Louisiana Republicans move to eliminate court office won by exonerated man | New Orleans

A man who spent nearly 30 years in prison before being acquitted won a historic election in New Orleans on a promise to fix the 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 is sworn in.

Calvin Duncan won 68% of the vote to become Orleans county 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 state Senate Republicans voted Wednesday to rescind Duncan’s new appointment as part of a broader effort to streamline the judicial system in New Orleans, a Democratic heartland with predominantly Black voters. The state’s legislature is largely Republican and white, and the deep red state is leading the effort 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.’ he says. “This disenfranchises everyone.”

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, threatened to go after Duncan’s law license in the state. 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 exoneration, 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.

Landry told the AP that eliminating Duncan’s elected office is about improving “government efficiency” and “cleaning up the system in the public system.” [New Orleans] has been plagued by dysfunction and corruption for years.”

Those who advocate merging the criminal court clerk with the civil court clerk say the offices are being consolidated in other districts. Ending the criminal court clerk position would save the state an estimated $27,300, according to the legislative auditor’s office, which added that the cost of consolidating the clerk’s offices is “unknown.”

The bill’s Republican author, state Sen. Jay Morris, who represents a district in northern Louisiana, acknowledged that the civil court clerk may have a hard time dealing with an influx of cases if Duncan’s elected position is eliminated. 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 legislature and be approved by Landry, would take effect immediately with the governor’s signature.

“I’ve never seen anything so barbaric,” state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who represents New Orleans, said on the Senate floor. “I understand the politics and I know how you all will vote. But just know that when we’re done here, history will be a record.”

Duncan, 62, was the driving force behind the 2020 U.S. supreme court decision that ended non-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.