Calvin Duncan
Source: Calvin Duncan / other

On Thursday, the GOP-led Louisiana Senate passed a bill eliminating the office that Calvin Duncan, a man who was exonerated after being imprisoned for decades, was elected to hold last November. 

According to The Louisiana Illuminator, the state House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 256 by a vote of 63 to 28. The bill consolidates the Orleans Parish Criminal and Civil Court clerks’ offices, which would eliminate Duncan’s position before he formally takes office. Duncan was elected to be the new clerk of criminal court after winning 68% of the vote. 

Calvin Duncan was convicted of fatally shooting a man in 1981 and spent nearly three decades in prison. Duncan maintained his innocence and studied the law while he was incarcerated in Louisiana’s “Angola” prison. He accepted a plea agreement of manslaughter in 2011 to obtain his release from prison, but still maintained his innocence. After a law was passed in Louisiana allowing people who pleaded guilty to challenge their convictions if they had evidence not presented in court, Duncan was successfully exonerated in 2021. 

Duncan’s experiences are precisely why he ran for clerk of criminal court. He consistently struggled to obtain documents from the office that could have proven his innocence while he was in prison. He wanted to make court documents more accessible so that the wrongfully accused had a better chance of proving their innocence. 

So it should come as no shock that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and state Republicans weren’t going to let that happen. Landry was an ardent supporter of the bill and has pledged to sign before Duncan can take office. State Democrats introduced an amendment to delay the consolidation by four years to allow Duncan to serve his term, but it was rejected. 

“We are stepping into dangerous territory … you do not change the rules of the game once the game has been played,” Rep. Candace Newell, a New Orleans Democrat, said before the vote. “Today they’re coming for this right, tomorrow they’re coming for yours,” she warned.

What’s being done to Calvin Duncan has no precedent in Louisiana politics. State Rep. Dixon Wallace McMakin, a Baton Rouge Republican, tried to argue that the move to consolidate the clerk of criminal court in a week’s time is similar to previous consolidation efforts. 

Rep. Delisha Boyd, a New Orleans Democrat, pushed back against McMakin’s claim and asked him how long it took to consolidate the New Orleans tax assessors and sheriffs’ offices.

“How long did that process take?” Rep. Boyd asked. “I do not know,” McMakin responded.

“Four years,” Boyd replied. Boyd added that the rushed consolidation process will create more problems than it solves, with almost no chance that the move won’t delay cases and potentially violate New Orleans citizens’ 6th Amendment right to a speedy trial.

The New York Times reports that supporters of the bill have denied that it’s personal, despite the fact that they’re rushing the bill through explicitly to prevent Duncan from taking office. 

“I don’t blame him for not liking it, and it seems like he’s done some remarkable things since he’s gotten out of jail,” Jay Morris, the Republican state senator from northern Louisiana who sponsored the bill, told The Times. “I don’t know whether he would have been a good clerk or not, but it’s just more about right-sizing and is something that should have been done a long time ago.” 

Landry was asked by reporters what he had to say to Louisiana voters who feel the bill effectively disenfranchises them. “I would tell them we’re trying to help to make sure that their potholes are being fixed in Orleans,” Landry said. 

Bro, if the only way you have money to fix potholes is by eliminating Calvin Duncan’s job, then you’re really bad at being governor. This blatantly personal attack on Duncan won’t just prevent him from taking office, but will also cause entirely avoidable disruption within New Orleans courts. 

SEE ALSO:

Exonerated Man Calvin Duncan Wins New Orleans Criminal Clerk Election

Louisiana GOP Wants To Pass Bill Preventing Calvin Duncan From Taking Office