Court Blocks Elected Orleans Clerk From Taking Office

Is this a racist power grab against Calvin Duncan or a legitimate government efficiency reform?

Published MAY 5

Court Blocks Elected Orleans Clerk From Taking Office

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Above: Calvin Duncan. Image credit: Journey of a Jailhouse Lawyer/Calvin Duncan/Substack

The Spin

Democratic narrative

Louisiana Republicans abolished Calvin Duncan's elected office specifically to stop him from taking power — and the timing makes that undeniable. Sixty-eight percent of New Orleans voters chose Duncan, and White lawmakers hundreds of miles away moved to erase that mandate before he could serve a single day. This is a direct attack on Black political power dressed up as bureaucratic reform.

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Republican narrative

Consolidating New Orleans' clerk offices isn't about Duncan — Orleans Parish is the only parish in Louisiana with two separate clerks of court, and streamlining that redundancy makes fiscal sense for a city struggling financially. The Fifth Circuit agreed, staying the district court's order and allowing Act 15 to take effect. Making this about one person distracts from a legitimate government efficiency effort that has been decades in the making.

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