A grand jury indicts Louisiana's attorney general in a fight over changes to the local courts

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s Republican attorney general was indicted Thursday on criminal charges by a grand jury in New Orleans, accused of trying to intimidate local officials who fought a law enacted by GOP legislators to overhaul the local courts.

Attorney General Liz Murrill told eight New Orleans officials, including Mayor Helena Moreno and District Attorney Jason Williams, that they could face removal from their jobs because of their opposition to the law. It eliminated the position of Orleans Parish criminal court clerk after a man who spent decades in prison for a wrongful conviction was elected to the post with 68% of the vote.

Legislators approved the law at Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s urging just days before Calvin Duncan was to take office in May. Duncan’s supporters saw it as a move by a majority white conservative Legislature to thwart the will of voters in a predominantly Black Democratic hub in a red state.

Landry called the New Orleans criminal justice system “a circus at its finest” and promised to pardon Murrill on the 16 charges against her “as fast as the law allows.” The Republican Attorneys General Association called the indictment “as outrageous as it is dangerous.”

The GOP group said in making her statements, Murrill was simply “issuing a legal opinion and warning public officials about the law” as part of her official duties. Murrill’s critics saw it as an attempt to intimidate them into accepting the law.