New Orleans Elects Ex-Convict Calvin Duncan as Criminal Court Clerk

U.S.|Calvin Duncan’s Unlikely Journey: Convict to Exoneree to Elected Official

Calvin Duncan started out as a young man serving a life sentence for murder. He developed a passion for the law and became known inside and outside the Louisiana State Penitentiary as a gifted jailhouse lawyer, with other inmates as his clients. After 28 years behind bars, he won his freedom, cleared his name and, at the age of 60, graduated from law school.

Then came an even more improbable twist: On Saturday, voters in New Orleans elected Mr. Duncan to serve as clerk of the parish criminal court, defeating an incumbent from a prominent political family, according to preliminary results.

The post doesn’t usually attract much attention. The job is bureaucratic and technical, overseeing the ever-expanding trove of records and evidence from court cases in New Orleans. But Mr. Duncan aimed his campaign at persuading voters that the work is vital to the pursuit of justice.

He argued that his experience as a lawyer and advocate — and also as someone whose freedom hinged on access to his court records — made him ideally suited to modernize an office that has relied on outdated methods.

“Tonight is a dream that’s been 40 years in the making,” Mr. Duncan said on Saturday after declaring victory. “I hope that all those people who died in prison because we couldn’t get their records are looking down now. I hope they’re proud of me. We never stopped fighting for each other’s rights, and I will never stop fighting for yours.”

Mr. Duncan’s bid for the office was seen at first as a long shot. It was catapulted to credibility late in the race, after the incumbent, Darren Lombard, claimed that Mr. Duncan had never really been exonerated of the 1981 crime that had led to his incarceration, and publicly asserted that Mr. Duncan had ties to a “coldblooded murder.”