GERIATRIC LIFERS: Louisiana has made some reforms designed to lowering its sky-high incarceration rate by reducing penalties for drug and other nonviolent crimes, but it left stiff sentences for violent crimes in place. And it's those sentences that are the source of the state's large population of prisoners growing old and dying in prison. John Simerman has a look at how we got here, and what it means.
AND THE WINNER IS: The recent elections for city council resulted in four new district council members, two who of whom ousted incumbents. But Ben Myers writes that the biggest winner may have been a council member who wasn't even on the ballot.
NO DOUBLE JEOPARDY: An appeals court has upheld a state judge's ruling that the man convicted of killing former NFL player and local football star Joe McKnight can't be tried again for murder. Ronald Gasser was convicted in 2018 of the lesser charge of manslaughter, though that verdict was thrown out along with other 10-2 jury verdicts. Now an appellate panel has agreed that even though the conviction was vacated, the jury's decision that Gasser didn't commit murder counts against efforts to charge him again.
And hey, how 'bout them Saints? Thanks for joining us this morning. Keep up with the news all day on NOLA.com.
The final vote tally in the New Orleans City Council runoff elections on Dec. 11 resulted in four new district council members, including two who knocked out incumbents. But the politician who scored perhaps the biggest win wasn’t on the ballot: Councilmember-at-Large Helena Moreno. Read more
