This story was originally published by Verite News
Calvin Duncan, the exonerated prisoner-turned-lawyer who scored a surprise victory in the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court clerk’s race last year, filed a federal suit against the state on Wednesday following the state Legislature’s passage of a bill that will eliminate the office to which he was elected.
In the civil rights suit, filed Thursday (April 30) in Baton Rouge federal court after the final vote passing the bill, Duncan alleges that Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill — who are both named as defendants — engaged in a “coordinated conspiracy” to keep Duncan from taking office, in part by pushing lawmakers to pass the measure in retaliation for his outspoken criticism of the criminal justice system during last year’s campaign.
“They aim to illegally obstruct Mr. Duncan’s assumption of office by retroactively redefining the meaning of “clerk of court” that existed on November 15, 2025—the date of Mr. Duncan’s election. “So too are they working in coordination to retaliate against Mr. Duncan—an exoneree who was wrongfully imprisoned for 28 years—for his outspoken claims that the criminal legal system in Orleans is unjust and frequently discriminatory against Black people.”
Duncan, who was elected in November with 68% of the New Orleans vote over incumbent Criminal District Court Clerk Darren Lombard, was set to take office on May 4. But Senate Bill 256, which was sponsored and largely supported by legislators who do not live in or represent New Orleans, seeks to eliminate the office before he has a chance to serve. The bill consolidates New Orleans’ two court clerks’ offices under Civil District Court Clerk Chelsey Richard Napoleon. And under an amendment, for which Duncan claims Landry was responsible, the bill will take effect upon the governor’s signature. The bill is now on its way to Landry’s desk.
Neither Landry nor Murrill immediately responded to requests for comment.
While lawmakers defended the bill as a way to streamline the court system in the city, Duncan, who is represented by the ACLU of Louisiana, claims it was a coordinated effort to silence him, in violation of his First Amendment rights. Duncan’s campaign nor the ACLU of Louisiana immediately responded to requests for comment.
Much of the suit focuses on a dispute last year between Duncan and Murrill over Duncan’s description of himself as an exoneree in his campaign messaging. Duncan was convicted of a 1981 murder and spent roughly three decades in prison where he became a “jailhouse lawyer,” teaching himself the law, and providing assistance to people detained with him at Louisiana State Penitentiary. After being released in 2011, agreeing to plead to a lesser charge. In 2021, a New Orleans judge vacated his conviction.
Murrill took issue with the description, she wrote in a September 2025 letter to Duncan, because, she claimed, he never proved his innocence of the crime.
“It is a gross misrepresentation to the public to say you were exonerated,” Murrill wrote. “I request that you cease representing to the public that you were ‘exonerated’ to avoid further action from this office.”
Days after Murrill sent the letter, Lombard filed suit against Duncan, likewise seeking to stop him from describing himself as exonerated. That suit, which Lombard later dropped, “was built on the Attorney General’s public statements and directly challenged Mr. Duncan’s innocence.”
After his election, Duncan claims that Landry turned to the legislature. Overhauling the New Orleans court system was one of Landry’s legislative priorities for the 2026 session. According to Duncan’s lawsuit, eliminating the clerk’s office was a key part of that agenda.
“Attempting to do what Defendant Murrill could not, he took up the cause of trying to unseat Mr. Duncan after he was duly elected. “
The suit asks a judge to enjoin the state from enforcing SB 256 and order that Duncan take office at midnight on May 4.