Louisiana
Entries where the acting authority was Louisiana (LA), whatever state or country the events took place in.
Jurisdiction is who acted, not where it happened. Federal conduct inside Louisiana is filed under Federal, not here.
Institutions seated here (1)
Bodies whose own seat of authority is Louisiana. They appear in entries under other jurisdictions too — an institution acts outside its own seat constantly — so this is not the same set as the entries below.
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Louisiana State Legislature 7 entries
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state's bicameral legislature, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
2026 Events (8)
Jefferson Parish, La. deputy fired after admitting 3,200+ unauthorized Flock searches on ex-fiancee
Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office deputy Nathan Rome was fired Aug. 18, 2026 after admitting, following a reporter inquiry and after waiving his rights to investigators, that he had used the agency's Flock license-plate-reader system to search his former fiancee's vehicle more than 3,200 times over several years for reasons unrelated to any official duty. Sheriff Joseph Lopinto confirmed the admission and the firing on the record.
Verite News and Type Investigations revealed Louisiana Gov. Landry required 100+ state employees to sign NDAs blocking disclosures
On July 24, 2026, Verite News and Type Investigations published an investigation revealing that Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry required more than 100 state employees to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) prohibiting them from publicly disclosing information about their government work. The agreements, characterized by reporters as a "gag order," preemptively bar state employees from speaking publicly about their official duties, suppressing potential whistleblowing and public accountability. At least 100 Louisiana state employees had signed the agreements as of the investigation's publication.
Louisiana judge closed courtroom for AG Murrill's grand jury indictment; deputies handcuffed objecting reporter and attorney
On July 2, 2026, Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Leon Roche closed his courtroom to press and public for the grand jury's return of an indictment against Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, without stating a reason. When WWL-TV reporter Danny Monteverde and First Amendment attorney Elana Beiser objected to the closure, Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office deputies handcuffed both of them for roughly 20 minutes.
Louisiana Gov. Landry signed Act 814 replacing 'gender' with 'sex' throughout state law and defining sex as binary and biological
On June 8, 2026, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed HB578, the "Restoring Biological Truth Act," into law as Act No. 814, replacing references to "gender" with "sex" throughout Louisiana statute and defining sex as a binary, immutable biological characteristic. The law, authored by Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Pineville) and modeled on President Trump's federal executive order of the same name, provides that "gender identity and other subjective terms shall not be used as synonyms or substitutes for sex." Critics said the measure erases transgender and nonbinary people from state law and strips their legal recognition; the act takes effect August 1, 2026.
Louisiana Gov. Landry signed Act 579 barring employers from requiring use of pronouns inconsistent with a person's sex
On May 29, 2026, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed HB1137 into law as Act 579, barring employers from requiring an employee, as a condition of employment, to address another person by a name other than their legal name or to use pronouns, salutations, titles, or honorifics inconsistent with that person's sex. Authored by Representative Raymond Crews with language developed with the conservative Liberty Counsel, the act shields workplace refusal to use transgender and nonbinary people's names and pronouns from being treated as discrimination. It takes effect August 1, 2026.
Louisiana House committee advances congressional map eliminating a majority-Black district
On May 21, 2026, the Louisiana House and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 10-7 along party lines to advance Senate Bill 121, a mid-decade congressional redistricting plan, to the full House, adopting an amendment by Rep. Dixon McMakin. The map dismantles the majority-Black 6th District held by Rep. Cleo Fields, reducing Louisiana's majority-Black congressional districts from two to one, and is projected to give Republicans a 5-1 advantage in the state's six-seat U.S. House delegation. The redraw follows the U.S. Supreme Court's April 29, 2026 decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down the state's two-majority-Black-district map and weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
Louisiana AG Murrill threatened to remove New Orleans mayor, DA, and 5 council members over court clerk fight
On May 13, 2026, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill sent letters to New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, District Attorney Jason Williams, and five of the seven city council members warning they could be removed from office after the council voted to install an interim criminal court clerk and trigger a special election. Murrill argued the officials had "usurped" the authority of the clerk designated under a new state law consolidating the city's two clerk offices, and indicated the interim clerk could be jailed if he assumed the post.
Louisiana governor suspends U.S. House primaries by executive order, voiding ~42,000 cast ballots
On April 30, 2026, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry issued Executive Order 26-038 suspending only the state's U.S. House primary elections in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's April 29 decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down the state's congressional map. The Secretary of State certified the order; the U.S. House races remained printed on the May 16 primary ballot, but votes cast in those races were not counted, after roughly 42,000 absentee ballots had already been returned by early May. Other contests on the May 16 ballot, including the U.S. Senate primary, proceeded as scheduled.
2025 Events (1)
Federal grand jury indicted New Orleans Mayor Cantrell for using city bodyguard on taxpayer-funded personal trips
On August 15, 2025, a federal grand jury indicted New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell on 18 counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, and obstruction of justice, alleging a years-long scheme in which she used her city-assigned bodyguard, former NOPD officer Jeffrey Vappie, for personal purposes while he was paid on the clock — including more than $70,000 in taxpayer-funded travel to Scotland, Martha's Vineyard, and Napa Valley — and then conspired to delete evidence and lie to federal investigators and the grand jury to conceal the relationship. Cantrell and Vappie both pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on September 10, 2025. As of this writing, trial is scheduled for March 15, 2027.
2024 Events (3)
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed the 'Given Name Act' restricting school use of students' chosen names and pronouns
On June 19, 2024, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed House Bill 121, the "Given Name Act" (Act 680), into law, barring public school governing authorities from adopting policies that require staff or students to use a name or pronoun for a student that is inconsistent with the student's legal name or biological sex -- a standard that, as applied, bars staff from using a transgender student's chosen name or pronouns. The law, sponsored by Rep. Raymond Crews, bars discipline of any employee or student who declines to use a chosen name or pronoun and creates a private civil cause of action for violations. It took effect August 1, 2024.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed HB122, barring K-12 teachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with students
On June 19, 2024, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed HB122, by Rep. Dodie Horton, into law as Act 681, prohibiting public K-12 teachers, employees, and other presenters from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with students in any classroom instruction or extracurricular activity that deviates from state-approved content standards, and from discussing their own sexual orientation or gender identity with students at all. The bill passed the House 69-28 and the Senate 28-7 and took effect August 1, 2024. An identical measure had been vetoed by then-Gov. John Bel Edwards in 2023.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed the Women's Safety and Protection Act, mandating birth-sex facility designation in schools, prisons, and shelters
On June 3, 2024, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed HB608, the "Women's Safety and Protection Act," into law as Act 436, defining "sex" in state law strictly as biological sex "as observed or clinically verified at birth" and specifying that gender identity does not apply across all state law and agency rules. The act requires public schools, correctional and juvenile-detention facilities, and domestic-violence shelters to designate multi-occupancy restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters by biological sex, and creates a private cause of action against non-complying facilities. It passed the House 80-17 and the Senate 29-10 and took effect August 1, 2024.
2023 Events (1)
Louisiana Legislature overrode Gov. Edwards' veto to enact HB648, banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors
On July 18, 2023, the Louisiana Legislature overrode Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards's veto of HB648, enacting Act 466, a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The House voted 76-23 and the Senate 28-11 to override, both exceeding the two-thirds threshold. The law bars anyone under 18 from receiving gender-affirming surgery, puberty-blocking medication, or hormone treatment and revokes for at least two years the license of any health professional who provides such care, effective January 1, 2024.
2022 Events (1)
Louisiana Legislature enacted SB 44, banning transgender girls from school sports, without governor's signature
Louisiana's Senate Bill 44, the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," became Act No. 283 on June 6, 2022, after Gov. John Bel Edwards declined to sign or veto it within the constitutional window. The law requires schools receiving state funding to designate athletic teams by biological sex and bars transgender girls and women from competing on female-designated K-12 and college teams, effective August 1, 2022.
2019 Events (1)
Orleans Parish DA extracted 2019 guilty plea from Elvis Brooks despite knowing it had withheld exculpatory fingerprint evidence
On October 15, 2019, the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office, then led by Leon Cannizzaro, secured a guilty plea from Elvis Brooks to a reduced manslaughter charge -- roughly two weeks after an internal meeting in which a prosecutor from Brooks's original 1977 trial admitted, per a memo Brooks's legal team later found, that fingerprint evidence excluding Brooks had never been turned over to the defense. A court vacated the plea and the underlying 1977 conviction in 2022 after finding the withholding, but the Louisiana Attorney General has since fought to reinstate the case and block Brooks's compensation claim.
2004 Events (1)
Louisiana voters ratified HB61/Act 926, adding a same-sex marriage and civil union ban to the state constitution
On September 18, 2004, Louisiana voters approved Constitutional Amendment 1, originating as HB61 (Act No. 926), adding Article XII, Section 15 to the Louisiana Constitution. The amendment defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman and barred state and local recognition of any legal status substantially equivalent to marriage for same-sex couples, including civil unions.