Louisiana
Louisiana Republicans move to eliminate court office won by exonerated man
A man imprisoned for nearly 30 years before being exonerated won a landmark election in New Orleans promising to fix a judicial system that failed him. Now, Louisiana’s governor, Jeff Landry, and the Republican-controlled state legislature are racing to eliminate his job before he can be sworn in.
Calvin Duncan won 68% of the vote last November to become the Orleans parish clerk of criminal court after pledging to reform the justice system based on his own experience fighting to access court records while in maximum security prison.
Duncan rebuilt his life, in part by running for and winning the clerk’s office. But Louisiana state senate Republicans on Wednesday voted to scrap Duncan’s new job as part of a broader effort to streamline the judiciary in New Orleans, a Democratic hub with a predominantly Black electorate. The state legislature is largely Republican and white – and the deeply red state has been leading efforts to gut the Voting Rights Act.
Duncan’s swearing-in is scheduled for 4 May.
He told the Associated Press he believes he’s being retaliated against by Louisiana officials who have long denied his innocence, even though his name is listed on the National Registry of Exonerations.
Republicans say it isn’t personal and defend the effort as a step toward government efficiency.
“The citizens of New Orleans overwhelmingly said: ‘I want to give this person a chance, he can make a difference,’” Duncan, a Democrat, told lawmakers during a March committee hearing. “What this bill does, it says, ‘Thank you but you wasted your time.’ It disenfranchises everybody.”
The case started with the 1981 murder of 23-year-old David Yeager and landed Duncan in prison for more than 28 years. In 2011, on the eve of a hearing to consider new evidence, prosecutors offered to reduce Duncan’s sentence to time served if he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and armed robbery. Duncan was freed, but he didn’t give up trying to clear his name.
Finally, in 2021, a judge agreed that he had been unjustly convicted and vacated Duncan’s sentence altogether.
As state attorney general in 2023, Landry opposed Duncan’s petition to be compensated for his wrongful conviction. Duncan withdrew the petition after Landry’s successor, Liz Murrill, threatened to go after Duncan’s law license in the state. When Duncan ran for clerk, Murrill vowed to take “further action” against him if he did not stop calling himself “exonerated”.
Landry and Murrill have pointed to Duncan having accepted the 2011 plea deal for manslaughter and armed robbery.
“The attorney general made it clear during the election that if I continued to accurately speak about my innocence and exoneration that I would face consequences from her office,” Duncan told the Associated Press. “We are seeing those consequences today as she and the governor try to undo the will of 68% of voters in New Orleans.”
Murrill said she had “no involvement” in the move to eliminate the office.
Landry told the AP that eliminating Duncan’s elected office was about improving “government efficiency” and “cleaning up a system in [New Orleans] that has been plagued by dysfunction and corruption for years”.
Proponents of consolidating the criminal court clerk with the civil court clerk say the offices are combined in other parishes. Terminating the criminal court clerk position would save the state an estimated $27,300, according to the office of the legislative auditor, which added that the costs of combining clerks’ offices were “unknown”.
The bill’s Republican author, state senator Jay Morris, who represents a district in north Louisiana, acknowledged that once Duncan’s elected position is eliminated, the civil court clerk might struggle to handle the influx of cases. The solution, he says, is to “hire someone”.
Other New Orleans elected judicial officials whose jobs may be eliminated in the future would be allowed to serve out their terms – but not Duncan.
Morris told lawmakers that the goal is to pass the law in time to prevent Duncan from taking office before the start of his four-year term.
The bill, on track to be passed by the GOP-controlled house and approved by Landry, would immediately go into effect with the governor’s signature.
“I have never seen something so barbaric,” state senator Royce Duplessis, a Democrat representing New Orleans, said on the senate floor. “I understand politics and I know you all are going to vote how you are going to vote. But just know, when we are all done here, history has a record.”
Duncan, 62, was the driving force behind a 2020 US supreme court decision that ended non-unanimous jury convictions. He has also founded a non-profit dedicated to expanding incarcerated people’s access to the court system. He has said being elected to the clerk’s office was the culmination of his life’s work.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – With hurricane season approaching, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is bringing the community together to prepare before a storm forms.
“We can’t stop disasters from happening. We can’t stop hurricanes from happening. But what we can do is equip our communities with the resources that they need to prepare for these storms ahead of time,” said Jayda Morris, CPRA outreach manager.
The agency hosted an event featuring interactive storm simulations and a full model of the Mississippi River.
“If you do it now, like on a sunny day like today, you’re ready to go for the rest of the season,” Jay Grymes said.
El Niño may reduce storms, but Louisiana still at risk
State Climatologist Jay Grymes said an El Niño pattern may reduce the number of storms in the Atlantic but warned against a false sense of security.
“In those 25 years, Louisiana, some part of the state has been impacted by 29 storms. That’s one a year, regardless of El Niño. So that should tell you something,” Grymes said.
He said the bigger concern is storms that can form in the Gulf with little warning.
“If we’re going to get a storm, it very possibly could be one that bubbles up in the Gulf and doesn’t give us five or seven days to track it coming our way. It gives us 40 hours to get ready for a landfall. So it’s imperative that you go ahead and do it now,” Grymes said.
Preparation goes beyond stocking water
Preparing now includes walking through yards, checking trees, and knowing whether everyone in the family can survive two weeks without power.
PhD students with the LSU College of the Coast and Environment gave the community a virtual reality experience that puts users inside a storm.
“If they wear the goggles or play with the Apple Vision Pro, they can understand how high will the flood be, and they can know how dangerous is the hurricane scenario,” said Yixuan Wang.
The VR simulation uses real historical data to show users what compound flooding looks like in New Orleans and surrounding areas. The goal is to make the science real for people who can’t picture what a flood map means.
“It’s just to let you understand the environment. We will add the audios, the different sound of the wind and the storm. And you can see how tense of the rainfall around you,” Wang said.
Organizers said the event is about making sure that when a storm threatens the area, families already know their plan.
Information from the event is available on CPRA’s website. Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.
Click here to report a typo. Please include the headline.
Click here to subscribe to our WAFB 9 News daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.
Watch the latest WAFB news and weather now.
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Louisiana homeowners can get financial help to upgrade their roofs and ensure they can better stand up to strong storms.
According to the Louisiana Department of Insurance, registration for next Louisiana Fortify Homes Program lottery opens at 8 a.m. on Monday, June 1. The registration period will stay open through 5 p.m. on Friday, June 19.
Under the latest round of the program, 3,000 grants of up to $10,000 will go out. After applying, homeowners will get placed into a lottery and will be randomly selected.
There are many specific benefits of having a roof upgraded through the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program. Officials said the roofs have stronger shingles that can protect against hail up to two inches wide, sealed roof decks to help prevent water damage, and stronger edges to keep wind from getting underneath.
Homeowners with a fortified roof can also get a certificate to receive a discount on insurance premiums.
“At the end of the day, this program is about more than just roofs,” said Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple. “It is about protecting families, it is about strengthening communities, and it is about putting Louisiana in a stronger position—both physically and economically—to face the challenges ahead.”
Only people living in Ascension Parish, Livingston Parish, Assumption Parish, Tangipahoa Parish, Acadia Parish, Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Iberia Parish, Jefferson Parish, Jefferson Davis Parish, Lafayette Parish, Lafourche Parish, Orleans Parish, Plaquemines Parish, St. Bernard Parish, St. Charles Parish, St. James Parish, St. John the Baptist Parish, St. Martin Parish, St. Mary Parish, St. Tammany Parish, Terrebonne Parish, and Vermilion Parish are eligible to apply for the latest round of the program.
People living in a newly built home, mobile home, or condominium are not qualified.
For a detailed list of eligibility requirements, click here.
If a person registered for the program previously, he or she must do so again. The person will also need to provide the following information:
- A homestead exemption on the primary residence.
- A policy of insurance that provides wind coverage for the primary residence.
- A flood insurance policy on the primary residence if it is in a special flood hazard area.
For more information about applying, click here.
Click here to report a typo. Please include the headline.
Click here to subscribe to our WAFB 9 News daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.
Watch the latest WAFB news and weather now.
WATCH: Louisiana baseball HC, players talk series win vs No. 20 Coastal Carolina
Hear from UL baseball’s HC Matt Deggs, pitcher Ty Roman and infielder Owen Galt following its 2-1 series win vs Coastal Carolina.
For the second day in a row, Louisiana baseball has its back against the wall in the NCAA Tournament Starkville Regional.
The No. 25 Ragin’ Cajuns (40-24) secured their 40th win of the season and kept their postseason dreams alive by beating Lipscomb 10-4 in an elimination game on Saturday, May 30. Now, the pressure is back on for seventh-year coach Matt Deggs and his squad as they face No. 24 Cincinnati (38-21) in another win-or-go-home matchup on Sunday, May 31 in Starkville, Mississippi.
Against the Bisons, UL used four pitchers, and in total has used seven of its arms so far in tournament play. One of the Cajuns’ fresh arms heading into the matchup against the Bearcats is senior Andrew Herrmann. The lefty made his latest appearance during the Cajuns’ Sun Belt Conference tournament run on May 24.
While the Cajuns come into the match with some momentum, Cincinnati enters the match with a chip on its shoulder after losing its first game of the tournament on Saturday against regional host Mississippi State.
Watch Louisiana baseball vs Cincinnati on ESPN+
What channel is Louisiana baseball vs Cincinnati on?
TV: None
Livestream: ESPN+
Radio: Varsity Network, 96.5 FM
Louisiana vs. Cincinnati will be available live on ESPN+ streaming for the first game of Day 3 of the Starkville Regional. Jack Kizer and Jack DeLongchamps will provide commentary from Dudy Noble Field.
What time does Louisiana baseball play Cincinnati?
Date: Sunday, May 31
Time: 2 p.m. CT
Location: Dude Noble Field, Starkville, Mississippi
The Louisiana vs. Cincinnati game starts at 2 p.m. Sunday at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Mississippi.
Starkville Regionals schedule
Friday, May 29
- Game 1: Mississippi State 10, Lipscomb 1
- Game 2: Cincinnati 12, Louisiana 2
Saturday, May 30
- Game 3: Lipscomb 4, Louisiana, 10
- Game 4: Mississippi State vs Cincinnati, 8 p.m. CT
Sunday, May 31
- Game 5: Louisiana vs Cincinnati, 2 p.m. CT
- Game 6: Winner G5 vs Mississippi State, 7 p.m. CT
Monday, June 1
- Game 7: If necessary, TBD
Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.
-
Pittsburg, PA2 minutes agoKozora: In 2027, Pittsburgh’s Wallet Will Open Wide For Its Offensive Line
-
Augusta, GA7 minutes agoCollege basketball: Keshun Sherrill enters Augusta Sports Hall of Fame – Salisbury Post
-
Washington, D.C14 minutes agoAPPLY NOW: The College Fix’s paid fall 2026 D.C. journalism fellowships | The College Fix
-
Cleveland, OH17 minutes agoCavaliers Already Have Obvious General Manager Replacement for Mike Gansey
-
Austin, TX21 minutes ago
UC Santa Barbara Baseball Drops 6-4 Nailbiter to Texas at Austin Regional Final
-
Alabama29 minutes agoAlabama troopers launch 101 Days of Summer Safety campaign
-
Alaska32 minutes agoReporting From Alaska- Don’t be fooled by ‘Build the Line!’ propaganda
-
Arizona44 minutes agoArizona to start seeing average 100-degree highs ahead of June
