Michael Carroll News
Lawsuit alleges LSU showed indifference to 2018 rape charges against employee
Six women, including a Louisiana State University professor, are suing LSU over what they allege is its deliberate indifference to reports that a foreign national who worked at LSU engaged in sexual harassment, battery and rape.
Louisiana voters to decide fate of business-backed sales tax simplification plan
Louisiana voters will decide the fate of a constitutional amendment later next month that aims to provide a uniform and simplified statewide system for collecting sales taxes, a change supporters say would improve the state’s business climate.
Legal settlement relaxes solitary confinement policy for Louisiana's death row inmates
Conditions for isolated death row inmates at Louisiana State Penitentiary will improve as a result of a recent settlement of a 2017 class-action lawsuit that alleged conditions there were cruel and unusual.
State Farm seeks review of order calling on insurers to pay hurricane evacuation expenses
State Farm will seek a legal hearing to explain disagreement with an order from the Louisiana insurance commissioner requiring insurers to pay evacuation expenses for policyholders affected by Hurricane Ida.
Firestone Polymers to agrees to $3.35 million settlement to resolve pollution issues
Firestone Polymers LLC has agreed to pay $3.35 million in civil penalties to federal and state environmental agencies to settle litigation stemming from excess emissions at the company’s synthetic rubber plant near Lake Charles.
Louisiana residents file class action over power outages caused by Hurricane Ida
Attorneys with three Louisiana law firms have filed a class action against Entergy Corp. on behalf of southeast Louisiana residents who allegedly suffered damages from extended power outages due to Hurricane Ida.
Judicial retirement age bars Baton Rouge judge from serving, panel says
The Louisiana Judiciary Commission is calling for the removal of a Baton Rouge City Court judge because she turned 70 -- the state’s judicial retirement age -- prior to her election last year.
Landry intervenes in D.C. lawsuit opposing Gulf of Mexico oil lease sale
A federal court this month ruled in favor of Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s motion to intervene in a case that pits environmental groups against the Biden administration’s effort to move forward with an offshore oil and gas lease sale.
Fairness, competition sought as Louisiana kicks off redistricting process
Louisiana lawmakers launched the once-every-decade redistricting process last week during a joint legislative meeting as interest groups pressed for districts that are more racially representative and competitive.
Louisiana energy producers see congressional oil industry probe as partisan attack
Louisiana’s energy industry sees a congressional probe into whether oil companies have minimized the effects of fossil fuel burning on climate change as a partisan attack against companies working to revive the U.S. economy.
George Strickler, longtime civil rights attorney and law professor, dies in New Orleans
A former Tulane Law School professor who spent the better part of his life working to end racial and gender discrimination around the South has died at his New Orleans home after a long illness.
Biden's private-industry vaccine mandates seen as threat to state's economic health
Louisiana business groups are pushing back on the Biden administration’s plan to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for employees of businesses that have 100 or more workers on their payrolls.
Federal judge sides with shrimpers, delays enforcement of sea turtle protection rule
A federal district judge has delayed enforcement of a National Marine Fisheries Service rule aimed at protecting endangered sea turtles, saying that it would have created economic havoc in Louisiana’s shrimp industry.
Louisiana judge faces disciplinary hearing amid efforts to boost judicial transparency
A recent announcement that a Louisiana district court judge will face a November hearing on unethical conduct during a 2018 election campaign is evidence that the state is making some progress on increasing judicial transparency.
Federal lawsuit calls on EPA to regulate PVC as toxic substance
An environmental group is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to regulate polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, as a toxic material – a position that is being challenged by plastics manufacturers in Louisiana and elsewhere.
Church's parent group sues to stop Baton Rouge mixed-use development
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has filed a lawsuit in state court objecting to the approval of a mixed-use development in Baton Rouge near a local temple.
BLS data shows federal jobless benefit cutoff has mixed results
New economic data is raising questions about the effectiveness of policies in states such as Louisiana that cut off federal COVID-19 jobless benefits as a way to encourage people to return to the workforce.
Biden administration backpedals on oil and gas leasing ban
The Biden administration moved this week to resume the process of leasing oil and gas tracts in the Gulf of Mexico and onshore in the United States in the wake of a federal judge’s preliminary injunction against a Jan. 27 executive order.
Louisiana earns spot on 'Everlasting Judicial Hellholes' list
Louisiana this month earned a spot on the American Tort Reform Foundation’s “Everlasting Judicial Hellholes” list, placing the Pelican State among seven jurisdictions that were cited for chronic civil justice problems.
Environmental review ordered for stalled plastics project in St. James Parish
The Army Corps of Engineers ordered a comprehensive environmental impact review of the proposed Formosa Plastics project in St. James Parish this month, a development that the petrochemical project’s opponents called a legal victory.