Louisiana lawmakers recently passed a bill eliminating New Orleans’ clerk of criminal court. The parish had been the only one with two clerks, one for criminal court and another for civil. Governor Jeff Landry signed the bill into law just days before Calvin Duncan, a formerly wrongfully incarcerated Black man, was set to take office, after being elected to the criminal court position in November.
Calvin Duncan joins us for more on his fight to keep the job he was elected to serve.
Last year, journalist Susan Saulny read the headline, “New Pope Has Creole Roots in New Orleans.” As she learned more about Pope Leo XIV’s mixed racial heritage from Louisiana, she began to think about her own family. In particular, her white passing great uncle who moved north, and her Black grandfather who stayed in the south.
She set out to learn more about her family history, and recently wrote about her process and discoveries for the New York Times. Susan joins us for more on her discoveries.
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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Alana Schreiber. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. We get production and technical support from Garrett Pittman, Adam Vos and our assistant producer Aubry Procell.
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