PLAYING OFFENSE: BRYANT WILLIAMS READY TO BE SOLUTION AT TACKLE 1C THE
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T h u r s d ay, au g u s T 7, 2025
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Lafayette campaign manager fights back on arrest Eddie Lau wants evidence tossed in election case
BY MEGAN WYATT
Staff writer
COMING INTO FRAME
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
ABOVE: Construction is underway Wednesday on the new Our Lady of Wisdom Church and Catholic Student Center on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus. According to the church, construction is estimated to be completed in February. LEFT: Workers get a lift.
Chun Ping “Eddie” Lau, the Lafayette campaign manager who was arrested in March, is seeking to toss out evidence in the case accusing him of knowingly spreading false political information, with his attorney saying the law used to arrest him is unconstitutional. Attorney Barry Sallinger, who represents Lau, filed a motion in the 15th Judicial District Court last month to quash the search warrant, suppress all evidence obtained from it and return electronics seized from Lau’s home and office. Police arrested Lau on March 13 on one count of spreading knowingly false political information, a felony, after a complaint about him circulating false text messages in a legislative campaign. He was released from the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center the same day on a $2,500 bond. “His reputation is currently mortgaged — severely handicapped — because of the pending charges,” Sallinger said Wednesday. “Unfortunately, and illegally so, in my opinion.” Sallinger argued in court filings that the warrant and police investigation are based on a state law that was ruled unconstitutional more than 37 years ago, and the evidence would be inadmissible in court. A motions hearing set for Wednesday before District Judge Michele Billeaud was rescheduled because the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office was not notified of the court date.
ä See CAMPAIGN, page 3A
Rule to cut cost of prison calls delayed BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN
Judge delays redistricting hearing for La. maps Supreme Court to weigh key question BY MATT BRUCE
Staff writer
A key evidentiary hearing in a federal case that sought to get Louisiana’s legislative maps for state House and Senate seats redrawn was teed up for later this month. But, citing an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling that is poised to answer a key question in Louisiana’s voting laws, state leaders asked that the redistricting efforts be put on hold. During a hearing inside the U.S. Middle District of Louisiana Courthouse on Wednesday, a federal judge wanted to know why. Shelly Dick, the Middle District’s chief judge, agreed to postpone the Aug. 25 hearing and stayed the
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case after listening to arguments from the state agencies’ legal team and voting rights attorneys that have challenged voting precincts for the state’s Legislature. “Judge Dick’s decision preserves judicial resources and saves the taxpayers money,” Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement following the ruling. “It makes no sense to conduct a remedy hearing when the Supreme Court could change the legal landscape.” Plaintiffs in the case alleged district maps drawn up for the state House and Senate seats in February 2022 illegally diluted the strength and power of the Black vote, either by packing high concentrations of African American voters into single districts or splintering them into divided voting districts across the state.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By MAX BECHERER
A new voting map for state House and Senate seats would need to be submitted by Jan. 1, 2027, in order for elections officials to make changes in time for the October 2027 legislative and gubernatorial primaries, a Secretary of State’s ä See MAPS, page 3A Office commissioner said.
Staff writer
Louisiana prisons and the phone companies they contract with have gotten a reprieve from slashing the cost of calls to inmates after the Federal Communications Commission postponed a rule it issued last year to require the price cuts. It’s at least a temporary win for state leaders and law enforcement officials who argued the FCC overstepped its authority and did not base the rule on proper evidence. The lower rates could also create budgetary challenges for the state and sheriffs, as correctional facilities typically receive a commission off the rates prison phone companies charge — earlier this year, the state said the lower rates were expected to leave a $4 million hole in the corrections budget. But the decision to halt the lower rates upset some members of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, who believed the current rates are extortionate. And criminal justice advocates have argued phone calls are key to rehabilitation, as they allow inmates to stay in touch with their communities and loved ones.
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ä See CALLS, page 3A
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