Five local public defenders facing termination accused Louisiana State Public Defender Rémy Starns of targeting women for layoffs. Three of the five at-risk attorneys are women, and they allege Starns has moved to terminate six of the 11 women who led local offices in the last three years.
At a public hearing Monday, Caddo Parish defender Michelle AndrePont said, “My termination is not just unwarranted, it’s retaliatory … it’s because I’m a woman.” Fellow attorneys Brett Brunson and John Hogue said they were being targeted for defending their female colleagues and criticizing Starns’ policies.
Starns, appointed in 2020 and rehired by Gov. Jeff Landry, strongly denied the allegations: “Those statements are false, and I believe they knew them to be false.”
The State Public Defender Oversight Board delayed a vote on the layoffs until June 23. A committee will meet Wednesday to review the terminations. Starns says interim chiefs will replace the attorneys on July 1.
Critics say the dismissals are retaliation for policy disagreements, not routine contract changes.
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