Criminal Justice
Louisiana senators to hold inaugural meeting of State Police Oversight Committee
A special state Senate committee will meet Monday to review oversight of excessive force incidents and develop new proposals for reforms within the Louisiana State Police. The Senate Select Committee on State Police Oversight was created in October in response to requests from senators concerned over several high-profile incidents of troopers using excessive force within the […]
Louisiana judges get pay cut after courts collect fewer fines and fees
Louisiana judges have taken a pay cut as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ida. Their supplemental salary has been reduced because the court systems are taking in less money through fines and fees as disasters have scaled back judicial operations, according to staff from the Louisiana Judicial Compensation Commission. State. Rep . […]
Louisiana State Police chief looks to reform agency with diversity and technology
Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis, who was appointed last year to reform the embattled law enforcement agency, said Monday he is making significant leaps to diversify his agency and will soon usher in new technology to better manage personnel. Part of his reform measures include using a new dispatch system that will allow […]
Guilty verdicts in Arbery killing give no pleasure, only relief
There’s no pleasure to be taken from the guilty verdicts returned Wednesday by a Glynn County jury in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery; there is only relief and thanksgiving that in the end justice could be done, at least in a case in which the evidence was so well-documented and seemingly obvious. Given that they […]
Jury finds McMichaels, Bryan guilty of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder
A nearly all-white jury in a Glynn County courtroom Wednesday afternoon convicted three white men of murder in the death of Ahmaud Arbery as the 25-year-old Black jogger ran through their neighborhood in February 2020. Travis McMichael, seen all over the world in a viral video that shows him firing a shotgun into Arbery at […]
Prosecutor says Arbery targeted for being ‘Black man running down the street’
The lead prosecutor in Monday’s closing arguments accused the three white defendants of chasing Ahmaud Arbery because he was Black, a decision that led to his shooting death on a Brunswick-area street Sunday afternoon in 2020. The Glynn County murder trial is set to resume Tuesday with the state’s prosecutors expected to present a two-hour […]
Audit finds State Fire Marshal employee and brother bilked Louisiana for nearly $400,000
The Louisiana Legislative Auditor has released a report detailing the findings of a money laundering and racketeering investigation that led to indictments this summer of a State Fire Marshal’s Office employee, his brother and several others accused of defrauding the state of nearly $400,000. At the center of the scheme, according to the audit, was […]
Supreme Court justices skeptical about New York gun control law
WASHINGTON — Conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court expressed skepticism Wednesday after listening to two hours of oral arguments on a New York law that imposes strict limits on carrying a gun outside the home—a case that will test how far states can go when crafting their own laws. In New York State Rifle […]
Mississippi court case could trigger abortion ban in Louisiana and across the U.S.
WASHINGTON — A six-week abortion ban in Texas enacted in September forced those seeking abortion services in the Lone Star State to look across state lines for care. But the timing couldn’t have been worse for Texans living near the state’s eastern border. The law took effect as neighboring Louisiana was reeling from the destruction […]
GOP lawmakers push back against federal probe into threats against school board members
WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans on Thursday objected to a move by the Justice Department to investigate violent threats made against local school board members and teachers, arguing that the federal agency is “policing the speech of citizens and concerned parents.” “Violence and true threats of violence should have no place in our civic discourse, but […]
Louisiana State Police employee on leave after alleged misconduct at LSU
A Louisiana State Police employee was placed on administrative leave last week due to allegations of misconduct while the employee was working with Louisiana State University. The agency made the announcement Wednesday in a press release that provided no details as to the nature of the complaint nor the identity of the employee, saying further […]
Americans, especially African Americans, are in a mental health crisis. Can churches help?
Centuries of systemic racism and everyday discrimination in the U.S. have left a major mental health burden on African American communities, and the past few years have dealt especially heavy blows. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that Black Americans are twice as likely to die of COVID-19, compared with white […]