Embattled New Orleans DA Resigns
Embattled Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan has resigned after facing years of criticism for not aggressively pursuing violent criminals, persistent staff turnover and most recently a ruling that plaintiffs could seize assets to collect a $3.7 million civil rights verdict against him.
Jordan will be replaced by First Assistant District Attorney Keva Landrum-Johnson, the first woman to hold the job, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
The paper reports on its blog that Jordan’s resignation is tied to deals city leaders are trying to reach to pay off the 2005 civil judgment, in a case in which former employees claimed they were fired because they are white. Of the 56 people Jordan dismissed, 53 were white, the blog reports. Jordan hired 68 people, and 92 percent of them black.
The blog notes that Jordan will take a job in the private sector.
A time line of Jordan’s career, beginning with his 1994 appointment by Bill Clinton to be U.S. attorney, is posted on the WDSU New Orleans Web site.
