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A Baton Rouge construction company gave $100,000 to a super PAC supporting U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow’s Senate campaign while it was performing work under a federal contract with NASA, according to a new complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission. The Campaign Legal Center alleges MMR Constructors, Inc. violated federal campaign finance law when it…
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill was indicted Thursday by an Orleans Parish grand jury on 16 felony counts tied to letters she sent New Orleans officials during the state’s fight over control of the Orleans Parish clerk of court’s office. Murrill is facing eight counts of public intimidation and eight counts of malfeasance in office,…
A newly released federal watchdog report found serious safety, medical, legal access and use-of-force violations at Winn Correctional Center, a Louisiana facility used to detain immigrants for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report, released June 2, details the findings of an unannounced March 2025 inspection of…
Nearly seven years after Ronald Greene died in the custody of Louisiana State Police, the state has agreed to pay millions of dollars to settle the wrongful death lawsuit brought by his family. The tentative settlement, first reported Tuesday, would require Louisiana State Police to pay $4.8 million to resolve claims tied to troopers John…
The legal fight over Louisiana’s suspended congressional primaries changed Monday night, but it did not end. The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order allowing its ruling in Louisiana v. Callais to take effect immediately, giving Gov. Jeff Landry and Republican lawmakers a stronger procedural argument as they rush to redraw Louisiana’s congressional districts before this…
A federal judge on Sunday blocked Louisiana from enforcing a new state law that would have abolished the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court clerk’s office one day before Calvin Duncan was set to assume the post voters elected him to fill. The ruling clears the way, at least temporarily, for Duncan to take office Monday…
A federal appeals court on Friday granted Louisiana’s request to reinstate a nationwide in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone, sharply limiting how patients can access one of the most common medications used in abortion and miscarriage care. The ruling from the New Orleans-based U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals does not ban mifepristone outright. But it…
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has suspended the state’s May 16 U.S. House primaries days before early voting was set to begin, throwing the congressional elections into chaos after absentee and mail-in ballots had already gone out and some voters had already cast ballots. The order applies only to Louisiana’s U.S. House races. Other contests scheduled…
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is reportedly preparing to suspend next month’s U.S. House primaries so Republican lawmakers can redraw the state’s congressional map before voters cast ballots. Early voting is scheduled to begin Saturday, May 2. Landry’s announcement could come as early as Friday, according to the Washington Post, one day before voters were set…
The Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais did not merely strike down Louisiana’s second majority-Black congressional district. It gave Louisiana Republicans a road map to do what they have wanted to do all along: return the state to a congressional map where Black voters, despite making up roughly one-third of the population, have a…
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down Louisiana’s second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana v. Callais, issuing a major voting rights decision that could reshape the state’s congressional map, place U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields’ seat in jeopardy, and make it far harder for voters to challenge maps that dilute Black political power. In a…
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday handed Chevron and the oil industry a major win in one of Louisiana’s most important environmental cases, wiping away the legal footing beneath a $745 million coastal damage verdict and moving a key part of the fight into federal court, where oil companies generally believe they have better odds….
A federal judge has dismissed a 1967 school desegregation case involving the DeSoto Parish School Board, marking the second such closure in Louisiana in recent months as state and federal officials push to end long-standing court orders tied to civil rights-era litigation. On Monday, U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. signed an order granting…
BATON ROUGE, La. – Thirteen men who collectively spent 644 years in Louisiana prisons for crimes they didn’t commit gathered earlier this month at the Main Library in Baton Rouge to spotlight systemic failures in the state’s criminal justice system. The event, titled Exonerated Voices and moderated by Southern University law professor Angela Allen-Bell, featured…
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court took the rare step of punting a high-stakes challenge to Louisiana’s congressional map, setting the stage for another round of arguments next term. The court’s indecision leaves intact — at least temporarily — the current boundaries of the controversial 6th Congressional District, which gave Louisiana a second Black and…
In a sweeping 6-3 decision issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s controversial law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, ruling that the state’s restrictions do not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case, United States v. Skrmetti, centered on Tennessee Senate Bill 1 (SB1), a 2023 law that…
On Saturday, May 3, East Baton Rouge Parish voters will decide whether to authorize a new property tax to fund the District Attorney’s office. Below is what you need to know before casting your ballot. 1. Ballot Language Shall the 19th Judicial Enforcement District of the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana (the…
On April 10, 2025, a federal appeals court gave residents of St. James Parish what they’ve been fighting for years to get: their day in court. In a landmark decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a civil rights lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in St. James Parish’s land-use policies can move forward….
A recent federal court decision is shining a major spotlight on St. James Parish — and raising big questions about environmental justice across Louisiana, especially for communities near Baton Rouge. The Big News On April 9, 2025, a federal appeals court ruled that a civil rights lawsuit filed by Black residents in St. James Parish…
In an unprecedented and deeply controversial case, Louisiana prosecutors have criminally indicted Dr. Margaret Carpenter, a New York-based physician, and Ashley Lights, a 39-year-old Louisiana mother from Port Allen, in connection with obtaining abortion pills via telehealth. Lights pled not guilty during her first court appearance on Tuesday, marking a significant escalation in the state’s…
