New Orleans, Louisiana — Calvin Duncan, a man who spent more than 30 years in prison before his murder conviction was overturned, won election Saturday as New Orleans’ clerk of criminal court. Duncan secured 68% of the vote, according to unofficial tallies from the Louisiana secretary of state, defeating incumbent Darren Lombard in a runoff.
Duncan, 62, was convicted in a 1981 fatal shooting but fought for decades to challenge the case, eventually uncovering evidence that police officers had lied on the stand. A judge vacated his conviction in 2021, and he is now listed in the National Registry of Exonerations. In a statement, Duncan called the victory “a dream forty years in the making,” saying he hopes to honor those who never lived to see justice in their own cases.
His opponent repeatedly questioned his innocence during the campaign, and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill also denied he had been exonerated. More than 160 legal professionals publicly countered those claims, affirming that Duncan had “proved his innocence.” Despite support for Lombard from several city political leaders, voters backed Duncan decisively in the Nov. 15 runoff.
Duncan, who became a self-taught legal expert while incarcerated and later an attorney, has long advocated for fairer court access. He played a central role in a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision ending non-unanimous jury verdicts in Louisiana and Oregon. He says he ran for clerk to ensure court records are treated with accuracy and respect, especially after mishandled documents were found discarded in a landfill earlier this year.
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