N O L A.C O M
|
T h u r s d ay, M a r c h 20, 2025
$2.00X
La. Supreme Court tosses amendment challenge Lawsuit questioned validity of proposal on March 29 ballot BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By DAVID GRUNFELD
New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond blesses the altar during a St. Joseph’s Day celebration at St. Joseph Church and Shrine in Gretna on Wednesday.
Celebrating St. Joseph
The St. Joseph’s Altar is a tradition born in Sicily, thanking St. Joseph for relief from drought. The traditional St. Joseph’s Altar is constructed in the shape of the cross, with three levels honoring the Holy Trinity. A statue or picture of Joseph, often seen holding the baby Jesus, stands at the center of the highest tier with flowers surrounding him.
After the Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday ended a lawsuit challenging the validity of one of four proposed constitutional amendments on the March 29 ballot, it is now up to voters whether to approve the mass of changes to state tax law that are part of the measure. The lawsuit filed in February argued the ballot language for Amendment 2 was biased and misleading in violation of state law and that it didn’t comply with constitutional requirements for proposed amendments. The plaintiffs, two teachers and a pastor, asked the court to block Amendment 2 from taking effect. But the Supreme Court dismissed their case, and it barred them from any future attempts at suing over the issues they raised. The ruling affirms that Louisiana’s election procedures “will be upheld,” said Secretary of State Nancy Landry, the state’s chief election officer and named defendant in the suit. “We continue to remind voters that Amendment 2 will be on the ballot,” she said. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who spearheaded the appeal, applauded the decision, saying the court sided with her “office’s defense of the ballot language.” At a broad level, Amendment 2 asks voters to decide if state lawmakers should have more power and flexibility to decide which revenue streams fund government and how to spend that money. It would also lower a constitutional cap
ä See COURT, page 4A
Clarion Herald to cease publication
ABOVE: Visitors view and take pictures of the St. Joseph’s Altar in the gym at St. Joseph Church and Shrine in Gretna on Wednesday. The statue of St. Joseph stands at the center of the highest tier of the altar. RIGHT: Myra Collura Rogers, of Marrero, prays while visiting the St. Joseph’s Altar.
Catholic newspaper may reemerge in new form BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer
After 63 years of bringing news and feature stories about the local Roman Catholic Church to the city’s faithful, the Clarion Herald will cease publication in its current form at the end of June. The move comes after a committee of local church pastors voted last summer to eliminate two main sources of funding for the newspaper, both of which come directly from parish coffers: 1% of weekly collections and a $15 fee assessed
ä See PUBLICATION, page 4A
Hoffman’s final minutes in execution chamber observed Witness attends execution at Angola
BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer
A waft of spring flowers and a low chant filled the entryway to Louisiana’s execution building on Tuesday as seven designated witnesses filed inside. The source of the chanting soon became apparent: The condemned man’s spiritual adviser, dressed in a black robe, appeared through a
WEATHER HIGH 66 LOW 48 PAGE 8B
side window as prison officials led him into the death chamber. It was 6:17 p.m. inside Camp F at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, where no one had been executed since 2010. Laminated signs on the walls cautioned: “Nitrogen hypoxia system is active and pressurized.” A pair of meters on a wall in the viewing room put the air at a healthy 20.7% oxygen, though it was quiet and heavy as a pair of curtains rose on Louisiana’s first execution using nitrogen gas. Jessie Hoffman Jr. appeared
through the picture window. He was already strapped onto the execution table and draped in a plush gray blanket. A blue, industrial-grade respirator covered his face, leaving little of Hoffman to see as he lay at an incline Hoffman facing the window, arms splayed on the cruciform table. Only a portion of his neck and his hands were visible, thumbs
touching forefingers in a sacred Buddhist pose, as Angola Warden Darrel Vannoy reached for a microphone. “Would you like to make a last statement?” Hoffman, 46, tossed his head to the side and seemed to say nothing. He’d also declined a last meal, a prison official said later. Vannoy adjusted a valve on the mask covering Hoffman’s face. “The state will now carry out the execution of condemned inmate Jessie Hoffman,” he said. There would be no signal for
Business ...................20D Commentary ................7B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
ä Arizona executes man convicted of 2002 murder. PAGE 5A
when the ultrahigh grade nitrogen called for in Louisiana’s new execution protocol would begin to enter the mask and kill Hoffman. Officials said in a briefing later that it happened at 6:21 p.m. and that the gas ran for 19 minutes. Tubing led from the wall under the blanket at Hoffman’s right hand. At 6:22 p.m., his breathing
ä See EXECUTION, page 5A
12TH yEAR, NO. 220