Louisiana

Federal judge blocks law that bars foreign-born citizen’s marriage

A federal judge in New Orleans has granted a preliminary injunction against enforcing a law that kept a foreign-born U.S. citizen from marrying because he has no birth certificate.

Mar 23, 2017 1:15 PM CDT

Class action lawsuit alleges Louisiana public defender funding system denies right to counsel

Indigent defendants from Louisiana are so poorly served by the state’s public defender system that their right to counsel is being violated, a lawsuit filed Monday alleges. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Southern Poverty Law Center and two law firms…

Feb 7, 2017 12:48 PM CST

New Orleans mayor apologizes as city settles police brutality cases from time of Hurricane Katrina

Three police brutality cases that stemmed from incidents shortly before and after Hurricane Katrina settled for $13.3 million on Monday. Plaintiffs include the family of Raymond Robair, 48, a handyman who was beaten to death by police in New Orleans’ Treme neighborhood, the New York Times reports. That attack occurred…

Dec 21, 2016 10:40 AM CST

Federal judge who questioned meaning of ‘drop-down menu,’ didn’t instruct jurors is tossed from case

Unsealed transcripts indicate that a Louisiana federal judge was removed from a case after lawyers alleged she failed to instruct jurors about their duties or to determine their eligibility for service during a criminal fraud trial, then asked the prosecutor to assume the responsibility. U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi was…

Dec 6, 2016 7:00 AM CST

How far can criticism of judges go under ethics rules?

When an attorney in Louisiana filed appellate pleadings that alleged misconduct by the trial judge in a case, it was the attorney—not the judge—who found herself in ethics hot water with the state supreme court.

Dec 1, 2016 2:30 AM CST

Lawyer says he grabbed shotgun from client; he had sought to withdraw from her case

Lawyer Keith Couture says he was surprised to see a 75-year-old bankruptcy client sitting in his office lobby last Thursday. The client, 75-year-old Patricia Currie, had apparently entered the lobby without him noticing, Couture tells the New Orleans Times-Picayune. She had a towel draped across her lap and was wearing…

Nov 2, 2016 8:50 AM CDT

Former DA heads to prison Monday for obstruction of justice

An investigation called “Operation Twisted Justice” led to the obstruction of justice charge against a former district attorney in Louisiana who heads to federal prison Monday. The former St. Charles Parish DA, Harry Morel, pleaded guilty earlier this year and was sentenced to three years in prison, the New Orleans…

Sep 23, 2016 4:29 PM CDT

Louisiana courts are so strapped for public defenders, civil attorneys are used for criminal cases

Due to a state-wide funding crisis, there are only 22 public defenders to handle more than 18,000 cases in Louisiana’s Caddo Parish, which contains Shreveport, the state’s third-largest city. Civil attorneys are being tapped to fill in the void, despite the fact that many have no experience doing criminal law.…

Sep 16, 2016 4:05 PM CDT

Lobbyist claims that child porn charge was filed to make him cooperate with FBI corruption probe

A Louisiana lawyer charged with one count of child pornography possession and distribution says that he’s being singled out for prosecution because the FBI wanted his cooperation in a different investigation. Christopher Young, 53, of Baton Rouge reportedly sent friends, family and clients unsolicited videos of boys having sexual activities…

Sep 16, 2016 3:44 PM CDT

Louisiana can’t withhold Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood, 5th Circuit rules

The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s injunction against Louisiana’s attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. A three-judge appellate panel said the health services provider likely would prevail at trial because plaintiffs would be denied both access to and choice of a medical…

Sep 15, 2016 4:15 PM CDT

Man shouldn’t have been charged with hate crime for yelling slurs at cops, police department says

New Orleans police officers misapplied a Louisiana law when they charged a property-damage suspect with a hate crime for yelling slurs at police, the police department has concluded. The suspect, Raul Delatoba, was initially charged under a “blue lives matter” provision added to the hate-crimes law, the New Orleans Times-Picayune…

Sep 9, 2016 12:45 PM CDT

Louisiana’s PD system is so underfunded that tax lawyers and even a prosecutor handle defense work

Funding for indigent defense is particularly unstable in Louisiana, where the system mostly depends on funds from traffic tickets and other locally generated revenue. Louisiana’s incarceration rate is the highest of any state, and its public defender system is “on the brink of meltdown,” the Marshall Project reports in a…

Sep 8, 2016 2:00 PM CDT

Lawyer accuses US of ‘ridiculousness’ after acquittal in Gulf oil spill fraud case

A Texas lawyer who once claimed to represent more than 44,000 victims in the BP Gulf oil spill has been acquitted of charges that he falsified claims. Federal jurors in Gulfport, Mississippi, acquitted lawyer Mikal Watts on Thursday, report Reuters, the Sun Herald and the Associated Press. Jurors also acquitted…

Aug 19, 2016 9:16 AM CDT

Baton Rouge gunman was seeking out police, top state cop says

The gunman who shot and killed three police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was “certainly seeking out police officers,” according to the superintendent of state police. State police Col. Mike Edmonson described the attack as an ambush in an interview with the Associated Press. “His movements, his direction, his attention…

Jul 18, 2016 9:22 AM CDT

Justice Department to investigate police shooting of black man in Baton Rouge

The fatal shooting of a black man by Baton Rouge police Tuesday sparked protests and an announcement of a federal civil rights investigation. The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will lead the investigation into the shooting death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling, the New York Times, CNN, the Washington Post,…

Jul 6, 2016 11:42 AM CDT