiana that killed one person and wounded five.

"I watched nothing but 'hug-a-thug' policies in this state, a watering down of our criminal justice system, not quite holding those accountable, accountable. I'm done with them," Landry said.

The comments came after reports emerged that a teenager on a court-ordered monitoring system may have been involved in the mall shooting. That teenager was never charged in connection with the shooting.

Johnson called Landry's public critique a "knee-jerk reaction."

"The concept presumes a fact. What does 'hug-a-thug' mean? What in the world does that mean? Soft on crime? Is that what the word suggests?" Johnson said. "Let me tell you this — I'll 'hug a thug' as long as he stays his behind out of trouble and do what I tell him to do." 

Johnson said some of the public outrage following the governor's statements was pointed at the commissioner in the teenager's case.

"My colleague was exposed to safety concerns for himself and his family, and no one is going to jeopardize the safety of my judges because of comments that are off base and not supported by data or evidence-based statements," Johnson said.

Other recent cases have drawn attention to alleged bond violations. Xavier Williams, 18, was out on bond and on an ankle monitor on aggravated assault charges when he allegedly shot a high school student at a bus stop. Johnson says those types of cases remain in the minority.

The court's own statistics show an eight percent re-arrest rate. The 19th JDC defines re-arrest as a suspect being charged after bonding out of jail when the new offense occurs during the bond release.

"We are the guardians of public safety in terms of risk with defendants, and we take that very seriously," Johnson said.