Shortly after his inauguration, Gov. Jeff Landry signed a package of tough-on-crime bills that drastically changed the state’s sentencing laws. Now, two years later, the governor is hoping to add even more beds to the state’s largest prison through a newly proposed corrections budget.
ProPublica and Verite News have spent more than two years investigating the impact of Landry’s policies on the criminal justice system and how expanding the state’s corrections budget would impact taxpayers. Verite News reporter Richard Webster joins us with more.
Louisiana Republican State Sen. Jay Morris used his office to help bring one of the world’s largest data centers to Richland Parish. But he also owned thousands of acres surrounding the site that the company planned to build on. He then sold some of that land for the construction of a power plant that will provide energy to Meta’s massive array of computers.
Garrett Hazelwood, an investigative reporter at Floodlight, worked in partnership with Verite and the Louisiana Illuminator to break the story. He tells us more about his findings that Morris’s conduct may have violated state ethics laws.
In New Orleans, there’s an ongoing battle at the office of the clerk of criminal court — or what was the office of the clerk of criminal court. Calvin Duncan, a lawyer, criminal justice advocate and wrongfully convicted Black man who served almost 30 years in prison before his exoneration, ran for clerk of criminal court and won. Afterward, state lawmakers removed his position, seeking to combine his office with the civil court clerk.
In a recent interview on Louisiana Considered, Duncan traced the move to unseat him before taking office back to the days of Reconstruction. Arguing that Louisiana has a history of diluting Black political power.
Jarret Luter is an Instructor of History at Southern University. He joins us for more on the throughline between Reconstruction and modern examples of diluting Black voting power.
June 1 marks the start of Pride Month, so today we’re remembering the late gay rights activist Stewart Butler. A survivor of the tragic Upstairs Lounge fire, the New Orleans native’s activism spanned over 40 years as he helped found numerous LGBTQ+ organizations.
In 2019, Butler spoke with Mark Cave from the Historic New Orleans Collection about his contributions to the movement, including the first gay rights conference at LSU. Today, we give his recollections a second listen.
—
Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. We receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman, Adam Vos and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell.
You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, the NPR App and wherever you get your podcasts.
Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you’re at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you’d like to listen to.
Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!
