Acting Locally
Why it’s important to vote for Calvin Duncan
I don’t usually write such explicitly political posts but this year’s New Orleans election offers a unique opportunity for change at the local level and it is too important to ignore. Sometimes called “down-ballot” voting, these races are relatively low-profile, but can have a profound impact on people’s lives in between the major election cycles. And they happen in every city.
If you’re like me you wake up most mornings wondering what horrible thing happened overnight. I turn on the news (yes, in actual real time, the Today Show, which has visuals and clear reporting on the headlines), in addition to checking my regular online sources. Then I try to focus on the few things on which I can have an impact.
If you are registered to vote in Orleans Parish, one action we can take is to vote for local candidates who will look out for those who are most vulnerable and often powerless.
On November 15th there will be a runoff in the election for Orleans Parish Clerk of Criminal Court, an office that I personally never thought about until recently. The Clerk of Criminal Court manages court records and ensures fair elections for Orleans Parish. Currently the office is occupied by Darren Lombard, who has badly mismanaged it.
He also lied about his challenger, Calvin Duncan.
Calvin Duncan spent 28 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, in part because he was denied access to the records he needed to prove his innocence by the Clerk of Criminal Court at the time. While imprisoned Calvin studied law and became a legal advocate for the incarcerated, working on thousands of cases for people who could not afford attorneys or who were barred from appealing due to the Louisiana legislature’s Article 930.8. After more than 20 petitions, and much legal wrangling by public interest lawyers, Calvin’s own conviction was finally vacated, he was released from jail, and eventually exonerated. Then he became a lawyer and dedicated his life to helping people achieve justice through the law.
Calvin’s bestselling memoir, The Jailhouse Lawyer, co-authored with his friend and fellow justice advocate, Sophie Cull, is a compelling read. In it Calvin describes his many thwarted attempts to gain access to reports on the investigation (or lack thereof) of the crime for which he was convicted at the age of 19, and the insurmountable obstacles to justice that he faced along the way.
You can also learn about his story by listening to Terry Gross’s interview with Calvin on NPR .
Calvin Duncan is seeking your vote for the Clerk’s job, promising three things: 1) to preserve records and physical evidence, making sure it is properly stored and digitized, 2) to make the court more efficient and accessible by making public records available online, benefitting all parties–prosecutors, defendants, and the public, and 3) to ensure fair and transparent elections– securing voting machines and thwarting attempts at election interference at a time when election integrity is in jeopardy nationally.
In contrast, the incumbent, Darren Lombard, failed to safeguard court records, losing track of records from rape and murder cases that got thrown into a landfill last August. As Calvin Duncan’s experience demonstrates, Lombard’s negligent performance routinely denied defendants their due process. But to make matters worse, according to Jason Williams, our District Attorney, Lombard has also put prosecutions and convictions at risk by failing to maintain complete trial records for the appellate court, according to recently obtained public records.
And on top of all this, Lombard lied about Calvin Duncan’s record, insisting along with our state’s Attorney General, Liz Murrell, that he had not been exonerated even though his innocence and exoneration are documented and widely accepted, as indicated in this letter signed by more than 160 legal professionals.
Lombard also broke the law by having election workers staffing polling places wear lanyards that featured his own name while working the polls in the October 11th primary election. The Secretary of State ordered Lombard to have the poll workers remove the lanyards and some badges with Lombard’s name and image on them, while voting was happening, but some were still wearing them at 2 p.m.
This is not who we want safeguarding our court records or our elections.
Some may wonder whether a person can transition from incarceration to running a complex office—but Calvin’s decades of legal work and his law degree demonstrate his capabilities and deep commitment to this work. Calvin Duncan knows better than most of us how important these functions are to the fair and equitable administration of justice and to election integrity.
If everyone reading this would forward this to five Orleans Parish voters, Calvin would have the support he needs to win the race.
Maybe one voice or one vote won’t dictate a desired outcome, but a chorus of voices and votes surely will.
The election is on Saturday, November 15th. Please show up and vote. It is one action we can take, and as we’ve just seen in the elections in Virginia, New Jersey, New York City, and California, real change is possible if we act, and our democratic process can work for all of us.
Thank you for this! It's so important for us to vote for him on Saturday.
Great column. I've read Calvin's book and will now listen to his Terry Gross interview. I've had his sign in my yard since before the primary and told everyone I know to vote for him. I knew Lombard had done some bad things, but your article listed things I didn't know -- like Lombard lanyards at polling places.