Saints QB competition about much more than highlights 1C
N O L A.C O M
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Popular bartender killed on bike in N.O. hit-and-run 1B
S u n d ay, J u ly 27, 2025
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LONGING FOR JUSTICE
PACs are fighting to swing N.O. elections Bolstered by controversial new rules, committees raise huge sums of cash
BY JAMES FINN | Staff writer Campaign money gathered by political action committees is pouring into New Orleans’ mayoral and other municipal elections this year at a pace and scale rarely seen in the city. The deluge follows steps Louisiana lawmakers took this spring to change rules on the committees, which raise money and make contributions to political campaigns. The changes are the latest in a string of court orders and policy shifts at the state and federal level that have handed wealthy donors more tools to influence politics. Records show five political action committees have raised $418,000 and counting in recent months to benefit candidates in
ä See PACS, page 12A
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Taj Sullen hugs Lurline LaBeaud-Duncan outside Orleans Parish Criminal District Court after separately seeking justice for their sons who were shot and killed in New Orleans. Sullen’s son, Sabastian Henry, was killed in 2022. LaBeaud-Duncan’s son, Gregory Heisser and his fiancée Darnisha DeSilva, were shot to death in 2018.
Long, chronic delays in the N.O. court system inflict years of anguish on families of murder victims BY JILLIAN KRAMER and JEFF ADELSON | Staff writers
Sullen’s anguished wait for justice is not a story of one case Taj Sullen watched them in the courtroom for years, always gone awry. It’s a portrait of a punishing, systemic breakdown in New dressed in orange jumpsuits and bound in chains: the two men Orleans that stalls murder cases longer than almost anywhere charged in her son’s murder. She came for their hearings, only to suffer through post- else in the country. A Times-Picayune analysis of tens of thousands of court ponements. She came for their trial, only to endure its canrecords for 916 murder and manslaughter decellation. Every time, Sullen had only the small comfort fendants over the last decade shows that Orleans ä Graphic: of knowing that, even if not yet convicted, the Parish Criminal District Court takes nearly three Tracking the men were still in jail. years, on average, to close its cases from arrest That changed one morning last year on yet an- progress of to disposition — triple the time that authorities on courts set as the goal to resolve felonies. other futile visit to the court. murder cases, In the last decade, the analysis shows, only 49 Sullen, wearing a shirt with the words “Justice PAGE 11A cases, or about 1 in 13, closed within that one-year 4 Sabastian,” did not see one of the men in the mark. courtroom. Instead, she encountered him in a ä A mother’s Thirty-nine cases idled for more than six years. hallway there — unshackled, free. agonizing wait for The chronic delays have no one cause or culprit. He had posted bail. justice, PAGE 10A The city’s murder cases are often impeded by a Shocked, she fled from the courthouse with ä For more multitude of serious, unchecked issues. clenched fists and hurried down its steps. Staffing shortages. Funding gaps. Neglected On the sidewalk, she began to cry. on this DNA tests. A debilitating backlog at the state’s A woman approached. She wore a shirt with series, go only mental health hospital for criminal defenher own murdered son’s name printed across the front. Another bereaved mother stuck, like Sul- to nola.COM dents. Judges inattentive to the chronic swirl of dysfunction and its cost. len, for years. Similar problems exist in courts across Louisi“Can I give you a hug?” the woman asked. Sullen leaned into her arms. The woman whispered ana, which are among the slowest in the country. But nothree words: where are the consequences more stark than in New Orleans, “Don’t give up.”
ä See JUSTICE, page 8A
WEATHER HIGH 95 LOW 77 PAGE 8B
Landry says LA DOGE can streamline government Led by governor’s ally, initiative stresses business-minded approach BY ALYSE PFEIL |Staff writer Gov. Jeff Landry says Louisiana government has a lot to learn from private business. “We’re trying to turn the aircraft carrier,” he said. “It’s about shifting the culture.” One of his strategies to do that is LA DOGE, an initiative that Landry began a decade ago as attorney general and revived late Landry last year. He rebranded the program to echo President Donald Trump’s effort, originally led by Elon Musk, to slash spending.
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................4B Nation-World................2A Classified ..................... 2F Living............................1D Opinion ........................6B Commentary ................7B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
ä See LA DOGE, page 6A
12TH yEAR, NO. 349