In New Orleans, a federal appeals court blocked criminal court clerk Calvin Duncan from taking office on Monday, which was scheduled to be his first day on the job. Duncan won election to the post in November, just five years after his release from prison after serving 28 years for a murder he did not commit. He was exonerated in 2021 and earned his law degree a year later at age 60. His position was eliminated last Friday, when Republican Governor Jeff Landry signed legislation abolishing it. Governor Landry also canceled upcoming primary elections, following Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling which struck down the last remaining major provision of the Voting Rights Act. On Monday, protesters marched through the streets of New Orleans demanding an end to racist gerrymandering of Louisiana’s congressional maps and the reinstatement of Calvin Duncan to his elected position.

Lionel Roberts: “Calvin Duncan won a race with 68% of the vote, you know, so that’s the citizens of New Orleans. I think that should be honored and respected. And the fact that it’s not, I think anybody who has a sense of right and wrong should stand up against that, because that’s a direct strike against democracy. And if we don’t stand against this, then, you know, America is just dissolving, as far as I’m concerned.”