The legal battle between Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and New Orleans city leaders continues amid the investigation into possible wrongdoing ahead of an Orleans Parish grand jury indicting Murrill in July, and that legal battle is spilling into the political arena.
According to one analyst, it's a battle that Murrill and Governor Jeff Landry are likely to win.
"Eventually, the city is going to have to cave," LSU New Orleans political scientist Ed Chervenak said, noting that the relationship between the city and the state is at its worst point in recent history.
Chervenak told WWL's Tommy Tucker that the state has almost complete authority of the city despite the city's home rule charter.
"The state has almost complete authority," Chervenak said. "It can emphasize its power over the city at any time. It can limit the autonomy of the city at any time."
Chervenak believes if Mayor Helena Moreno and other city officials don't bend to the will of Attorney General Murrill and Governor Landry, they will push the legislature to take those and other actions against the New Orleans city government.
"It can basically do what it wants to do to prohibit a particular action by the city," Chervenak said. " It can restrict the city's taxing and spending authority. It could impose mandates on the local government. It could threaten the city with financial penalties for violating any preemption statutes. It could replace local regulatory authority. When it comes to this power relationship between the state and the city, the state has all the power, and it can act punitively if it wants to."
