Jeremy Alford and David Jacobs: Supreme Court puts Murrill at center of controversy

When Louisiana defended its congressional map at the U.S. Supreme Court back in March, Solicitor General J. Benjamin Aguiñaga told justices that state officials “would rather not be here.” 
But while some in Louisiana are ready to be done with SCOTUS, the court isn’t done with Louisiana and issued an order two weeks ago placing Attorney General Liz Murrill squarely in the middle of a national controversy — not for the first time, and likely not for the last. 
The court is asking parties to the suit to address the constitutionality of creating a majority-minority district to protect minority voting power, which states often do to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The question highlights the possibility that justices will strike down a key provision of the act, only two years after upholding it. 
“At a very fundamental level,” Murrill said, “we need clarity.” 
Murrill was then-AG Jeff Landry’s solicitor general before her election to Landry’s former position in 2023. She has been a loyal lieutenant to the governor and to President Donald Trump. Yet she’s also the state’s top lawyer, independently elected to serve its citizens regardless of political leanings. 
She doesn’t see any tension between the roles of political advocate and Louisiana’s chief counselor, adding, “I’ve been very supportive of the governor and worked with him for eight years, and I haven’t seen any conflict so far.”  
The Supreme Court is asking “whether the State’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U. S. Constitution.” The plaintiffs seeking to overturn Congressman Cleo Fields’ district didn’t press that argument earlier this year, Murrill said. 
She said Louisiana has argued in other cases that it’s not constitutional to violate the Equal Protection Clause to address an issue with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and her office will not shy away from that history in the brief that’s due in two weeks. The court’s question suggests justices believe lawmakers and Landry may have done just that when they created the current map with a second majority-minority district. 
“The Supreme Court created the morass with its own jurisprudence,” she said. “We have consistently said that they need to fix that problem.” In the meantime, a lawsuit over the Louisiana Legislature’s map is on hold while the Supreme Court case plays out. 
Murrill might also find her way to SCOTUS in her defense of Louisiana’s law mandating the Ten Commandments in public schools. On social media recently, Landry declared the separation of church and state to be a “myth.”
Asked if she agrees, Murrill said there is “great misunderstanding” about how the Constitution treats religious liberty and government actions in this area, but stressed that she is defending the law based on current precedents. 
While you can’t post the Ten Commandments to advocate for a religion, previous decisions have stated you can do so if it’s placed within a historical context, and Louisiana’s law stays inside those guardrails, she said.  
A federal appeals court ruled the law unconstitutional, though Murrill and Landry pledged to challenge that ruling; experts have said the case is likely to make its way to the Supremes. 
Also on tap for Murrill: her three pending lawsuits against CVS. State officials have accused the pharmacy giant of improperly using customers’ sensitive information to send them text messages as part of a lobbying effort against legislation targeting the company’s business structure. 
Murrill also alleges that CVS has used its market power as a pharmacy benefit manager to undermine competition and impose “unethical and exceedingly high fees on independent pharmacies.” While the company has denied wrongdoing, Murrill said CVS has reached out for discussions. 
She said some of the issues with CVS can be resolved fairly quickly because the facts are clear. But the suit dealing with vertical integration, challenging the company’s alleged control over multiple tiers of the health care system, could drag on for quite some time, since it challenges their entire business model. 
Back at the Capitol, Murrill has successfully pushed an extensive legislative agenda, with 10 bills going into effect Aug. 1.
Asked to identify the main themes of the package, she cited a continuing emphasis on criminal justice reform, ensuring that death penalty cases can move forward, and protecting victims of crime.
HB 64 by Speaker Pro Tem Mike Johnson speaks to the attorney general’s authority to “defend the state’s autonomy, independence, and sovereignty in all legal matters and disputes involving the federal government.”
Basically, the law bans state and local government actors from entering into consent decrees with the federal government without approval from the governor and attorney general. 
Looking ahead, Murrill would like to establish a dedicated, state-funded unit to investigate Medicaid recipient fraud. The office already has a Medicaid fraud unit that’s federally funded, but federal law doesn’t allow that money to be used to go after recipients. 
Not that her office doesn’t enthusiastically go after recipient fraud, and publicize the results when someone is reeled in.
Late last month, to name only one example, she touted the arrest of a “Medicaid millionaire” from Slidell, who she said bought a Lamborghini and plastic surgery while on government assistance. 
Murrill joined Landry in bashing the Crescent City IDs that New Orleans officials unveiled two weeks ago. The initiative is modeled after programs in other cities.
The cards can be used as a library card, to access recreational programming and public transportation discounts, and to interact with local law enforcement. The list of accepted documents to obtain the card includes some that are not accepted for state or federal identity verification, such as student IDs. 
“It doesn’t seem like they’re making it very hard to get the card, so it doesn’t seem like it would be hard to get 10 different ones for 10 different aliases,” Murrill said.
She said the issue could be ripe for legislation next year.
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