Louisiana GOP Moves to Eliminate Clerk Office Won by Exonerated Man
Following the landslide election victory of Calvin Duncan, an exonerated man who served nearly 30 years for a crime he did not commit, Louisiana's Republican-led government is rushing to eliminate his newly won position as Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court. Duncan, who won 68% of the vote in November on a platform to reform the justice system, was scheduled to be sworn in on May 4. However, the state Senate voted to scrap the office as part of a broader effort to streamline the judiciary in New Orleans. Governor Jeff Landry and other Republicans defend the move as a measure for government efficiency, while Duncan and his supporters view it as political retaliation and voter disenfranchisement. The case highlights tensions between the predominantly Black electorate of New Orleans and the white, Republican-controlled state legislature.
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Louisiana GOP Moves to Eliminate Clerk Office Won by Exonerated Man
Following the landslide election victory of Calvin Duncan, an exonerated man who served nearly 30 years for a crime he did not commit, Louisiana's Republican-led government is rushing to eliminate his newly won position as Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court. Duncan, who won 68% of the vote in November on a platform to reform the justice system, was scheduled to be sworn in on May 4. However, the state Senate voted to scrap the office as part of a broader effort to streamline the judiciary in New Orleans. Governor Jeff Landry and other Republicans defend the move as a measure for government efficiency, while Duncan and his supporters view it as political retaliation and voter disenfranchisement. The case highlights tensions between the predominantly Black electorate of New Orleans and the white, Republican-controlled state legislature.
AP News