Louisiana attorney general takes on New Orleans ‘sanctuary city’ policy, murder sentences

Attorney General Liz Murrill has gone to federal court to end what she and other Republican state leaders consider “sanctuary city” policies in New Orleans. She is also lobbing criticism for what she considers are reduced criminal sentences in murder cases.

Murrill filed a motion Thursday with the U.S. District Court in New Orleans that would force the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office to abandon policy that limits the law enforcement agency from carrying out warrants for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) only when suspects are accused of violent crime. Deputies also cannot ask detainees about their immigration status and share that information with federal authorities. 

In a social media post, the attorney general framed her legal action as aligned with President Donald Trump’s immigration policy “to end the wave of violent crime and drugs that has swept across this nation from the southern border for the last eight years.”  

“The people of Louisiana, through their representatives in the Legislature, have adamantly rejected ‘sanctuary’ policies that shield those who have broken our laws and endanger the men, women, and children of this State,” Murrill wrote.

Through her spokeswoman, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said she had not seen the attorney general’s court filing as of late Thursday. The OPSO has complied with state law and a federal court consent decree that set parameters for interactions between the sheriff’s office and ICE. 

“We enforce ICE detainers when doing so aligns with our legal obligations,” Hutson said in a statement.

The consent decree was issued under Hutson’s predecessor, Marlin Gusman, in 2013, following a federal lawsuit that triggered an investigation into poor conditions and maltreatment of incarcerated people at Orleans Parish Prison.

The consent decree policy conflicts with a law the Louisiana Legislature approved last year that forbids state agencies and local governments from putting any “sanctuary city” policies in place that shield immigrants from law enforcement. If a city or parish doesn’t obey the law, the attorney general can sue in 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge to compel their compliance. The state could also withhold money from a city or parish as punishment under the measure Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, sponsored.

Murrill filed her motion to intervene in federal court because it has oversight of the OPSO consent decree.

Reduced murder sentences

Murrill announced Friday on social media that she intends to review certain murder cases in New Orleans to determine whether sentences were improperly reduced. Her statement was in response to an investigative report from WDSU-TV into convicted murderers whose sentences were reduced at the request of the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office.  

“I’m continuing to conduct a very in-depth review of a large body of cases,” Murrill wrote. “There are at least 35 cases that involve first-degree or second-degree murder, where I believe that relief was improperly granted. I’m looking at mechanisms to have the convictions reinstated.”

Reached via text message, District Attorney Jason Williams said his office has been transparent about its work with the attorney general, and his staff plans to meet with Murrill once her review is complete. 

“My jurisdiction has been an outlier in past defective convictions – and that has sunk public trust in our system which has made it harder to prosecute violent crime and historically has made us less safe,” Williams wrote. “We can only have public safety in New Orleans when people believe the justice system works equally and fairly for everyone, not just the well-heeled and or connected.”

Soon after she took office in January 2024, Murrill and Williams, a Democrat, forged an agreement that allows the attorney general to prosecute criminal cases stemming from arrests by the newly established Louisiana State Police troop in New Orleans.

“I did not let party affiliations of national politics get in the way of public safety locally, and I welcome our discourse on the cases she is reviewing. We both have the same mission, making our home a safer space than we found it,” Williams wrote. 

Gov. Jeff Landry has credited state police Troop NOLA for a dramatic reduction in crime in New Orleans. So far in 2025, there has been a 38% decrease in crime based on data provided to city council members. That includes 20 murders this year, including the 14 people killed in the New Year’s Day terrorist attack. Excluding those deaths, the city is well below the murder counts reported for the same period in the previous three years.