LSU BASEBALL Tigers top Indiana 14-7 in tournament opener 1C THE
ACADIANA
ADVOCATE
T H E A C A D I A N A A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
S at u r d ay, F e b r u a ry 21, 2026
$2.00X
Supreme Court rejects Trump tariffs
Ruling sparks fierce pushback, vow of new levies BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs on Friday, handing him a stinging loss that sparked a furious attack on the court he helped shape. Trump said he was “absolutely ashamed” of some justices who ruled 6-3 against him, calling them “disloyal to our Constitution” and “lapdogs.” At one point he even
raised the specter of foreign influence without citing any evidence. The decision could have ripple effects on economies around the globe after Trump’s moves to remake post-World War II trading alliances by wielding tariffs as a weapon. But an unbowed Trump pledged to impose a new global 10% tariff under a law that’s restricted to 150 days and has never been used to apply tariffs before. “Their decision is incorrect,”
he said. “But it doesn’t matter because we have very powerful alternatives.” The court’s ruling found tariffs that Trump imposed under an emergency powers law were unconstitutional, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs he levied on nearly every other country. Trump appointed three of the justices on the nation’s highest
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By EVAN VUCCI
President Donald Trump speaks about the Supreme Court ruling on ä See TARIFFS, page 5A tariffs during a news briefing at the White House on Friday.
HIGH BEAMS
St. Martin probe led to Guillory’s indictment Malfeasance charges stem from removal of Vermilion River spoil bank
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR
Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
The steel framework begins to go up Friday on the new Louisiana National Guard Lafayette Readiness Center being built at Heymann Park. The facility is designed to enhance the Guard’s preparedness for emergency response.
The indictment and arrest of former Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory in St. Martin Parish on Thursday began with an investigation ordered by the district attorney for St. Martin Parish. Guillory was indicted Thursday by a St. Martin Parish grand jury on four malfeasance charges related to the 2022 removal of a spoil bank on the Vermilion River in St. Martin Parish without permission from St. Martin Parish or the U.S. Army Guillory Corps of Engineers. Michael Haik III, the district attorney for the 16th Judicial District that includes St. Martin, Iberia and St. Mary parishes, asked the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 14 to investigate the spoil bank removal project, according to a Thursday news release from the Sheriff’s Office. Haik’s request occurred shortly after the release in August of 2025 of findings by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office of an investigation into the Guillory administration’s handling of the spoil bank project. The legislative auditor’s investigation concluded that Lafayette officials likely violated state and federal laws and Lafayette’s home-rule charter. The District Attorney’s Office for the 15th Judicial District, which includes Lafayette, announced on Feb. 9 letter that it would not pursue criminal charges
ä See PROBE, page 5A
Appeals court allows La.’s Ten Commandments law to take effect BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer
Louisiana public schools got the go-ahead to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms after a federal appeals court on Friday lifted an order that had stopped the state from enforcing a law requiring the displays. The majority opinion by the 5th
WEATHER HIGH 79 LOW 70 PAGE 6A
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a preliminary injunction issued by a lower court that had blocked state officials from enforcing the law, which was passed in 2024 by Louisiana’s Republican-controlled Legislature and championed by Gov. Jeff Landry. A U.S. District Court judge and a three-judge panel on the 5th Circuit both previously said the law, which requires
all public K-12 schools and colleges in Louisiana to post the biblical text, is unconstitutional because it violates students’ right to religious freedom. Friday’s ruling by the full 5th Circuit, which is considered the country’s most conservative federal court of appeals, did not weigh in on the constitutionality of the law. Instead, the majority said it is
too soon to block the law on constitutional grounds because there are many “unresolved” questions, such as what the Ten Commandments posters will look like, how prominently they will be displayed and whether teachers will incorporate them into their lessons. The majority added that nothing in the ruling prevents future challenges to the law “once the statute
Business ......................3B Deaths .........................2B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................4A Living............................7C Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .. 9C-11C Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
is implemented and a concrete factual record exists.” Attorney General Liz Murrill, whose office defended the law in court, celebrated the ruling Friday and said it allows Louisiana public schools to immediately start posting displays of the Ten Commandments.
ä See APPEALS, page 5A
101ST yEAR, NO. 236