UPDATE: Appeals court blocks lower court's stay, allows state to eliminate Orleans criminal clerk's post

Nearly 12 hours after a federal judge in Baton Rouge paused the state law eliminating the Orleans Parish Criminal Clerk of Court's Office, an appeals court has stayed that ruling, putting the future of the office and its newly-elected clerk, Calvin Duncan, in limbo.

NOLA.com reports that the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling Monday morning, pausing Middle District of Louisiana Judge John deGravelles's order putting Act 15 on hold pending further legal wrangling. That two-sentence order also allows the state to enforce that law, removing Duncan from office on the morning he was set to begin work and eliminating the office that not only handles the records for Orleans Parish Criminal Court but also oversees elections in the parish.

In a ruling issued Sunday night, deGravelles ruled that the law violates the United States Constitution by denying Duncan his rights to due process and to the vote. He also ruled the the law runs counter to the Louisiana Constitution, which requires the criminal clerk to be elected and not appointed to serve as a subordinate to the civil clerk, which Act 15 requires.

Act 15 makes the civil court clerk, Chelsey Richard Napoleon, the sole clerk of court for Orleans Parish. Napoleon has publicly opposed the law.

Duncan arrived at the Orleans Parish Criminal Courthouse just before 8 a.m. Monday to begin his work as criminal court clerk. A crowd of supporters greeted him, protesting the new law at the same time.

Governor Jeff Landry and the bill's legislative sponsor, Sen. Jay Morris (R-West Monroe) claim the law is designed to streamline the Orleans Parish court system and bring it in line with how the rest of the state's district courts operate.

Duncan was wrongfully imprisoned for three decades for a murder—a charge that a judge later dismissed. In his lawsuit, Duncan claimed Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill were targeting him because of his outspokenness regarding what he calls an unjust criminal justice system in the state.

During the runup to the October 2025 election in which Duncan was voted into office with 68 percent of the vote, Murrill threatened Duncan with “further action from (her) office” if Duncan continued to describe himself as “exonerated.” Murrill claimed Duncan never proved his innocence.