Louisiana
Louisiana attorney general takes on New Orleans ‘sanctuary city’ policy, murder sentences
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill speaks at a Nov. 29, 2023, news conference at the Superdome in New Orleans. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
Attorney General Liz Murrill has gone to federal court to end what she and other Republican state leaders consider “sanctuary city” policies in New Orleans. She is also lobbing criticism for what she considers are reduced criminal sentences in murder cases.
Murrill filed a motion Thursday with the U.S. District Court in New Orleans that would force the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office to abandon policy that limits the law enforcement agency from carrying out warrants for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) only when suspects are accused of violent crime. Deputies also cannot ask detainees about their immigration status and share that information with federal authorities.
In a social media post, the attorney general framed her legal action as aligned with President Donald Trump’s immigration policy “to end the wave of violent crime and drugs that has swept across this nation from the southern border for the last eight years.”
“The people of Louisiana, through their representatives in the Legislature, have adamantly rejected ‘sanctuary’ policies that shield those who have broken our laws and endanger the men, women, and children of this State,” Murrill wrote.
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Through her spokeswoman, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said she had not seen the attorney general’s court filing as of late Thursday. The OPSO has complied with state law and a federal court consent decree that set parameters for interactions between the sheriff’s office and ICE.
“We enforce ICE detainers when doing so aligns with our legal obligations,” Hutson said in a statement.
The consent decree was issued under Hutson’s predecessor, Marlin Gusman, in 2013, following a federal lawsuit that triggered an investigation into poor conditions and maltreatment of incarcerated people at Orleans Parish Prison.
The consent decree policy conflicts with a law the Louisiana Legislature approved last year that forbids state agencies and local governments from putting any “sanctuary city” policies in place that shield immigrants from law enforcement. If a city or parish doesn’t obey the law, the attorney general can sue in 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge to compel their compliance. The state could also withhold money from a city or parish as punishment under the measure Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, sponsored.
Murrill filed her motion to intervene in federal court because it has oversight of the OPSO consent decree.
Reduced murder sentences
Murrill announced Friday on social media that she intends to review certain murder cases in New Orleans to determine whether sentences were improperly reduced. Her statement was in response to an investigative report from WDSU-TV into convicted murderers whose sentences were reduced at the request of the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office.
“I’m continuing to conduct a very in-depth review of a large body of cases,” Murrill wrote. “There are at least 35 cases that involve first-degree or second-degree murder, where I believe that relief was improperly granted. I’m looking at mechanisms to have the convictions reinstated.”
Reached via text message, District Attorney Jason Williams said his office has been transparent about its work with the attorney general, and his staff plans to meet with Murrill once her review is complete.
“My jurisdiction has been an outlier in past defective convictions – and that has sunk public trust in our system which has made it harder to prosecute violent crime and historically has made us less safe,” Williams wrote. “We can only have public safety in New Orleans when people believe the justice system works equally and fairly for everyone, not just the well-heeled and or connected.”
Soon after she took office in January 2024, Murrill and Williams, a Democrat, forged an agreement that allows the attorney general to prosecute criminal cases stemming from arrests by the newly established Louisiana State Police troop in New Orleans.
“I did not let party affiliations of national politics get in the way of public safety locally, and I welcome our discourse on the cases she is reviewing. We both have the same mission, making our home a safer space than we found it,” Williams wrote.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, left, speaks at a Nov. 29, 2093, news conference with Gov.-elect Jeff Landry at the Superdome in New Orleans. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
Gov. Jeff Landry has credited state police Troop NOLA for a dramatic reduction in crime in New Orleans. So far in 2025, there has been a 38% decrease in crime based on data provided to city council members. That includes 20 murders this year, including the 14 people killed in the New Year’s Day terrorist attack. Excluding those deaths, the city is well below the murder counts reported for the same period in the previous three years.
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Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) has been reported in a hunter-harvested white-tailed buck in Concordia Parish, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) said. The buck was harvested on Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and is the first CWD detection in a wild deer in Concordia Parish.
CWD was first detected in Louisiana in 2022. The latest positive brings the total number of CWD detections for Louisiana to 44.
Initial diagnostics by the Louisiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (LADDL) detected CWD prion in tissue samples submitted by LDWF. Per required protocol, LADDL has forwarded the sample to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa for confirmatory testing. Final confirmation is anticipated in the coming weeks.
Due to this preliminary detection during the ongoing deer season, hunters are encouraged to submit additional hunter-harvest samples for testing. A CWD sample drop-off site is located along Highway 15 near the northern boundary of Richard K. Yancey WMA.
To obtain viable samples for testing, a fresh head including a few inches of neck is required. Data submission cards and bags are available on site. Once completed, the bagged deer head and data card should be placed in the available cooler at the CWD drop-off site.
LDWF is currently in the process of implementing the LDWF CWD response plan. More information regarding the response plan and intended mitigation efforts for this area will be forthcoming.
“We continue to count on our hunters, property owners, deer processors and taxidermists for their assistance in monitoring CWD as their continued partnership with our department will help manage the expanse of CWD in the state keeping our deer population healthy,’’ LDWF Secretary Tyler Bosworth said.
CWD is a neurodegenerative disease of white-tailed deer and other members of the Cervidae family. The disease is caused by a prion, an infectious, misfolded protein particle, and is 100-percent fatal in affected deer after an indeterminate incubation period. There is no treatment or preventative vaccine for CWD. CWD-infected deer may exhibit symptoms of weight loss and emaciation, salivation, frequent drinking and urination, incoordination, circling, lack of human fear, and subsequent death of the animal.
Although CWD has not been shown to be contagious to humans, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommend against the human consumption of deer known to be infected with CWD. Also, it is recommended that people hunting in areas known to harbor CWD-infected deer have their deer tested for the disease prior to consumption. LDWF provides CWD testing for hunter-harvested deer free of charge.
For more information on CWD, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/cwd.
Questions can be addressed to Dr. Jonathan Roberts at jroberts@wlf.la.gov or Johnathan Bordelon at jbordelon@wlf.la.gov.
Louisiana’s approach to expanding high-speed internet access is being recognized on the national stage,
Recently, The Wall Street Journal highlighted the state as a model for reducing costs while accelerating broadband deployment.
In a recent editorial, the Journal pointed to Louisiana as a case study in how streamlined regulations and efficient program design can significantly lower the cost of connecting households and businesses to high-speed internet.
According to the Journal, Louisiana sharply reduced its average cost per connection after adopting updated federal guidance.
“The average cost for each new household or business connected in Louisiana fell to $3,943 from $5,245,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
The editorial credited fewer procedural requirements and increased private-sector participation as key factors allowing states like Louisiana to stretch taxpayer dollars further while expanding access, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
Louisiana’s broadband strategy has drawn attention not only for its cost savings but also for how state leaders plan to reinvest those savings.
In September, Gov. Jeff Landry sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick outlining a proposal to redirect remaining broadband funds into state-led initiatives aligned with national priorities, including artificial intelligence, education, and workforce development.
In the letter, Landry requested federal flexibility to allow Louisiana to keep and use remaining grant funds within the state, rather than returning or reallocating them elsewhere. The governor argued that reinvesting the savings locally would support long-term economic growth, innovation, and community development across Louisiana.
Louisiana was also the first state in the nation to submit a revised broadband plan under the updated federal framework, positioning it at the forefront of efficient high-speed internet deployment. State officials said the approach not only accelerates connectivity but also opens the door to broader investments that strengthen education systems, workforce readiness, and emerging technologies.
As The Wall Street Journal noted, Louisiana’s experience is increasingly being viewed as a national example of how states can modernize infrastructure programs while delivering better value for taxpayers — a model that could influence broadband policy well beyond state lines.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – The U.S. Department of Transportation under President Donald Trump is seeking a record $9.6 million civil penalty against a pipeline operator over a massive offshore oil spill that sent more than 1 million gallons of crude into waters off Louisiana.
Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, known as PHMSA, announced the proposed penalty against Panther Operating Company for violations tied to the November 2023 failure of the Main Pass Oil Gathering pipeline system.
PHMSA said the $9,622,054 penalty is the largest civil fine ever proposed in a pipeline safety enforcement action.
Federal investigators concluded the spill released about 1.1 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf after a subsea pipeline connector failed and operators did not shut the system down for hours.
“Safety drives everything we do,” Duffy said in a statement. “When companies fail to abide by the rules, we won’t hesitate to act decisively.”
According to PHMSA, the violations involved failures in integrity management, operations and maintenance, leak detection, emergency response and protections for high-consequence areas.
The agency also proposed a compliance order requiring Panther to overhaul how it evaluates geological and geotechnical risks affecting the pipeline system.
The spill occurred along the 67-mile Main Pass Oil Gathering system, which transports crude oil from offshore production areas south of New Orleans. Oil was first spotted roughly 19 miles off the Mississippi River Delta, near Plaquemines Parish.
Federal investigators later determined the pipeline was not shut down for nearly 13 hours after pressure data first suggested a problem. Regulators said quicker action could have significantly reduced the volume released.
The National Transportation Safety Board said underwater landslides and storm-related seabed movement contributed to the failure and that the operator did not adequately account for known geohazards common in the Gulf.
PHMSA said Panther must now develop a plan to protect the pipeline against future external forces such as seabed instability, erosion and storm impacts. The company has 30 days to respond to the notice of probable violation and proposed penalty.
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