Louisiana GOP races to eliminate an elected office won by an exonerated man
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A man who was imprisoned for nearly 30 years before being acquitted. won an important election He vowed to fix the judicial system in New Orleans that failed him. Now, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and the GOP-controlled Legislature are racing to eliminate his job before he’s sworn in.
Calvin Duncan won 68% of the vote to become Orleans Parish criminal court clerk last November 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 Senate Republicans on Wednesday voted to rescind Duncan’s new job as part of a broader GOP effort to streamline the judiciary in New Orleans, the Democratic heartland with predominantly Black voters. The state’s legislature is largely Republican and white, and the deep red state Leading efforts to gut the Voting Rights Act..
Duncan’s swearing-in ceremony is planned for May 4.
He told The Associated Press that he believes he was retaliated against by Louisiana authorities who have long denied his innocence, even though his name is on the National Registry of Exonerations.
Republicans say it’s impersonal and argue the effort is 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 at a March committee hearing. “What this bill does is: ‘Thank you, but you’ve wasted your time.’ “This disenfranchises everyone.”
Wrongful conviction that landed Duncan in prison
The case began with the 1981 murder of 23-year-old David Yeager and resulted in Duncan being sentenced to more than 28 years in prison. In 2011, on the eve of a hearing to evaluate new evidence, prosecutors offered to reduce the time served if Duncan pleaded guilty to manslaughter and armed robbery. Duncan was released but did not stop trying to clear his name.
Finally, in 2021, a judge ruled that he was wrongfully convicted and vacated Duncan’s sentence entirely.
As state attorney general in 2023, Landry opposed Duncan’s petition seeking restitution for his wrongful conviction. Duncan withdrew the petition after Landry’s successor, Liz Murrill. was threatened To go after Duncan’s state law license. When Duncan ran for clerk, Murrill promised to take “further action” against him if he did not stop calling himself “exonerated.”
Landry and Murrill noted that Duncan accepted a plea deal for manslaughter and armed robbery in 2011.
“The attorney general made it clear during the election that if I continued to speak truthfully about my innocence and acquittal, I would face consequences from his office,” Duncan told The Associated Press. “We are seeing these results today as he and the Governor try to undo the will of 68 percent of the voters in New Orleans.”
Murrill said he had “no involvement” in the move to eliminate the office.
Republicans say current system needs overhaul
Landry told the AP that eliminating Duncan’s elected office is about improving “government efficiency” and “cleaning up a system in Orleans Parish that has been plagued with dysfunction and corruption for years.”
Those who advocate merging the criminal clerk of the court with the civil clerk say the offices are being consolidated in other districts. Dismissing the post of criminal clerk will save the state estimated $27,300He added that the cost of consolidating the clerks’ offices is “unknown,” according to the legislative auditor’s office.
The bill’s Republican author, Sen. Jay Morris, who represents a district in northern Louisiana, acknowledged that with Duncan’s elected position eliminated, the civil court clerk may have a hard time handling the influx of cases. The solution, he says, is to “hire someone.”
Other New Orleans elected judicial officials whose jobs could be eliminated in the future will be allowed to serve out their terms, but Duncan is not.
Morris told lawmakers his goal was to pass legislation in time to prevent Duncan from taking office before his four-year term begins.
The bill, which is on track to pass the GOP-controlled House and be signed by Landry, would take effect immediately with the governor’s signature.
“I’ve never seen anything this barbaric,” Senator Royce Duplessis, a Democrat representing New Orleans, said on the Senate floor. “I understand the politics and I know how you all will vote. But know that when we are done here, history will have a record.”
Duncan, 62, was the driving force behind the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended. unanimous jury convictions. He also founded a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding incarcerated people’s access to the court system. He said being elected to the clerk’s office was the culmination of his life’s work.
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Cline reported from Baton Rouge.
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Brook is an affiliate member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. report for america is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
