Landry promises pardon ‘as fast as the law allows’
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill was indicted Thursday on 16 criminal charges by a grand jury in New Orleans, accused of trying to intimidate eight local officials who opposed a GOP-backed law that eliminated an elected clerk position just days before a wrongfully convicted man was to take office.
Murrill told New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno and District Attorney Jason Williams, among others, that they could face removal from their jobs because of their opposition to the law. The indictment accuses her of trying to intimidate them. The law abolished the Orleans Parish criminal clerk post just days before Calvin Duncan, who spent decades in prison for a wrongful conviction, was to be sworn into the position in May after winning 68% of the vote.
Louisiana legislators approved the law at the urging of Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, just days before Duncan was to take office. Duncan’s supporters said the move by a majority-white conservative legislature was designed to thwart the will of voters in New Orleans, a predominantly Black city in a majority-Republican state.
On Thursday, Landry called New Orleans’ criminal justice system “a circus at its finest” and promised to pardon Murrill “as fast as the law allows,” according to the Guardian. The Republican Attorneys General Association described the indictment as “as outrageous as it is dangerous.” The group said Murrill was simply “issuing a legal opinion and warning public officials about the law” as part of her official duties.