FOR THE RECORD - ANTIGRAVITY Magazine

By Marisa Clogher May 2026

On April 16, the Louisiana House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved SB 256—a bill that would combine the clerk of criminal court and clerk of civil court offices in New Orleans—after it recently advanced out of the Senate. The bill was put forth by Senator Jay Morris, a Republican representing West Monroe, and comes right before New Orleans’ newly elected clerk of criminal court, Calvin Duncan, would take office on May 4. Duncan, who was wrongfully incarcerated for 28 years and became a jailhouse lawyer in prison to fight for himself and those incarcerated with him, won this seat in a landslide victory on November 15, earning 68% of the vote. Morris, in his testimony, claimed that the bill was about efficiency, but as Nola.com reports, the bill “does not specify how or where in the state budget those savings would materialize.” The bill, which still has no fiscal note, would also send a higher percentage of court fees to the court itself rather than the clerk’s office, which is entirely funded by the city, not the state. Public comment lasted hours, and nobody spoke in favor of the bill. The bill has since passed out of the House of Representatives and is expected to be signed by Governor Jeff Landry (as of press time). The following is a selection of public comments submitted in-person before the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. They have been minimally edited for clarity and length.

Why did I run for this office? While in prison, for a crime I didn’t commit, I used to write the clerk of court in New Orleans to try and find out what my lawyers was doing on my case. The state was seeking the death penalty, and guys was telling me that I was gonna get the death penalty because they too had the death penalty and they was tried by the same judge, same prosecutor, same everything. And they told me that in order to avoid being executed, I had to become a lawyer. I had to learn the law. And I did just that. I studied, I read law, and I tried to help other people. The problem that we was having was that we could not get our records. We could not demonstrate to the courts that we was unlawfully convicted… I understood why I couldn’t get those records, because the people that was running that office did not understand how withholding those records from us was affecting our cases… Back then I vowed that whenever this position became open I was gonna run.¹

This body seeks to override the will of the voters of New Orleans, and in doing so it would empower the same system that allowed for a wrongful conviction and wrongful imprisonment to stay in control, instead of the people of Louisiana.²

For each one of you who relies on donations, just think about the message you’re sending your own donors right now, and the value of their donation: If you can run a successful campaign, win, and then that money went for no purpose at all… When the people of New Orleans elected Calvin as our Criminal District Court Clerk, we elected him because he educated us about the clerk’s job. Nobody had ever done that before. He educated us about why he was qualified to do the work, and so we elected him in a landslide, as you’ve heard, 68 to 32%—widest margin of our entire election cycle. For the first time in living memory, someone defeated an incumbent clerk in Orleans Parish.³

I spent my money on Calvin. I spent my money on his campaign. I spent my time, I spent my efforts, and I feel like it’s being wiped away, and I’m very angry about that. I think the senator from Monroe should mind his own parish. Let us mind Orleans Parish, we know what’s best for our own parish.⁴

I think [this bill is] a stain on this governor and on this Republican-controlled legislature. I’m a Republican. I was elected as a Republican. I’m a member of the Republican State Central Committee… I don’t think Jay Morris is really behind [this bill], I think Jay Morris is doing this because somebody asked him to. I’m ashamed of Jay Morris because he’s my state senator. And I’m opposed to this bill.⁵

[This bill] is, in Morris’ own words, “what the governor wants.” Let’s be clear about what SB 256 seeks to do and what it does not seek to do. It seeks to knowingly impede the court and clerk systems, to delay justice and efficiency to New Orleanians. It seeks to dismantle a system, only to then ask later, why can’t New Orleans just get their act together? But it’s also deeply personal to my friend Calvin, because what it seeks to do is to ensure that a Black man, a formerly incarcerated man, who will do the will of the people, does not come to power.⁶

We often hear in this building that history was bad. Slavery was bad, Jim Crow era was bad, and that it’s over and we’re moving on. This bill is the defibrillator to the heart of Jim Crow. It is the IV bringing us back to a time that you said we have moved on from. And when we think about what we’re talking about here, it was facts and findings and efficiencies that were used to put in a poll tax. It was facts and findings and efficiencies that were used to ensure that Black men couldn’t sit at a counter. And now it’s facts, findings, and efficiencies to ensure a Black man can’t sit at the clerk’s desk.⁷

I think there is a very fair reading right now that in the consolidation of the offices, this bill is in fact silent on who the clerk will be… The law requires an election for any legislatively created position. The consolidated clerk’s office will be a newly created position. There must be an election.⁸

One thing I don’t know that’s been brought up before this committee is what it’s gonna cost. You pass this bill, you will own this office. You will own it, you will have to finance it. You will have to appropriate money to support it… The clerk gets zero from the state. It’s 100% supported by the City of New Orleans.⁹

I’ve been in the audience since this hearing began, and I want to reflect on something that Senator Morris said. He said we’re changing state law through a democratic process by majority wins. But where is the democratic process or the majority in this issue? There were no green cards submitted in support of this bill, and that should speak volumes to everyone here. You’ve heard back-to-back testimony from New Orleans delegates and residents that are actively saying, we weren’t consulted and we don’t want this. And as representatives of the Louisiana people, it’s your job to listen and heed our testimony.¹⁰

I’m Gen Z, I was born in 1997, so you know I’ve learned everything in the state about democracy, about how this is supposed to work, how voting works, and I preach so much to everybody in my generation, to my family about how much voting matters, and y’all are showing us that maybe our votes don’t matter.¹¹

I’ll be 81 this year. I’ve seen this damn movie before. And it ain’t a pretty movie. I remember my grandfather saying the devil will use anyone, and he also used to say there’s more than one way to skin a Negro. And I used to wonder what that meant. So I’m looking at the skinning going on right now, and here we are in 2026.¹²

illustration by Sadie Wiese