NEW ORLEANS — An individual who spent almost three decades behind bars before his conviction was overturned achieved a historic electoral victory in New Orleans, vowing to repair the court system that wronged him. However, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and Republican lawmakers are now working quickly to abolish his position before his inauguration.
Calvin Duncan secured 68% of voter support this past November to claim the Orleans Parish criminal court clerk position, campaigning on judicial reform based on his personal struggles to obtain court documents while incarcerated in maximum security facilities.
Duncan reconstructed his life partly through seeking and winning the clerk position. However, Louisiana Senate Republicans voted Wednesday to eliminate Duncan’s newly won role as part of broader GOP initiatives to reorganize New Orleans’ court system — a Democratic stronghold with a majority Black population. The state’s Legislature remains predominantly Republican and white, with the conservative state leading challenges to voting rights protections.
Duncan’s inauguration is set for May 4.
Speaking to The Associated Press, he expressed belief that Louisiana officials are targeting him in retaliation, despite his name appearing on the National Registry of Exonerations, because they have consistently rejected his claims of innocence.
Republican leaders deny personal motivations and characterize their actions as promoting governmental efficiency.
“The citizens of New Orleans overwhelmingly said: ‘I want to give this person a chance, he can make a difference,’” Duncan, a Democrat, told lawmakers during a March committee hearing. “What this bill does, it says: ‘Thank you but you wasted your time.’ It disenfranchises everybody.”
Duncan’s legal troubles began with David Yeager’s 1981 murder when the victim was 23 years old, resulting in Duncan’s imprisonment for over 28 years. In 2011, facing a hearing on new evidence, prosecutors offered to reduce Duncan’s sentence to time already served if he accepted guilt for manslaughter and armed robbery charges. Though Duncan gained freedom, he continued fighting to clear his reputation.
Eventually, in 2021, a judge determined Duncan had been wrongfully convicted and completely dismissed his sentence.
During his 2023 tenure as state attorney general, Landry fought against Duncan’s request for wrongful conviction compensation. Duncan abandoned his petition when Landry’s replacement, Liz Murrill, threatened action against Duncan’s state law license. During Duncan’s clerk campaign, Murrill promised “further action” if he continued describing himself as “exonerated.”
Both Landry and Murrill have referenced Duncan’s acceptance of the 2011 plea agreement for manslaughter and armed robbery.
“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% of voters in New Orleans.”
Murrill stated she had “no involvement” in efforts to eliminate the office.
Landry informed the AP that removing Duncan’s elected position focused on enhancing “government efficiency” and “cleaning up a system in Orleans Parish that has been plagued by dysfunction and corruption for years.”
Supporters of merging the criminal clerk position with the civil clerk role note that other parishes have combined these offices. Eliminating the criminal clerk position would save approximately $27,300 annually, according to legislative auditor estimates, though consolidation costs remain “unknown.”
The legislation’s Republican sponsor, Sen. Jay Morris from north Louisiana, admitted that eliminating Duncan’s elected role might overwhelm the civil clerk with additional cases. His proposed solution involves “hiring someone.”
While other New Orleans judicial officials facing potential future job elimination would complete their current terms, Duncan would not receive this consideration.
Morris informed lawmakers that the legislation aims to pass in time to prevent Duncan from assuming office before his four-year term begins.
The measure, expected to pass the GOP-controlled House and receive Landry’s approval, would take immediate effect upon the governor’s signature.
“I have never seen something so barbaric,” Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat representing New Orleans said on the Senate floor. “I understand politics and I know you all are going to vote how you are going to vote. But just know, when we are all done here, history has a record.”
Duncan, age 62, led efforts resulting in a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that eliminated non-unanimous jury convictions. He also established a nonprofit organization focused on improving incarcerated individuals’ court system access. He has described winning the clerk’s office as his life’s greatest achievement.
