Louisiana
AG Liz Murrill’s office can hire husband’s law firm to defend death sentences, court rules
Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office can employ the Baton Rouge law firm where her husband is a partner to help the agency defend death sentences, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The decision in the case of condemned inmate Darrell Draughn of Caddo Parish clears the way for Murrill’s office to employ the Taylor Porter firm in other capital post-conviction cases as well.
Murrill has stepped into a host of post-conviction cases involving death row prisoners since Louisiana resumed executions in the spring after a 15-year hiatus. The Republican attorney general has said she’s intent on speeding up their path to the execution chamber, and a recent state law that Murrill supported forces many long-dormant challenges forward.
With the ruling, Taylor Porter attorneys are expected to enroll in more capital post-conviction cases for the attorney general. The firm currently represents the state in four such cases, according to Murrill’s office, under a contract that allows it to charge up to $350 hourly.
Among them is the case of former New Orleans Police Department officer Antoinette Frank, the only condemned woman in Louisiana.
Murrill’s husband, John Murrill, is one of about three dozen partners in the Taylor Porter firm. Capital defense advocates argued that the arrangement amounts to a conflict of interest.
Ethics experts say state law requires a higher stake than John Murrill’s 2.7% share of Taylor Porter to amount to a conflict. The state Ethics Board agreed in an advisory opinion in June, which the high court cited in its opinion.
The Louisiana Supreme Court earlier this year cleared Murrill’s office to represent the state in capital post-conviction cases when a district attorney requests it. Its ruling on Tuesday makes clear that the attorney general can outsource the work.
“Taylor Porter has been selected by the Attorney General pursuant to her clear statutory authority to hire private counsel to defend the warden and state. There is little as fundamental to a litigant as one’s ability to select the counsel of your choice,” the court stated.
Murrill says the government work done by Taylor Porter has been carved out from their income since she took office early last year.
“Neither my husband nor I profit off of this work. We won’t be deterred from our mission to see that justice is served, despite frivolous bad faith attacks from anti-death penalty lawyers,” Murrill said Tuesday in a statement.
Defense advocates, however, point to reduced funding for capital defense and a higher workload under the deadlines of the new state law. They say the state is paying outside lawyers at three times the rate of capital appeals attorneys.
“It’s just outrageous,” said James Boren, immediate past president of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
“What is absurd is after the attorney general and governor and legislature decrease funding for capital defense, increase the workload, decrease the amount of time to do it, the attorney general’s husband’s law firm is awarded a contract for hundreds of thousands of dollars for less work.”
Prosecutors and capital defense attorneys both say it’s unusual to see a private law firm step into a post-conviction proceeding for the state. Taylor Porter is one of three contractors doing post-conviction work for Murrill’s office, according to state records show.
While the court freed the firm, one of its lawyers remains barred from representing Murrill’s office on those cases. The ethics board found that Grant Willis, who previously led appeals for the attorney general, must sit out for two years. The blackout period for Willis ends next month.
Louisiana’s ‘largest’ ever earthquake rattles home security camera
A security camera captured the moment a 4.9-magnitude earthquake shook homes in northwest Louisiana.
Thursday’s earthquake that shook furniture and rattled pipes in the Shreveport region may have some property owners wondering whether they should consider buying insurance to cover them from potential stronger movement in the future.
The 4.9 magnitude earthquake that struck just north of Coushatta at 5:30 a.m. March 5 was the strongest onshore event in Louisiana history.
No structural damage has been reported from Thursday’s earthquake so far, but the strength of the movement may have been enough to raise concern.
“If people are concerned they should call their insurance agent and explore pricing and options,” Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple said in an interview with USA Today Network.
“It’s not an issue that has come up often in Louisiana, but if coverage can alleviate anxiety and risk it’s absolutely something homeowners and property owners should consult their agent about,” he said.
Earth movement or subsidence insurance is generally excluded from homeowners’ policies, as is flood insurance, but property owners can secure the coverage through their insurers as an add-on, called an endorsement.
Eugene Montgomery, owner of Community Financial Insurance Center in northern Louisiana, said a subsidence endorsement to cover earthquake damage would generally be inexpensive in Louisiana because of the low risk.
“The coverage itself is inexpensive, but the deductible would be high,” Montgomery told USA Today Network.
That’s the case for one Shreveport homeowner who asked not to be identified. The homeowner secured a subsidence endorsement following Thursday’s earthquake that cost $120 per year after discounts with a 10% deductible.
Republican state Sen. Adam Bass, who also operates an Allstate agency in Bossier, said most people won’t buy an add-on that’s not required by their mortgage holders no matter how inexpensive it is.
Bass said he hasn’t had any inquiries about earth movement insurance during his career.
But Montgomery said he remembers a temporary spike in those policies in 1990 when climatologist Iben Brown predicted a major earthquake would strike the New Madrid Fault in Missouri on Dec. 3 of that year, a forecast that flopped.
“It really created a little bit of a panic,” Montgomery said. “Everybody wanted insurance for a short period of time.”
Montgomery doesn’t expect a similar run on earthquake after Thursday’s event, but said he won’t be surprised if some level of interest increases.
“When people can actually feel the earth moving it gets their attention,” he said.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
WASHINGTON (WAFB) — President Donald Trump has removed Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and nominated Sen. Markwayne Mullin to replace her. Noem will take on the role of Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas. Members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation responded to the change in leadership.
Kennedy clash preceded removal
Noem led DHS since the beginning of Trump’s second term. One of the most noted controversies of her tenure was the department’s spending of $220 million on television ads across the country, which drew scrutiny from Sen. John Kennedy during a committee hearing.
“Did the President know you were going to do this?” Kennedy asked during the hearing.
“Yes,” Noem replied.
Kennedy said the spending and other issues had weighed on him.
“You just add all of this up and the other turmoil and it’s been stuck in my craw,” Kennedy said. “I want to secure the border and I want to enforce our immigration laws, but I’m tired of trying to explain behavior that is inexplicable to me.”
Louisiana delegation reacts
Congressman Cleo Fields wrote on X that Noem “was not qualified to lead one of the most critical agencies in our federal government, and her tenure made it clear that she was not the right person for this role,” adding that “there is far too much at stake for anything less than exemplary leadership.”
Congressman Troy Carter, who held a congressional hearing in New Orleans regarding DHS issues, said that under Noem’s leadership, DHS and ICE “repeatedly carried out aggressive immigration operations without proper coordination with local leaders, disregarded due process, and created fear and instability in communities that deserve respect and protection under the law.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy said on social media that “securing the border is one of President Trump’s greatest achievements” and that he looks forward “to continue that success and ensure FEMA delivers for Louisiana families.”
As with all cabinet positions, Mullin will need to go through Senate confirmation to gain the cabinet seat. It is unclear when confirmation hearings will take place.
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Louisiana
Louisiana has the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the nation. See the parish data.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men, with an estimated 333,830 new cases and 36,320 deaths projected for 2026 for the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.
In the U.S., there are approximately 116 new prostate cancer cases per 100,000 people annually. Louisiana has the highest prostate cancer incidence rate in the country at 147.2 cases per 100,000 — a rate that has been steadily rising since 2014, according to data from the National Cancer Institute.
New prostate cancer drug can extend life expectancy by 8 months, Baton Rouge doctor says
These parishes had the highest rates, in cases per 100,000, of prostate cancer from 2018 to 2022, in descending order:
- West Feliciana Parish with 218.6 cases per 100,000;
- Iberville Parish with 182.3 cases per 100,000;
- Bienville Parish with 179.7 cases per 100,000;
- West Baton Rouge Parish with 179.4 cases per 100,000;
- Vermillion Parish with 176.5 cases per 100,000;
- Iberia Parish with 173.8 cases per 100,000;
- East Baton Rouge Parish with 173.6 cases per 100,000;
- East Carroll Parish with 172.9 cases per 100,000;
- East Feliciana Parish with 166.3 cases per 100,000;
- Tangipahoa Parish with 166.2 cases per 100,000;
- St. Martin Parish with 166 cases per 100,000;
- Jackson Parish with 165.3 cases per 100,000;
- and Lincoln Parish with 165.1 cases per 100,000.
These parishes had the lowest rates, in cases per 100,000, of prostate cancer from 2018 to 2022, in ascending order:
- Cameron Parish with 101 cases per 100,000;
- Evangeline Parish with 102.7 cases per 100,000;
- Union Parish with 106.9 cases per 100,000;
- Winn Parish with 108.2 cases per 100,000;
- Vernon Parish with 109.4 cases per 100,000;
- Grant Parish with 109.7 cases per 100,000;
- Franklin and La Salle parishes with 111 cases per 100,000;
- St. Bernard Parish with 113.9 cases per 100,000;
- Tensas Parish with 115.2 cases per 100,000;
- Terrebonne Parish with 117.5 cases per 100,000;
- Washington Parish with 121.1 cases per 100,000;
- Livingston Parish with 122.8 cases per 100,000;
- Sabine Parish with 122.9 cases per 100,000;
- Bossier Parish with 123.7 cases per 100,000;
- and La Fourche Parish with 124.8 cases per 100,000.
Data represents an annual average for all stages of prostate cancer.
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