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yesterday

Judge Blocks Law Axing New Orleans Criminal Clerk, Letting Calvin Duncan Take Office

The case tests whether state leaders can scrap an elected local post after voters choose a winner.

Calvin Duncan, left, an exoneree who was elected Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court, gets behind his desk on the first day of his term, Monday, May 4, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Calvin Duncan, left, an exoneree who was elected Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court, gets behind his desk on the first day of his term, Monday, May 4, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
People protesting against Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry gather outside Orleans Parish criminal court on the day Calvin Duncan, an exoneree who was elected Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court, took his first day in office, Monday, May 4, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Calvin Duncan, left, an exoneree who was elected Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court, greets outgoing clerk Darren Lombard in his office on the first day of his term, Monday, May 4, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Overview

  • Duncan secured a temporary restraining order from U.S. District Judge John deGravelles that blocks Louisiana’s new law eliminating the Orleans Parish criminal court clerk and shifting its duties to the civil clerk.
  • The order, set for 14 days, pauses enforcement of Senate Bill 256 (Act 15) and keeps state officials from installing the civil clerk in the consolidated role while the court weighs next steps.
  • The judge said the law is unconstitutional as applied because it would replace an elected office with a political appointee, though he noted the state can abolish offices in other circumstances.
  • Louisiana officials filed an appeal seeking to freeze the ruling, turning the dispute over the clerk’s office into an active fight in federal court.
  • Duncan won about 68% of the vote and ran on improving access to court records, and his path from wrongful conviction to licensed attorney has become central to supporters who say lawmakers overrode New Orleans voters, while backers of the law cite efficiency and cost savings.