Landry’s Favorite Hobby: Poking His Nose in New Orleans

Governor Jeff Landry is at it again—poking his nose in what’s happening here in New Orleans, running to social media to scold local leadership like a man auditioning for a role.

This time, he’s blasting the City of New Orleans over a $2.5 million settlement involving Raymond Flanks, a man who spent 39 years behind bars before his conviction was vacated—after prosecutors allegedly failed to turn over evidence decades ago.

Landry’s rage-post framing is predictable: New Orleans bad. Local leaders reckless. Baton Rouge must step in. It’s the same tired playbook he pulls out any time he wants to score points with an audience that hears “New Orleans” and immediately starts foaming at the mouth.

Let’s be clear about one thing: no one is surprised.

As one political analyst put it, Landry’s comments are a political play—and the timing screams that this is about the upcoming session and his next “tough-on-crime” agenda. And that right there is the tell. Jeff Landry doesn’t just want to criticize New Orleans—he wants to control it.

He wants to take one complicated situation, boil it down into a soundbite, and then use it to justify a new round of legislation designed to look tough while ignoring what’s actually fair.

Landry wrote: “Amidst an ongoing budget crisis in New Orleans, it is disturbing to see the City, Helena Moreno, and NOLA City Council agree to pay $2.5 million…” and then followed it up with the predictable slogan—“And they expect the State taxpayers to keep footing this bill! NO!”

But what Landry didn’t say is more important than what he did.

He didn’t say a word about how expensive injustice is. He didn’t say a word about what it means when the system fails to disclose evidence—something that destroys the integrity of the entire process. He didn’t say a word about the human cost of somebody losing four decades of their life.

No, he jumped straight to what he always jumps to: blame New Orleans, shame New Orleans, and weaponize New Orleans for politics.

And look—New Orleans knows what this is. We’ve watched this state do it for generations. When they need a villain, they grab New Orleans. When they need a distraction, they grab New Orleans. When they need votes, they grab New Orleans.

We expect it.

Landry doesn’t know how to run the state, but he stays trying to run New Orleans.

And the pundits are right – his next move is probably to come with legislation.

The same analyst says Landry may push a bill that addresses cases where prosecutors use discretion to vacate convictions years later. So what does that mean in plain English? It means Landry may be gearing up to limit local prosecutorial discretion—not because he cares about justice, but because he cares about power and headlines.

And that’s where local leadership comes in.

Because while we expect Jeff Landry to do foolish stuff, what we do not expect is for New Orleans leadership to flinch.

If Landry is planning a “tough-on-crime” package late session, and it’s not fair, not equitable, not grounded in facts, and not rooted in actual community safety—then we expect legislators from this region to stand up for New Orleans and New Orleanians.

We expect the mayor that New Orleanians elected to stand up for New Orleans and its people, even if that means upsetting Baton Rouge.

We expect the district attorney that we elected to stand up for New Orleans and New Orleanians, and to stop letting this governor control the narrative with Facebook posts.

And if they really want to show us they have any intestinal fortitude, they’ll stand up to this governor -- not with polite statements, soft language and private, behind-the-scenes telephone calls. But with public, united, unapologetic resistance to the continued pattern of state interference and political bullying.

New Orleans does not need a governor playing savior while he undermines the city’s ability to govern itself. If Landry wants to help, he can bring resources, stability, and actual policy solutions that address poverty, education, housing, healthcare, and the true roots of violence.

But if all he has is scapegoating and control?

Then the message from New Orleans should be simple:

Keep your hands off our city, because we’re tired of governors who treat New Orleans like a punching bag—and we’re even more tired of local leaders who act like they don’t know how to swing back.