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T u e s d ay, F e b r u a ry 11, 2025
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La. ready to resume executions by previous adminis- es and the courts to move swiftly State has not leadership trations is over,” Landry said in a to bring justice to the crime vicnews release. “The time for broken tims who have waited for too long.” carried out death promises has ended; we will carry The Louisiana Legislature out these sentences and justice passed a law permitting nitrogen penalty since 2010 will be dispensed.” hypoxia executions in the sec-
Louisiana has not carried out the death penalty since 2010. In an execution by nitrogen hyStaff writer poxia, the inmate’s face is covered Louisiana has approved a proto- by a mask and pure nitrogen is col for executions by nitrogen hy- pumped in instead of oxygen, causpoxia, which will allow death sen- ing death by asphyxiation. “These capital punishment cases tences to be carried out again after nearly 15 years, Gov. Jeff Landry have been reviewed at every judisaid Monday. cial level, have had decades of un“For too long, Louisiana has successful appeals, and the death failed to uphold the promises sentences affirmed by the courts,” made to victims of our State’s most Landry said in the release. “I exviolent crimes; but that failure of pect our DA’s to finalize these cas-
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN
ond 2024 special session, amid a shortage of lethal injection drugs. State Rep. Nicholas Muscarello, R-Hammond, sponsored the law, which also added electrocution to the list of state-sanctioned execution methods. Louisiana stopped using electrocution to carry out the death penalty 34 years ago. Legal challenges and reports of burns on the bodies of those executed helped pressure
THE PARTY’S OVER
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
Judge pauses Trump’s buyout offer
Approximately 19,000 in Louisiana eligible BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
ä See BUYOUT, page 4A
WEATHER HIGH 79 LOW 61 PAGE 6A
Judge lets suspended professor’s lawsuit proceed Landry must turn over documents
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office on Monday.
WASHINGTON — A federal district judge temporarily postponed President Donald Trump’s buyout program to entice federal employees to quit their jobs. U.S. Senior District Court Judge George A. O’Toole INSIDE Jr., of Boston, issued a temporary restraining ä Trump steps order following up his 2018 a Monday after- tariffs on steel. noon hearing. Page 2A The judge, who ä Trump told was selected by to release Democratic Presfrozen funds. ident Bill Clinton in 1995, said the Page 3A pause would remain in effect until he has a chance to weigh the issues and rule. The administration offered to allow more than 2 million federal civilian employees to quit now but continue receiving pay through September. Roughly 19,000 employees in Louisiana are eligible.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By TED JACKSON
There are more than 50 people on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. Louisiana has not executed anyone in nearly 15 ä See EXECUTIONS, page 4A years.
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
A worker sweeps the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. After the Philadelphia Eagles’ big win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in the Super Bowl, on Monday, it was New Orleans’ turn to celebrate. After years of readying the city to host the largest sporting event in the nation, cleanup began around the Caesars Superdome and the streets of New Orleans. More than 100,000 people poured into the city for the event, generating an economic impact that experts estimate is at least $150 million. Crowds packed tightly on Bourbon Street on Sunday with minor issues. Infrastructure repairs held. The airports deftly handled the tens of thousands of passengers without long waits. And the national media gushed about the city’s ability to host a party, giving New Orleans the kind of positive PR that makes the whole thing worthwhile. Story, Page 4A.
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A lawsuit accusing LSU of violating a law professor’s right to free speech, academic freedom and due process can go forward, and Gov. Jeff Landry must hand over records related to the professor’s suspension, an East Baton Rouge Parish district court judge said Monday. Ken Levy, a tenured LSU law p r o f e s s o r, “This is not a sued the university last grievance policy month after he issue; it’s a was suspended constitutionally over what the protected university said property right.” were “student complaints of JILL CRAFT, attorney inappropriate for suspended LSU statements.” Levy is ask- law professor Ken Levy ing the court to make LSU return him to the classroom and to block LSU from interfering with his employment because of his constitutionally protected free speech and due process rights. In the courtroom Monday, LSU’s attorney, Jimmy Faircloth Jr., argued that Levy should have first addressed his grievance over the suspension through a university process outlined in the faculty handbook, and it was too early to file a lawsuit. “The simple truth is that Professor Levy is under an administrative suspension caused by his own improper actions, and LSU is merely taking appropriate steps to move toward a final decision,” the university said in legal filings. But Jill Craft, Levy’s attorney, argued the dispute wasn’t about whether or not Levy should have followed a university procedure. “This is not a grievance policy issue; it’s a constitutionally protected property right” to due process, Craft said. Fairthcloth disagreed, saying, “This whole argument is centered on the absolutely incorrect legal notion that he has a property right to be in that classroom. He does
ä See LAWSUIT, page 4A
100TH yEAR, NO. 226