By Julie O’Donoghue | Senior Reporter
On this day in 1990, the long running television series “Law and Order” premiered on the NBC television network.
Louisiana is the only state where surgical castration is a sentencing option for convicted sex offenders, but the state doesn’t have a clear path to carrying out the punishment. (Stock photo by Motortion/Getty Images)
By Greg LaRose
A convicted sex offender from Assumption Parish is believed to be the first person in the U.S. sentenced to undergo surgical castration without their consent, but the lawmaker who pushed for the severe punishment to be made available said it’s unlikely to ever take place.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams does outside legal work on top of his government job. Most other district attorneys in Louisiana have a similar arrangement. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
By Julie O’Donoghue and Piper Hutchinson
Thirty of Louisiana’s 42 district attorneys maintain a private practice on top of their government job, according to a review of disclosure documents they have submitted to the state over the past two years. Seven district attorneys garner more than $100,000 per year from representing their private clients.
By Julie O’Donoghue
More than a quarter of Louisiana’s 42 local public defender offices spent more money than they received during fiscal year 2024-25, highlighting the yearslong budget struggles of public defense overall.
MORE LOUISIANA NEWS
Anti-abortion advocates lined the steps outside the U.S. Court of Appeals Building in New Orleans, where Attorney General Liz Murrill asked judges Wednesday to halt federal policy that allows abortion drugs to prescribed without an in-person doctor’s visit. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill made a return appearance before a federal appellate court Wednesday in her effort to strike down Biden-era health policy that allows abortion drug prescriptions without an in-person doctor’s visit.
On paper, a select group of Louisiana university leaders has been tasked with finding ways to maximize one of the state’s premier scientific research institutes. Unofficially, they are in the middle of a political tug-of-war over who will control an entity with $500 million in assets and a multi-million-dollar annual budget.
LIV Golf still owes the state of Louisiana $1.2 million after canceling a golf tournament that was supposed to take place in New Orleans in June. Several pro golfers are among those LIV Golf owes money, but Louisiana is the only government entity listed among its creditors with the largest unsecured claims.
IN NATIONAL NEWS
People look out at Manhattan and beyond at One World Observatory at One World Trade Center in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, did more than reshape the nation’s approach to terrorism. They changed the architecture of American intelligence and policing. They expanded how government agencies collect, share and analyze information, and brought national security tools deeper into ordinary law enforcement.
The hotly contested U.S. Postal Service rule restricting mail-in voting usurps Congress’ authority, as well as states’ power to administer elections, more than 250 current and former members of Congress said in a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The Trump administration wants to overhaul the U.S. census to exclude noncitizens who don’t have a green card from the country’s next population count in 2030, according to a Wednesday notice in the Federal Register.
COMMENTARY
Enjoy the wins, LSU fans, as college sports crumbles| Greg LaRose
The danger for the Alabama GOP in the data center issue | Brian Lyman
Bear attacks in Colorado are climate attacks | Quentin Young
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