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Louisiana public schools got the go-ahead to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms after a federal appeals court on Friday lifted an order that had stopped the state from enforcing a law requiring the displays. The majority opinion by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a preliminary injunction issued by a lower court that had blocked state officials from enforcing the law, which was passed in 2024 by Louisiana’s Republican-controlled Legislature and championed by Gov. Jeff Landry. A U.S. District Court judge and a three-judge panel on the 5th Circuit both previously said the law, which requires all...

A U.S. appeals court has cleared the way for a Louisiana law requiring poster-sized displays of the Ten Commandments in public classrooms to take effect. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 12-6 to lift a block that a lower court first placed on the law in 2024. In the opinion released Friday, the court said it was too early to make a judgment call on the constitutionality of the law. That’s partly because it’s not yet clear how prominently schools may display the religious text, if teachers will refer to the Ten Commandments during classes, or if other things...

In a stretch of Louisiana with about 170 fossil fuel and petrochemical plants, premature death is a fact of life for people living nearby. The air is so polluted and the cancer rates so high it is known as Cancer Alley. “Most adults in the area are attending two to three funerals per month,” said Gary C. Watson Jr., who was born and raised in St. John the Baptist Parish, a majority Black community in Cancer Alley about 30 miles outside of New Orleans. His father survived cancer, but in recent years, at least five relatives have died from it....

A manhunt has been launched after eight inmates — three of whom are facing murder charges — escaped Friday morning from a northeast Louisiana jail. Louisiana State Police confirmed the men, all considered “violent offenders,” were reported missing from the Riverbend Detention Center at 1:20 a.m. (Snip) The three inmates who were captured after the escape were identified as Hugo Molino, 27; Trenton Taplin, 29; and Savon Wheeler, 31. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said she has been in contact with East Carroll Parish Sheriff Wydette Williams and Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association President Kevin Cobb. “[I] have offered the full assistance...

Most in the GOP are silent or backing the Trump administration, but a conspicuous few are speaking out. A small but growing number of Republicans are raising public concerns about the killing Saturday of a 37-year-old Minnesota man by federal agents.Hours after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street, one House GOP chair called for the top ICE leader and other Trump administration officials to publicly answer lawmakers’ questions. GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina called for independent probes into the shooting, with Cassidy arguing the integrity...

President Donald Trump has endorsed a Republican representative in Louisiana to challenge GOP Senator Bill Cassidy, who has vowed to fight for his place in the Senate. Writing on Truth Social, the president threw his weight behind Julia Letlow, who currently represents Louisiana's 5th congressional district. "I know Julia well, have seen her tested at the highest and most difficult levels, and she is a TOTAL WINNER!" Trump posted on Saturday. "Should she decide to enter this Race, Julia Letlow has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!"

CLINTON — An East Feliciana judge denied an early release for a man who killed seven people in a 2012 drunk driving crash. Brett Gerald pleaded guilty to seven counts of vehicular homicide after he drunkenly drove on La. 67 in Slaughter, causing a head-on collision that killed a family of six and their friend. His blood-alcohol concentration at the time was nearly twice the legal limit, and he has a history of DUI arrests. Gerald was originally sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for each count, a total of 70 years. However, his sentence was cut in half...

Energy Louisiana Trial Lawyers Steered Thousands to Judge Overseeing Their Case Against Oil Companies—Then Won a $744 Million Judgment 'The whole thing is set up as a kangaroo court,' former AG Bill Barr tells Free Beacon L: Offshore oil and gas platform (Mario Tama/Getty Images) R: Chevron logo Thomas Catenacci January 12, 2026 The Louisiana attorneys who helped secure a landmark verdict requiring U.S. oil company Chevron to pay $744 million in environmental damages gave nearly $15,000 to the state judge who presided over the case, ethics filings reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show. The Baton Rouge-based law firm...

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed extradition paperwork Tuesday to seek the prosecution of a California abortionist accused of illegally shipping abortion pills into the state. Landry is vowing to hold accountable those who undermine Louisiana’s pro-life laws and endanger women and unborn children. “I am signing the extradition paperwork to bring this California doctor to justice,” Landry posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Louisiana has a zero tolerance policy for those who subvert our laws, seek to hurt women, and promote abortion.” The Republican governor added: “I know Gavin Newsom supports abortion in all its forms, but that doesn’t...

Some of the Democrats who have been spiking the ball in the end zone after the passage of the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” probably didn’t read all of the finer details in the bill. They’ve been celebrating its passage along with Joe Biden as the “biggest climate legislation” to ever be passed. They have also been grudgingly thanking West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin for getting the bill over the finish line. But it turns out that Manchin snuck in a few items that haven’t drawn many headlines yet and the climate warriors aren’t going to be very happy about them....

An illegal migrant has been nabbed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Louisiana after she ran a red light and crashed her car into one of the agency's vehicles, officers said. The Honduran national accidentally plowed her car being into one being used by ICE during the Operation Catahoula Crunch raid in Slidell, according to US Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino. 'Apparently she never learned the lesson that red means stop, not 'accelerate and collide with a government vehicle actively enforcing federal law'.' Bovino, the Commander of Operation At Large in California, said in a Facebook post. No injuries...

Yesterday, the Secretary of War authorized the activation of up to 350 Louisiana National Guard members on Title 32 status through February 28, 2026. These National Guard troops will support federal law enforcement partners, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, as they enforce federal law and counter high rates of violent crime in New Orleans and other metropolitan areas in Louisiana. Operating under Governor Landry's command and control, this mission will directly enhance the safety of Louisiana's residents and the enforcement of federal laws – reaffirming the Department of War's commitment to supporting our interagency...

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB/Gray News) - Authorities in Louisiana are investigating a crash involving a semitruck that collided with an interstate bridge. According to the Louisiana State Police, the crash was reported on Friday morning on Interstate 49 near exit 61. State police said fatigue seemed to be a factor in the crash, as the driver fell asleep. There were no injuries in the crash, but the bridge’s structure will have to be evaluated for safety due to damage from the collision, authorities noted. Trucks with oversized loads traveling north on I-49 have been instructed to take a detour on U.S....

More than three dozen missing children were rescued from sex traffickers in North Florida after a massive sting. The rescue effort, named Operation Northern Lights, found 43 missing children across 14 counties with more children found in other states, the US Marshals Service announced Thursday. Federal authorities said the youngest victims were one-year-olds and that one of the young victims had been abducted from Florida and located in Louisiana. Nine people were arrested after the staggering operation, which law enforcement said took two weeks to conduct. Additional charges could include human trafficking, child endangerment and custodial interference. The sting turned...

Federal authorities say they disrupted a credible terrorist threat over the weekend, arresting four alleged members of a radical pro-Palestinian extremist group accused of planning coordinated New Year’s Eve bombings in Los Angeles. The FBI told Fox News Digital that the members self-identified as part of a radical offshoot of the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), an extremist group motivated by pro-Palestinian, anti-law-enforcement, and anti-government ideology. According to the FBI, they were allegedly planning coordinated bombing attacks on New Year’s Eve using improvised explosive devices (IEDs), targeting five separate locations across Los Angeles. The agency said the four were arrested...

The FBI claims to have thwarted a terrorist plot to carry out coordinated bombings in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve, arresting five members of a pro-Palestinian extremist group accused of planning attacks in the City of Angels, The Post has learned. The “credible” threat came from radical members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), according to a law enforcement source. Four were collared in Lucerne Valley in the Mojave Desert, where the extremists allegedly were testing improvised explosives, while a fifth was apprehended in New Orleans. “After an intense investigation, the Department of Justice, working with our FBI,...

Donald Trump is backing a GOP proposal depositing $1,500 checks into the health care accounts of millions of Americans. The legislation, which is being led by Republican Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy and Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, gives qualifying Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollees a $1,000 deposit for those aged 18 to 49, as well as recipients aged 50 to 64 for $1,500. While speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Tuesday, the president

During a meeting in Washington between Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a first-of-its-kind global parliamentary initiative was launched: an international effort to recommend former and current U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise also participated in the meeting. At its conclusion, Ohana and Johnson signed an official letter to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee calling for Trump to be selected as the 2026 laureate. The initiative follows a plan announced by Ohana during Trump’s recent visit to Israel and a speech Johnson delivered in Congress the...

After successfully holding strong in the face of a Democrat-led government shutdown over Obamacare, a cabal of House Republicans is now waiving the white flag on the issue.On Thursday, nearly three dozen Democrats and Republicans introduced a proposal to extend taxpayer-funded Obamacare subsidies. As Federalist Senior Contributor Christopher Jacobs has regularly reported in these pages, these Biden-era subsidies — which are set to expire at the end of this year — have been a complete and total disaster. Spearheaded by Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Jen Kiggins, R-Va., the measure “would extend and reduce the tax credits in a two-step...

he Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency outsourced its "censorship operation" to a nonprofit it funded following a First Amendment lawsuit by Louisiana and Missouri attorneys general, "implicitly admitting that its censorship activities are unconstitutional," according to an interim staff report by House Judiciary Committee Republicans shared with Just the News. CISA also wanted to use the Center for Internet Security, which operates the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) and Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), as its "mouthpiece" to obfuscate its own role in censorship, the report says. It cites spring 2022...