‘WE NEED Y’ALL’ LSU seeks elite post play in NCAA Tournament 1C
ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
|
T h u r s d ay, M a r c h 26, 2026
$2.00X
EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH METRO COUNCIL
2026 LEGISLATURE
Police raises advance despite opposition
‘We want the truth’
Lawmakers push bill to force disclosure of drug costs BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
ing a plan to boost sworn officer salaries by at least 15%. Shortly after, Constable Terrica Williams took issue, not with police receiving raises but rather with her office not being included. Williams attended the Wednesday meeting with her deputies and said she doesn’t expect her deputies to make the same amount as police, but still thinks they should get a pay bump too. “Constables are law enforcement,
Some Louisiana lawmakers think prescription drugs cost too much, and they want to create a new Prescription Drug Affordability Board to investigate why — and force pharmaceutical companies to disclose pricing information. “We want the truth,” state Sen. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge, said Wednesday while presenting a proposal that would require drug companies to reveal to the board how much it costs them to make certain prescription drugs and the prices they charge. Under Talbot’s legislation, Senate Bill 401, it would be illegal for pharmaceutical companies not to report the price information to the board. “Costs of prescription drugs have been increasing dramatically without any attributed reason,” the legislation says. “Transparency is typically the first step toward cost containment.” Drug manufacturers are expected to push back strongly against the bill, however. Talbot introduced the measure at a public hearing Wednesday, but he temporarily set it aside to give interest groups more time to travel to Baton Rouge and provide
ä See RAISES, page 8A
ä See TRUTH, page 7A
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Constable Terrica Williams, center, speaks with Baton Rouge police officers about the lack of raises for her office as other members of the Constable’s Office gather outside of the Metro Council meeting room on Wednesday.
Constable questions why her office isn’t included
formal step Wednesday — despite requests from the Constable’s Office to be included. With about two dozen constable deputies in attendance, the Metro Council voted to introduce the proposal, which would mark the largest pay increase in department history if approved next month. However, the council decided to hold BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER the vote and public hearing in four weeks, Staff writer rather than the usual two weeks following Announced last week, the mayor’s push an introduction. Wednesday’s move follows Baton Rouge to deliver major raises for the Baton Rouge Police Department took its first Mayor-President Sid Edwards announc-
Appeals court rules BR protest organizer can be sued
U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion. “It is time for Officer Ford the face with a rock. at protests. Injured police officer taken McKesson was arrested the day Baton Rouge Police Officer John before, with judges finding that to have a jury assess his claim that was struck by a rock or chunk DeRay McKesson could be sued DeRay McKesson’s negligence in of the protest, and later joined a says leader should be Ford of concrete during a 2016 protest for negligence without it violating leading a violent protest caused class-action lawsuit against BRPD held liable after the killing of Alton Sterling. his First Amendment rights to or- him to suffer injuries at the hands and the city-parish over “unlawful
BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer
A lawsuit by a former Baton Rouge police officer against a Black Lives Matter leader can go to trial after an appeals court ruling that could affect whether organizers are held liable for actions
WEATHER HIGH 85 LOW 62 PAGE 8B
He lost multiple teeth, needed corrective surgery and ultimately left law enforcement. Elements of the nearly decadeold case have been heard as high up as the U.S. Supreme Court, but Ford’s claim that the protest organizer’s negligence led to his injury has not been before a jury yet. The case has come before the
ganize a protest. That ruling, reaffirmed by the same court on March 19 after more legal wrangling, addressed whether a protest organizer can be found liable for the actions of demonstrators under Louisiana law. “Eight years of pretrial litigation are enough,” said U.S. 5th Circuit Judge Edith Jones, in her majority
of rioters.” McKesson is a Black Lives Matter organizer who traveled to Baton Rouge in the wake of Sterling’s killing and promoted a protest on July 9, 2016, in which crowds attempted to march onto Interstate 12. During the protest, while trying to make an arrest, Ford was hit in
mass arrests” and a militarized “excessive” use of force. The 5th Circuit’s three-judge panel reaffirmed on March 19 that there are grounds for Ford to sue McKesson over potential negligence in organizing the protest that led to his injury.
Business ......................3B Commentary ................7B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................6D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-5D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
ä See SUED, page 8A
101ST yEAR, NO. 269
UNCAGED: BUILDING BEYOND THE BLUFF Dawn Barnes: Head Coach Women’s Volleyball
JAG-A-THON
MARCH 27, 2026 | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM LEON R. TARVER II CULTURAL & HERITAGE CENTER
JAGUARS STAND UNITED
Jeremy Fontenot: Head Coach Women’s Soccer
SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT Gojagsports.com
SCAN TO DONATE