Calvin Duncan spent 28 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. After his exoneration, he ran for a local judicial position and won decisively. Now Republican leadership in Louisiana is moving to eliminate the job entirely before he can take office.
Duncan won the November election for Orleans Parish criminal court clerk with 68% of the vote. His campaign centered on overhauling a justice system that, he argued from personal experience, systematically failed defendants. During his decades in maximum security prison, Duncan fought to access court records that might have aided his case.
Governor Jeff Landry and the Republican-controlled state legislature have begun efforts to abolish the position. The move would prevent Duncan from assuming duties he was elected to perform, effectively nullifying the outcome of a democratic election in which voters chose him over his opponents.
The clerk of criminal court handles judicial records and court operations. Duncan's platform promised transparency reforms and improved access to documents, changes he said would prevent others from facing the obstacles he encountered while incarcerated.
His victory represented a rare win for criminal justice reform in Louisiana, a state with some of the nation's highest incarceration rates. Supporters saw Duncan's election as validation of his reform agenda and a chance for institutional change within the Orleans Parish court system.
The Republican effort to eliminate the office raises questions about whether lawmakers are willing to accept election results when they conflict with party interests, and whether Duncan's pushes for judicial transparency posed a threat to the status quo that prompted the response.
Comments