Louisiana’s Republican attorney general faced a stunning turn of events Thursday when a grand jury in New Orleans indicted her on 16 criminal charges, accusing her of trying to intimidate local officials who opposed a state law overhauling the city’s courts. The indictment marks an extraordinary escalation in the long-running political and legal battle between Republican state leaders and Democratic officials in New Orleans over control of a crucial local judicial position.
Attorney General Liz Murrill was charged with eight counts of malfeasance in office and eight counts of intimidation. The charges stem from letters she sent to eight New Orleans officials in May, including Mayor Helena Moreno and District Attorney Jason Williams, warning them they could lose their jobs for opposing a new state law. Bond was set at $400,000.
The dispute centers on Act 15, legislation enacted by Republican lawmakers at the urging of Governor Jeff Landry that eliminated the position of Orleans Parish criminal court clerk and consolidated it with the civil court clerk’s office. The move was designed to prevent Calvin Duncan, a formerly incarcerated man exonerated of a 1981 murder conviction, from taking office after he won the elected criminal clerk position with 68 percent of the vote in November.
Duncan spent more than 28 years in prison before being freed when a judge agreed in 2021 that he had been unjustly convicted. Since his release, he has become a legal reform advocate, founding a nonprofit dedicated to expanding incarcerated people’s access to the court system and playing a key role in a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended nonunanimous jury convictions. His supporters characterized the elimination of his elected position as a move by a majority-white conservative legislature to thwart the will of voters in a predominantly Black Democratic hub.
When the New Orleans City Council moved to appoint an interim clerk and call a special election in May, Murrill sent letters invoking Louisiana’s “usurper” statutes—laws that prohibit public officials from supporting or recognizing an unauthorized officeholder. She warned Moreno, Williams, and five city council members that they could face removal from office and threatened that retired Judge Calvin Johnson, whom the council appointed as interim clerk, could face criminal charges including fines and imprisonment.
Mayor Moreno responded quickly and defiantly, posting a video statement pointing out that Louisiana law prohibits intimidating or threatening public officials to influence their decisions. The Louisiana Supreme Court later sided with the state, upholding Act 15 as a valid exercise of legislative power and ruling that the city officials had not violated usurper laws.
Special prosecutor Laurie White, a retired Orleans Criminal District Court judge appointed to investigate the matter, announced the indictment outside the courthouse Thursday. “We’re very interested in elected officials in New Orleans not being intimidated or threatened by letter or any other way,” White said. She described the case as “very simple” and “very open and shut.”
Murrill immediately rejected the charges, calling them “retaliatory, meritless, and unconstitutional” in a statement posted on social media. She said the indictment stems from her legitimate enforcement duties and vowed to file an emergency petition with the Louisiana Supreme Court to challenge it. “I will not back down. I will continue enforcing the law, fighting corruption, and doing the job the people of Louisiana elected me to do,” she wrote.
Governor Landry rushed to Murrill’s defense, calling the indictment a product of an “Orleans Kangaroo court.” He promised to pardon Murrill “as fast as the law allows” if she is convicted, though state law requires a conviction first and a recommendation from the state pardon board before a pardon can be issued. He also ordered the Louisiana State Police to investigate what he called “alleged improprieties” of the grand jury and those who ran it.
The Republican Attorneys General Association likewise condemned the indictment as “outrageous” and “dangerous,” arguing that Murrill was simply performing her official duties by issuing legal opinions and warning public officials about state law.
Moreno, who was elected mayor in January, took a measured stance following the indictment. “Today’s development involving the Attorney General is a matter for the courts,” she said, declining to directly address the allegations. “My focus, as always, remains on fulfilling the responsibilities the people of New Orleans elected me to carry out.”
The charges carry significant penalties. A conviction for public intimidation carries a sentence of up to five years in prison with or without hard labor. A conviction for malfeasance in office, which involves intentionally failing to perform required duties or performing them unlawfully, carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
The case represents the dramatic culmination of tensions that began shortly after Landry and Murrill took office in January 2024. The Republican state leaders quickly asserted their authority over New Orleans, establishing a new year-round Louisiana State Police troop in the city and placing Murrill’s office in charge of prosecutions resulting from the troopers’ crime-fighting efforts. Later, Murrill had also sent cease-and-desist letters to Duncan during his campaign, warning him to stop calling himself “exonerated” and threatening action against his law license.
The indictment has been assigned to Judge Angel Harris, and court records indicate Murrill’s arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday.