The coronavirus pandemic led to an unprecedented shutdown in most states, including Louisiana, as residents were ordered to stay at home and avoid getting into contact with others to help slow the spread of the highly contagious virus. Businesses were forced to close and workers lost their jobs. There was another effect from the Stay…
Louisiana has some of the toughest drug possession laws in the nation, where you can be arrested for having a small amount of marijuana and end up in jail. Possessing larger amounts of illegal drugs can lead to sentences as stiff as 40 years in prison. It’s time for the State of Louisiana to reconsider…
Any life taken by murder is a terrible tragedy for the victim’s family, friends and the entire community, but it can be even more emotionally grueling for the family to learn that someone they loved was targeted because of characteristics like their race or sexual orientation. Louisiana prosecutes hate crimes to deter those motivated by…
In May 2015, detectives in Baton Rouge were able to find the body of Taherah Ghassemi, who had been missing for a month. Detectives would eventually get a big break, which led them to discover Ghassemi’s body buried in a rural area about an hour’s drive from Baton Rouge. Shortly afterward, police arrested the victim’s…
Louisiana has been competing with Oklahoma and Mississippi for the nation’s highest incarceration rate for years. While the state currently holds first place, that may not last long considering two things. One is the Criminal Justice Reform measures signed into law by Gov. John Bel Edwards in 2017 which focused on steering less serious offenders…
In Louisiana as in most other states, when an individual has been convicted of a crime and served their sentences, they’re set free — with restrictions. In some states, that can include limits on the right to vote, get a law license, or hold public office. In Louisiana, however, the restrictions are particularly strict for…
In February, a 59-year-old man was arrested and charged with sexual misconduct with multiple women. He was a longtime teacher and award-winning athletic director at Terrebonne High School in Louisiana, and the women were all students at the time the misconduct occurred. Houma police noted in a news release that they now believe the man…
In April 2019, a 21-year-old man was arrested and charged with the burnings of three African American churches in Louisiana. The suspect, Holden Matthews, is white. Not only did state prosecutors file charges against the suspect for arson, but they also added an additional charge by declaring the arsons a hate crime. Federal officials also…
Last fall, a couple was arrested and accused of producing child pornography. The case stunned many in Louisiana because the two people who got taken into custody were a high-ranking Sheriff’s Office deputy and his wife, a school teacher. According to the police report, officers arrested the couple after finding evidence which included photos of…
As one of the states hardest hit by COVID-19, Louisiana is under a stay-at-home order as the number of coronavirus cases and deaths have surged in the past few weeks. Gov. John Bel Edwards had issued the statewide stay-at-home order through April 13, but has since extended it to April 30. The order allows exceptions,…