Louisiana often holds inmates past their release date, DOJ lawsuit claims

Louisiana’s prison system routinely holds people weeks and months after they have completed their sentences, the U.S. Department of Justice alleged in a lawsuit filed Friday. The suit against the state of Louisiana follows a multiyear investigation into what federal officials say is a pattern of...

Louisiana judge halts state police plans to clear New Orleans homeless camps before Thanksgiving

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana civil court judge on Monday halted state agencies' plans to forcibly clear homeless encampments in New Orleans. Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Ethel Julien issued a temporary restraining order blocking state police and two other agencies...

Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Democrat Cleo Fields has won Louisiana’s congressional race in a recently redrawn second majority-Black district, flipping a once reliably Republican seat blue. Fields' win means Democrats will hold two congressional seats in the state for the first time...

AP Race Call: Democrat Cleo Fields wins election to U.S. House in Louisiana's 6th Congressional District

Democrat Cleo Fields won election to a U.S. House seat representing Louisiana on Monday, flipping a Republican-held seat. Fields is a longtime state lawmaker who also served two terms in the U.S. House in the 1990s. The 6th District, which extends from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, was redrawn this year as a...

Democrats hope to flip a reliably Republican Louisiana congressional seat with new boundaries

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — In a critical election year, Democrats are looking to flip a once reliably Republican Louisiana congressional seat, where political boundaries were recently redrawn to form the state’s second mostly Black congressional district. Five hours after the polls...

Supreme Court will weigh in on new mostly Black Louisiana congressional district, after election

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday it will take up a new redistricting case involving Louisiana's congressional map with two mostly Black districts. The court won't hear arguments until early next year and the 2024 elections are proceeding under the challenged map,...

Supreme Court will take a post-election look at Louisiana's congressional map with two majority-Black districts

Feds press Louisiana on its commitment to a stalled billion-dollar coastal restoration project

NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) — Federal officials want to know if Louisiana remains committed to a nearly $3 billion planned coastal restoration project that litigation has stalled. Federal officials warned in a Friday letter to the head of Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration...

Counselors sue to use the word 'psychological' in their business name

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Two owners of a counseling service in Louisiana have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the state of unconstitutionally stopping them from using the word “psychological” in their business name. One of the plaintiffs is a licensed counselor and the other is a...