Police
A federal judge refused the Gretna Police Department summary judgment in the case of a former sergeant who says his opposition of arrest-and-citation quota system got him fired.
Read moreLouisiana
Farewell to Tropical Storm Barry, and Good Riddance
Tropical Depression Barry spared New Orleans and Baton Rouge from catastrophic flooding, but even as it weakened and sloshed north through Arkansas, its trailing rain bands swamped parts of Louisiana with up to 17 inches of rain and transformed part of the Mississippi Delta into “an ocean.”
Read moreCoroner Says Black Activist Was Murdered by Suffocation
Ruling the incident a homicide, a Louisiana coroner said Monday that a black civil rights activist whose body was found in the trunk of her car last week was suffocated to death.
Read moreBarry Slogs Inland, Threatening Floods in Six States
Though Tropical Depression Barry did not unleash catastrophic flooding in Louisiana, millions of people across the Gulf Coast were urged to take heed of tornado and flash-flood warnings Monday as the storm moved north.
Read moreBarry Crawls Ashore in Louisiana, Weakens to Tropical Storm
Carrying “off the chart” amounts of moisture, Barry crawled ashore Saturday in Louisiana and quickly weakened to a tropical storm that promised to dump heavy rains that could last for days and pose a test of the flood-prevention systems built after Hurricane Katrina 14 years ago.
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Evacuations Ordered on Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Nears
A potential tropical storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico presents twin troubles for coastal Louisiana and Mississippi — the possibility that the flooded Mississippi River will strain the levees this weekend, and a danger of flash floods like the one that unexpectedly walloped New Orleans on Wednesday.
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New Orleans Floods as Gulf Coast Braces for Torrential Rains
Floodwaters swamped streets in New Orleans’ French Quarter on Wednesday and prompted a tornado warning in the area amid concerns that even worse weather is on the way to Louisiana and other states along the Gulf of Mexico.
Read moreScathing Report Calls ‘Cancer Alley’ Land-Use Changes ‘Deceitful’
The high school was closed, the land sold to a Chinese industrial company that sold it for $100 to the Koch Brothers, then the post office was closed. Welcome to Cancer Alley.
Read moreLouisiana’s Democratic Governor Signs Abortion Ban Bill
Even as Louisiana’s Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards signed a strict abortion ban Thursday, a reproductive rights advocacy group said the law has little chance of going into effect anytime soon.
Read moreLouisiana Abortion Ban Sent to Governor for Signature
Louisiana lawmakers on Wednesday passed a strict abortion ban that would prohibit the procedure before some women even know they are pregnant, joining a half-dozen Republican-dominated states with similar measures.
Read moreLouisiana Trespass Law Targeting Pipeline Protests Spurs Lawsuit
Protesters and Louisiana residents whose land is crisscrossed by oil and gas pipelines filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging a state law that makes it a felony to be on a pipeline, even an unmarked, buried one.
Read moreLouisiana Judge Confirmed Over Concerns About Abortion Views
The Senate confirmed a New Orleans attorney to a seat on a Louisiana federal court Thursday, overcoming objections from Democrats concerned about her views on abortion rights.
Read moreDesegregation
The Fifth Circuit affirmed that the Tangipahoa Parish School Board must go through a two-year probationary period before a longstanding desegregation case against it is dismissed
Read moreConstitution
Reviving a woman’s claims against Hunt County for its sheriff’s policy of deleting negative comments from its official Facebook page and banning users, the Fifth Circuit ruled that the plaintiff sufficiently pleaded that the county “had an explicit policy of viewpoint discrimination.”
Read moreHate Crime Charges Lodged Against Church Arson Suspect
Charges against the white Louisianan accused of burning three black churches to the ground were upgraded by prosecutors during an arraignment and bail hearing Monday to include three counts of state-level hate crimes.
Read moreSuspect in Louisiana Black Church Fires to Appear in Court
A white Louisiana man accused of burning three century-old historic black churches to the ground had his first day in court Monday for a hearing on a petition from state prosecutors to deny bail.
Read moreSon of Sheriff’s Deputy Arrested After 3 Black Church Fires
Holden Matthews, the white, 21-year-old son of a Louisiana sheriff’s deputy, was behind bars Thursday, accused of torching three century old African American churches during a 10-day period in and around Opelousas. The city of 16,000 people was set on edge by blazes, which evoked memories of civil rights terrorism.
Read moreInmate at Center of Landmark Juvenile Case Loses Parole Bid
A Louisiana inmate whose case led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling extending the hope of freedom to juvenile offenders sentenced to life without the possibility of parole was again denied that freedom on Thursday after more than five decades in prison.
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