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T u e s d ay, M ay 27, 2025
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Lawmakers struggle over split-jury verdicts Bill to revert cases, create parole committees fails
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
Lawmakers in Louisiana have, for several years, been grappling with how to deal with an unusual portion of the state’s prison population: inmates who were convicted by nonunanimous jury verdicts. Such verdicts were banned in Louisiana in 2018, and the U.S. Su-
preme Court later ruled them unconstitutional. But the court didn’t apply the decision retroactively, leaving it up to Louisiana to determine how to Duplessis handle old cases. A proposal in this legislative session — Senate Bill 218, by Sen.
Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans — aimed to address that problem. It would have allowed prisoners convicted by split juries to apply to have their cases set back to pretrial status. From there, district attorneys could decide whether to hold a new trial, cut a plea deal or dismiss a case. But the bill died in the Senate on Wednesday on a vote of 26-9. The
2025 LEGISLATURE
argued the cases would clog the courts. The Promise of Justice Initiative, CRIMINAL JUSTICE an organization that represents prisoners convicted by split juries and vote fell along party lines, with that asked Duplessis to carry the Democrats in favor of the bill and bill, disputed that notion, presentRepublicans opposed. ing data that suggested the associaThe primary opposition to the bill tion was overstating the number of came from the Louisiana District cases at issue. Attorneys Association, which said it Duplessis said he is continuing would be impractical to try old cases to work with stakeholders to find a when witnesses may have died and ä See VERDICTS, page 4A evidence been destroyed. They also
RUN TO REMEMBER
Shift in La. coastal strategy proposed Project much smaller than Mid-Barataria pitched as replacement BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD KEMP
Lt. Col. Stephen Luebbert, right, walks with Gold Star family members Buddy, center, and Sybil Williamson to place a wreath at the Veterans Memorial in honor of their son Sgt. Patrick Williamson, who was killed in action on Oct. 27, 2009. A Memorial Day program honored and remembered the military heroes who gave their lives in service to our country Monday by the Veterans Memorial at Moncus Park in Lafayette. After the ceremony, participants could
Gov. Jeff Landry speaks during the Memorial Day program.
join a peaceful, untimed run or walk through the park’s scenic paths to reflect, move and connect with the
Participants start the run after the Memorial Day program.
community.
Local buyers floated for Fair Grounds Race Course Top of the list is Saints and Pelicans Horse racing industry owner Gayle Benson. A horse breeder who has had runners in the Kenthinks Benson, Derby and Bernhard have interest tucky Preakness Stakes,
BY ANTHONY McAULEY Staff writer
With Churchill Downs Inc., the Kentucky-based owner of the Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots, threatening to leave the state if it doesn’t get a public subsidy, leading figures in the local horse racing industry are eyeing two Louisiana billionaires with ties to the sport as the most likely potential buyers should it be put up for sale.
WEATHER HIGH 85 LOW 76 PAGE 6A
and owns a Kentucky breeding and rehabilitation facility, Benson sought to buy the historic New Orleans horse racing venue eight G. Benson years ago with her late husband Tom, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the Bensons’ past interest who weren’t authorized to speak publicly about it.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
The potential sale of the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, which has a 76-day horse racing season, has been the talk of the local racing industry since Churchill Downs executives appeared at a contentious Louisiana Racing ä See FAIR GROUNDS, page 4A Commission meeting May 13.
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Gov. Jeff Landry’s plan to abandon the $3 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, once considered the cornerstone of Louisiana’s coastal restoration efforts, may see the state revive an old project to replace it that his administration says will be cheaper, faster and more effective. Not everyone is convinced. The Mid-Barataria project is on life support after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suspended a key permit for it. Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Chair Gordon “Gordy” Dove is signaling a major shift in strategy that prioritizes protecting coastal fisheries over the original plan that took years to develop and has already cost $500 million. In a detailed presentation before the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday, Dove said that he supports the construction of a smaller river diversion in Plaquemines Parish called Myrtle Grove — a diversion project first proposed before Mid-Barataria was conceived. He presented it as a shovel-ready alternative to Mid-Barataria, which the state could pursue instead and save itself $1 billion in costs, all while freeing up funds to advance other restoration projects throughout the state. But the project is in reality far from shovel-ready, while proponents of the Mid-Barataria plan question the ultimate effectiveness and cost savings of what Dove is proposing. Myrtle Grove would be far smaller than Mid-Barataria. While Mid-Barataria would send 75,000 cubic feet of river water — roughly equivalent to the volume of 30 shipping containers — into the basin every second, Myrtle Grove would divert between 2,500 and 15,000 cubic feet of river water per second, roughly the volume of six shipping containers. Alongside the smaller diversion, Dove advocated for building a 24-mile tract of manmade wetlands extending across the Barataria Basin from Bayou Dosgris to Port Sulphur, which is already part of CPRA’s master plan for restoring parts of the coast. “Congress authorized the design, engineering and construction of Myrtle Grove, with a long-distance pipeline to build land,” Dove said in an interview. “Look, the best alternative is to go back to the Corps and let the Corps go ahead and move forward with it.” Ricky Boyett, a spokesperson for the Corps, noted that the project does not
ä See COASTAL, page 4A
100TH yEAR, NO. 331