Former jailhouse lawyer turned ‘real lawyer’ blocked from serving elected position
Calvin Duncan, who was elected to serve as the Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court, will not get to serve after the position was eliminated. (Photo by Jack Smith)
Calvin Duncan’s journey from being wrongfully convicted of murder to getting elected to serve as a criminal court clerk in Louisiana has been abruptly halted.
Louisiana Republicans eliminated his elected position days before Duncan, who overwhelmingly won the New Orleans-based clerk seat, was set to take office, the Associated Press reports.
Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation Thursday abolishing the long-standing Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court position. Republicans said eliminating the office was meant to make the local judicial system more efficient and cut costs.
Democrats, however, describe the change as government overreach and contend that it infringes on a predominately Black parish’s decision at the polls.
Duncan, who spent nearly 30 years behind bars, was featured in an ABA Journal story in December about his extraordinary journey from being wrongfully convicted, exonerated and graduating law school.
During his pretrial detention, Duncan was provided advice by a prison elder statesman: “You wanna help yourself? You better get a real lawyer. And if you can’t pay for one, then you become one.”
He won election to the criminal court clerk position in November and had been set to take office May 4.
“It’s a sad thing to see the state government repeating what happened to Black public officials during Reconstruction,” Duncan, a Democrat, told the AP. “They will do what they do, and I will do whatever I have to do to vindicate the voters of New Orleans and make sure that what happened to me never happens to anybody else.”
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