Outlets report Louisiana grand jury indicted Attorney General Liz Murrill over alleged intimidation tied to New Orleans court overhaul

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill was the subject of a reported criminal indictment from a New Orleans grand jury on Thursday, according to The Guardian and other news outlets, in a case tied to a Republican-backed effort to overhaul parts of the local court system. The reporting said the charges stem from communications Murrill allegedly made to local officials who opposed a law enacted by Republicans to change court-related roles and procedures in Orleans Parish.

According to The Guardian, Murrill told eight New Orleans officials, including Mayor Helena Moreno and District Attorney Jason Williams, that they could face removal from their jobs because of their opposition to the court overhaul law. The reporting described the case as focusing on alleged intimidation tied to opposition to the state legislation.

The dispute centers on a set of Republican-backed changes to Louisiana’s local criminal justice structure in New Orleans. The reporting said the law eliminated the position of Orleans Parish criminal court clerk after Calvin Duncan, a man who spent decades in prison for a wrongful conviction, was elected to the post with 68% of the vote. Supporters of the changes argued the overhaul was part of restructuring; opponents said it was designed to override voters in a majority-Black, Democratic-leaning city in a red state.

The Guardian reported that the legislation was approved by GOP legislators at the urging of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry just days before Duncan was to take office in May. It also reported that Landry called the New Orleans criminal justice system “a circus at its finest” and said he would pardon Murrill on 16 charges if possible “as fast as the law allows.”

In response to the reporting, the Republican Attorneys General Association called the indictment “as outrageous as it is dangerous,” according to The Guardian. A separate GOP group, the outlet reported, said Murrill was offering “a legal opinion and warning public officials about the law” as part of her official duties, while critics characterized the statements as an attempt to pressure local officials into accepting the changes.

The state and court process remains uncertain because an official Department of Justice charging document or prosecutorial announcement was not identified in the provided research. If the indictment is confirmed in court records, Murrill would be expected to enter a plea and the case would proceed through pretrial motions, setting up legal disputes over the scope of the attorney general’s authority, due process protections, and the boundaries between legal warnings and coercive conduct.