Louisiana Republicans attack New Orleans voters.

Key Points:

• Republican Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana is advancing legislation aimed at "right-sizing" the state's judicial system, widely seen as an effort to undermine the majority-Black, majority-Democratic New Orleans voters and their reform-minded officials, particularly District Attorney Jason Williams.
• Proposed bills would make it easier for the state Legislature and governor to remove locally elected judges and officials, with vague criteria such as "malfeasance or gross misconduct," raising concerns about politically motivated removals.
• Additional legislation seeks to reduce the number of criminal court judges and cut state funding for assistant district attorneys in New Orleans, potentially hampering local prosecutorial capacity and shifting cases to more punitive state prosecutors.
• A controversial bill eliminating the position of New Orleans criminal court clerk appears targeted at Calvin Duncan, an exoneree elected to the post, reflecting resistance to reform and punitive criminal justice policies; a federal judge temporarily blocked the bill, but the state is appealing.
• These actions in Louisiana are part of a broader national pattern where conservative state governments restrict local autonomy to override progressive policies in Democratic-leaning cities, often under the guise of being "tough on crime" but primarily serving social control agendas.