Louisiana’s Republican attorney general was hit with criminal charges Thursday after a New Orleans grand jury handed down an indictment, alleging she tried to intimidate local officials who stood against a new law restructuring the city’s court system.
Attorney General Liz Murrill had warned eight New Orleans officials — among them Mayor Helena Moreno and District Attorney Jason Williams — that they risked being removed from their positions for opposing the legislation. That law wiped out the Orleans Parish criminal court clerk position, a post that had just been won by Calvin Duncan, a man who had spent decades behind bars due to a wrongful conviction. Duncan had secured the job with 68% of the vote.
Republican Governor Jeff Landry had pushed legislators to pass the law, and they did so just days before Duncan was scheduled to begin serving in May. Many of Duncan’s supporters viewed the move as an effort by a majority white conservative Legislature to override the will of voters in a predominantly Black Democratic city within a deeply red state.
Governor Landry fired back at the indictment on social media Thursday, pledging to pardon Murrill “as fast as the law allows.” In a post on X, he called the Orleans criminal justice system “a circus at its finest” and labeled it a “Kangaroo court.”
The Republican Attorneys General Association also condemned the indictment, calling it “as outrageous as it is dangerous.” The organization argued that Murrill had simply been “issuing a legal opinion and warning public officials about the law” as part of her official role. Critics of Murrill, however, viewed her communications as an effort to pressure officials into compliance with the law.
Before the legislation was finalized, local officials had held a swearing-in ceremony for Duncan on the steps of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court — two weeks ahead of when he was set to take office — while lawmakers were still debating the bill that would eliminate his position.
Mayor Moreno, a Democrat, issued a statement saying the indictment is “a matter for the courts” but stopped short of directly commenting on the accusations against Murrill. “My focus, as always, remains on fulfilling the responsibilities the people of New Orleans elected me to carry out,” Moreno said.
Assistant Attorney General Laurie White, who is handling the prosecution, spoke to reporters following the indictment. “We’re very interested in elected officials in New Orleans not being intimidated or threatened by letter or any other way,” White said. She added that she expects the case to be “very simple” and “very open and shut.”
When asked about Governor Landry’s pledge to pardon Murrill, White responded bluntly: “Let’s get her convicted, and then he can pardon her.”
