Black Elected Official Raises Alarm as Louisiana GOP Moves to Axe His Office

A Louisiana Senate judiciary committee just passed several bills aiming to drastically overhaul the court system in New Orleans. The plan will axe several judgeships across the Orleans Parish judiciary. Now, one newly elected Black man is raising alarms, calling the act a form of retaliation.

Calvin Duncan made headlines last year when he was elected to serve as the Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court. We previously told you that he spent nearly 30 years in a maximum security facility for a murder he did not commit. After being exonerated in 2021, Duncan ran as a Democrat, aiming to reform the same system that wrongfully incarcerated him. But now, he might not get the chance.

“The citizens of New Orleans overwhelmingly said: ‘I want to give this person a chance, he can make a difference,’” Duncan told lawmakers in a March committee hearing. “What this bill does, it says: ‘Thank you but you wasted your time.’ It disenfranchises everybody.”

Republicans in the state Senate voted to scrap Duncan’s role as clerk of court as well as 10 judgeships across the Orleans Parish judiciary, according to The Lens. The city of New Orleans is a well-known Democratic voting hub with nearly a 60 percent Black majority, according to Census data. But Louisiana as a whole is predominantly white, with a Legislature made up of mostly white Republicans.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry defended the new bills, saying it’s all about “government efficiency” and “cleaning up a system in Orleans Parish that has been plagued by dysfunction and corruption for years.” But if you ask Duncan, this is a targeted attack against him by Republicans because of his exoneration.

“The Attorney General made it clear during the election that if I continued to accurately speak about my innocence and exoneration that I would face consequences from her office,” Duncan told the Associated Press. “We are seeing those consequences today as she and the Governor try to undo the will of 68 percent of voters in New Orleans.”

Duncan’s issues with Landry go back to the governor’s time as state attorney general. Then, Landry opposed Duncan’s compensation petition after his conviction was overturned. In the end, the Black man withdrew his petition after current Republican AG Liz Murrill threatened to revoke Duncan’s law license, AP reported.

Duncan had only an eighth-grade education when he was sentenced to the notorious Angola prison for the murder of 23-year-old David Yeager in 1981, as we previously told you. He eventually presented evidence he uncovered proving that police officers lied in court at the time. His conviction was finally vacated in 2021. Years later, Duncan made history after winning 68 percent of New Orleans voters in a runoff election in 2025.