louisiana

ACLU Sues Baton Rouge Police Over Response to Alton Sterling Protests

Hudson Hongo · 07/13/16 07:56PM

On Wednesday, the ACLU of Louisiana and four other groups filed a lawsuit against the City of Baton Rouge, its police department and several other area law enforcement agencies, accusing authorities of violating the constitutional rights of protesters demonstrating against the shooting of Alton Sterling. About 200 marchers have been arrested in Baton Rouge since Sterling was killed by police last week, NOLA.com reports.

Second Video of Alton Sterling's Shooting Death Seems to Contradict Police Claim That He Was Holding a Gun

Brendan O'Connor · 07/07/16 08:15AM

Abdullah Muflahti, the owner of the convenience store outside of which his friend Alton Sterling was killed on Tuesday, has shared new footage of the shooting with The Daily Beast. The video—filmed at a different angle than the video that emerged earlier this week—appears to contradict the claim by authorities that Sterling was threatening police with a gun.

Justice Department Opens Civil Rights Investigation into Baton Rouge Police Shooting of Alton Sterling

Brendan O'Connor · 07/06/16 11:45AM

The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, by Baton Rouge police on Tuesday, the New York Times reports. The incident was partially captured on video. “I have very serious concerns,” Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards said. “The video is disturbing, to say the least.”

New Orleans' Plagued Public Defender Office Can't Even Afford to Represent Itself in Court

Andy Cush · 03/30/16 05:17PM

With the utter breakdown of the public defender system in Louisiana showing no sign of abating, the New Orleans Times-Picayune has published a profile of an average public defense attorney who has remained loyal to the cause despite having every conceivable reason to find a new job. In a detail that English teachers in Louisiana would no doubt describe as the perfect example of irony if Louisiana education budgets weren’t sitting on the chopping block alongside the public defender system, the article notes that the defender’s office is so broke it can’t even afford a lawyer for itself.

Watch a Local News Reporter Get Arrested While Requesting Public Records

Andy Cush · 03/24/16 01:37PM

In theory, citizens of all 50 states are legally empowered to request and obtain records from their governments. When they work as intended, public records laws are a vital tool for reporters and ordinary people to learn about the government and hold it accountable. But a lot of the time, they don’t work as intended at all.

This One Video Proves America Is in a Really Great Place Right Now

Jordan Sargent · 02/18/16 06:00PM

Here we have Captain Clay Higgins of the St. Landry Parrish Sheriff’s Office. In the video below, Capt. Higgins thunderously addresses members of the so-called Gremlins Gang of southern Louisiana, while holding an automatic rifle, and while surrounded by fellow members of his department, who are also baring very large weaponry. There is no way you will watch the video and not come away feeling very good about the country we have built for each other.