LOUISIANA RECORD

BATON ROUGE – On July 1, Louisiana judges received an automatic 2.1 percent pay increase as authorized by Act 375, passed in 2013. State Sen. Danny Martiny (R-Metairie) believes that the raises are vital to the judiciary.

BATON ROUGE—Louisiana State University Law Professor Edward Richards has been named to the editorial board of Laws, an open-access journal covering legal theory, legal institutions and a wide range of legal subjects. 

NEW ORLEANS — In the wake of a lawsuit filed against the state to restore voting rights to ex-offenders, the Louisiana Attorney General's Office said voting restrictions on those on parole or probation is constitutional.

NEW ORLEANS—Voice of the Ex-Offender (VOTE) filed a class-action petition on July 1 in the 19th Judicial District Court, seeking to restore the voting rights of more than 70,000 Louisiana residents who are on probation or parole for felony offenses.

BOGALUSA—The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) recently filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Judge Robert Black of the Bogalusa City Court, claiming he's running a modern-day debtor’s prison. 

NEW ORLEANS—U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson questions why the state has spent more than $1 million fighting to prevent air conditioning from being installed at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

NEW ORLEANS—Voice of the Ex-Offender (VOTE) was originally created by a group of self-taught jailhouse lawyers to focus on voter registration for formerly incarcerated persons (FIPs), but now VOTE is doing much more.

BATON ROUGE—State Sen. J.P. Morrell (D-District 3) has requested a state inquiry into allegations of child abuse at a Shreveport Episcopal school for not following mandated reporting laws, but the head of one advocacy group says mandated reporting, while well-intentioned, doesn’t address the real needs of children.

BATON ROUGE—House Bill 146 is one of a number of measures introduced in the Louisiana State Legislature this session that are meant to eliminate obstacles for convicted felons re-entering society after offense.

BATON ROUGE—Attorney General Jeff Landry recently announced that his office's ublic Protection Division’s Tobacco Unit had procured $137.5 million from the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) payment this year, but what he didn't say was how much of that money actually goes toward anti-smoking and tobacco cessation programs.

BATON ROUGE — Deborah Seal and her children have asked 19th Judicial District Judge Don Johnson to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Lisa Seal Frigon concerning the movie rights to Barry Seal’s life, but according to a Hollywood lawyer the case may come down to whether the court decides if the notorious drug smuggler-turned-informant was truly a public figure. 

NEW ORLEANS – An ethics complaint filed by investigative journalist and blogger Jason Berry with the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) late last year against lawyer-turned-private-investigator Wes Bearden for allegedly suborning perjury may not get very far, according to local legal expert.