Louisiana
Former Louisiana trooper seeks $200K from state for excessive force defenses
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – A former Louisiana state trooper argues that the state government owes him more than $200,000 in attorneys fees he spent defending himself against criminal charges related to his time on the force.
Former Trooper Jacob Brown racked up a $210,813.40 legal fee after hiring lawyers to defend him, according to a complaint filed in the 19th Judicial District earlier this month.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Brown, who patrolled in north Louisiana, was involved in 23 use-of-force incident between 2015 and 2021. Nineteen of those incidents targeted Black people, the AP reported.
In one case involving the violent arrest of a Black motorist, Brown told fellow troopers “it warms my heart knowing we could educate that young man.”
In 2021, he resigned after being arrested for hitting a Black man 18 times in the head with a flashlight. Last year, a federal jury acquitted Brown of violating the civil rights of the man. The incident, captured on video, left the man with a broken jaw and ribs. Brown said the blows were used as “pain compliance” as he tried to detain the motorist, the AP reported.
A state charge brought against Brown in the 5th Judicial District tied to yet another matter was also dismissed, according to Brown’s lawsuit.
Attorney Russell Woodard Jr. represents Brown. In the lawsuit seeking reimbursement, Woodard cites state law which allows for law enforcement officers to collect reimbursement for attorney fees in criminal cases where the crime occurred while the suspect was working on behalf of the state and the incident did not end with a conviction.
The law also requires that the officer be “acting in good faith” at the time.
Brown attorney says his client was indeed acting in good faith during the incidents that landed him in court.
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Louisiana
After redistricting battles, Southern gathers for Juneteenth celebration: ‘Continue the fight’
Hundreds of community members, alumni and students gathered Thursday to observe Juneteenth on the Southern University campus in Baton Rouge.
The theme of the festivities was “celebrating freedom through culture and community,” but weeks after Louisiana’s bitter redistricting battles, the speakers Thursday morning had one message driving their remarks: Get out and vote.
“Freedom does not come in on the wheels of inevitability,” Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice John Michael Guidry said to the crowd. “But it takes the prodigious work and the tireless efforts of those who are willing to continue the fight.”
Great Beginnings summer camper Myni, 4, gets a hello kitty face painting during Southern’s Juneteenth celebration on Thursday, June 18, 2026 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
The speech kicked off a day of discussions and cultural events centered on the holiday of Juneteenth, which commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger brought news of emancipation to enslaved people in Texas more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
Speakers at Southern emphasized the need for protection of hard-won rights for Black Americans in the context of redistricting. The sentiments followed a contentious state legislative session that ended with the elimination of one of Louisiana’s two majority-Black congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
“That Voting Rights Act is under attack,” Guidry said. “There’s voter intimidation, there’s voter suppression, there are voter ID laws and all types of laws and legal decisions that are trying to deny us our right to vote, and we are the ones who have to go forward and litigate these issues.”
The day opened with a libation ceremony and a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Southern University student Claire Floyd.
Southern University alumnus Jeanet Cazenave said she felt it was important to celebrate Juneteenth on campus as not only a relative of the first dean of Southern University but also a descendant of the GU272, a group of enslaved individuals who were sold to plantations in Louisiana in 1838 by Jesuit priests to pay the debts of what is now Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Juneteenth “means everything,” Cazenave said. “It means the past, the present and the future.”
BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) — Governor Landry has officially declared Louisiana under state of emergency.
The state emergency declaration covers Avoyelles, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, St. Tammany and Terrebonne parishes.
The declaration was issued Thursday following the impacts of Tropical Storm Arthur, which brough rainfall and strong storms to parts of the state on June 17 and 18.
Officials said the National Weather Service has confirmed three tornadoes tied to the storm system.
Officials also reported record or near-record rainfall totals in Avoyelles and Pointe Coupee parishes over a 12-hour period.
The order allows the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to coordinate resources and provide assistance to local governments if needed.
Certain state purchasing and bidding requirements have been temporarily suspended to speed up emergency response efforts.
The declaration took effect immediately and will remain in place through July 18 unless it is lifted or extended.
State officials are urging residents to stay weather aware, avoid flooded roadways and follow guidance from local emergency managers.
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