Louisiana

House of Delegates urges end to mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims

After a year in which sexual harassment in the workplace has taken center stage, the ABA House of Delegates voted to urge legal employers not to require mandatory arbitration of such claims.

Oct 1, 2018 12:50 AM CDT

Louisiana, Oregon should require unanimous juries for felony convictions, ABA House urges

Only two states, Louisiana and Oregon, permit felony convictions by a less than unanimous vote. At Monday’s meeting, the ABA House of Delegates voted to urge those states to end the practice, raising concerns about how well it serves justice.

Aug 6, 2018 1:58 PM CDT

Judge steps aside amid allegations of groping, using PD as example of appropriate looks

A New Orleans judge has taken a voluntary leave of absence after allegations surfaced that he groped a courthouse worker and made inappropriate comments when teaching drug court participants about proper appearance.

Jul 3, 2018 7:00 AM CDT

Louisiana man convicted of attempted manslaughter for shooting at fleeing home invader

A Louisiana man has been convicted of attempted manslaughter for shooting into the car of a fleeing home invader who allegedly held three people at rifle-point before being disarmed. Jurors on Thursday convicted 27-year-old Aaron Neames of Walker, the Advocate reports. The defense had argued Neames was protected by the…

May 4, 2018 12:26 PM CDT

Was Brown v. Board of Education correctly decided? These judicial nominees won’t answer

For around 60 years, conservative and liberal judicial nominees praised the school desegregation decision Brown v. Board of Education as a groundbreaking statement of equality by the U.S. Supreme Court. But laudatory statements about the decision have given way to reticence as two of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees recently…

Apr 27, 2018 11:48 AM CDT

Why Louisiana’s attorney general declined to prosecute police in fatal shooting of Alton Sterling

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said Tuesday that he was declining to prosecute two Baton Rouge police officers in the July 2016 shooting death of a black man selling CDs outside a convenience store, citing an inability to control the armed man “with several nonlethal techniques.” Landry’s decision follows the…

Mar 28, 2018 9:17 AM CDT

Jury service had unexpected benefit for these 2 people

Kris Gerig and Sarah Abbott first met when they served on a New Orleans jury in August 2015 for a theft case. They were back in court on March 14 when they were married by the Orleans Parish judge who presided in the original trial, report the New Orleans Advocate…

Mar 27, 2018 3:18 PM CDT

‘Blatant shortcomings’ in lawyers’ work merited habeas relief, Sotomayor says in cert denial dissent

Lawyers for a Louisiana death row inmate with a major neurocognitive order never presented that mitigation evidence to jurors and didn’t investigate the issue on post-conviction appeal, according to Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Yet the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Todd Wessinger’s claim that he had received…

Mar 5, 2018 11:36 AM CST

Woman pleads guilty to using judicial ruse to steal $116K from state supreme court

A Louisiana woman received a suspended sentence on Monday after pleading guilty to stealing $116,000 from the state supreme court while working as a payroll supervisor. Misty Corb, 38, of Meraux, pleaded guilty to four counts of identity theft, report the Advocate and the Times-Picayune, both based in New Orleans.…

Feb 8, 2018 4:09 PM CST

8 states file brief supporting the government’s attempt to deny abortions to immigrant minors

Eight states described as having “a legitimate and substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life” have weighed in on a lawsuit seeking to clear the way for immigrant minors in federal custody to have abortions. An amicus brief in Garza v. Hargan from the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan,…

Jan 9, 2018 4:02 PM CST

Former inmate-turned-activist drawn into policymaking

HB 688 ultimately passed with large bipartisan majorities, making Louisiana the first state to “ban the box” for college admissions.

Dec 1, 2017 12:15 AM CST

States featuring bipartisan support rally for criminal justice reform

Louisiana is part of a nationwide movement toward justice reinvestment—policies aimed at simultaneously reducing crime and reining in corrections spending, while still holding offenders accountable. Gelb calls those goals “our holy trinity.”

Dec 1, 2017 12:10 AM CST

Web 100: Best law blogs

Our inaugural year of the Web 100 list honors 50 blogs (and adds five more to our Blawg 100 Hall of Fame.)

Dec 1, 2017 12:02 AM CST

Where the poor face the death penalty without a lawyer

It has become an annual ritual in Louisiana: Nearly every winter, the state’s public defenders run out of money. Last year, 33 of the state’s 42 local indigent defense offices cut staff or placed thousands of poor defendants on a wait list. The New Orleans public defender’s office began refusing…

Nov 30, 2017 2:15 PM CST

Louisiana high court justice recuses from death penalty case after radio remarks

Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Scott Crichton recused himself in a death penalty case after the condemned inmate’s lawyers argued the judge’s remarks in a radio interview suggest bias in capital cases. Crichton issued a “notice of self-recusal” on Nov. 21 without giving a reason for stepping aside in the appeal…

Nov 27, 2017 11:42 AM CST