Louisiana Press Association (LPA) Executive Director McHugh David.
In our last feature, in which we outlined the insane indictment of AG Liz Murrill by a corrupt and out-of-control loose cannon disgraced “judiciary” in New Orleans, we emphasized the fact that, during his infamous April 24, 2026 “hug a thug” tirade, Gov. Landry said that permitting cameras in courtrooms would transform such courtrooms into a “circus.” In that feature, we provided Landry’s full tirade, and we stated that his commentary after he poured cold water on the reporter’s question of whether cameras in courtroom would advance his stated goal of judiciary accountability would be extremely difficult to argue against. We certainly pose no argument whatsoever to his commentary after his direct response to the reporter’s question.
Since we already provided his full tirade (and anyone is welcome to go watch it at the above link), today we are going to limit his commentary to his direct response to the reporter regarding advancing Landry’s goal of judicial accountability via permitting cameras in courtrooms:
4/24/26: Landry firmly states that permitting cameras in courtrooms would turn those courtrooms into a, “media live circuit circus.”
The very day after we published the feature first linked at the outset of this feature, a New Orleans motorist stopped traffic on I-110 in Baton Rouge and began randomly firing a gun at other motorists indiscriminately. Upon seeing news of that development, Landry made this post on “X” (formerly Twitter). From Landry’s X post:
Governor Jeff Landry@LAGovJeffLandryThe organizer of the recall effort is now accused of shooting a man in the head and received a $100,000 bond.
received a $400,000 bond. If anyone wants to know why Louisianans have lost faith in the justice system, start there. And these are the same people who accuse us of being the problem.
Sounds a little like Landry is tacitly admitting that Louisiana’s courtrooms already are a circus, no?
Also on the very next day after we published the feature first linked on this feature, July 6, 2026, David McHugh was the guest speaker at the Baton Rouge Press Club. McHugh serves as the Executive Director of the Louisiana Press Association (LPA) and its marketing subsidiary, LPA Marketing. He assumed this role in May 2024 (with full transition around June 2024), succeeding Jerry Raehal. In this capacity, he also holds the position of Ex-Officio Treasurer.
David comes from a multigenerational family newspaper background. The Livingston Parish News in Denham Springs, Louisiana, has been family-owned since his grandfather acquired it in 1962. He previously served as co-publisher (alongside his mother, Nancy) and president of the publication. He stepped into the co-publisher role in 2015 following the death of his father, Jeff McHugh David Sr.
As Executive Director, David’s priorities include advancing state and national legislation affecting the press. Sound Off Louisiana’s founder, Robert Burns, viewed David’s appearance as an excellent opportunity to pose the question of him as to why there has not been a much stronger push in Louisiana to obtain cameras in courtrooms. Here’s the question and his response:
7/6/26: David responds to Burns’ question of why there hasn’t been a much stronger push to advance the cause of cameras in courtrooms, particularly given the Murrill insane indictment.
As is evident by the video above, David says it is going to take a heavily consolidated effort to defeat the “entrenched judiciary.” David also stated that Burns, “stole my thunder a little bit,” and referenced the organizations he’s working with to achieve the goal of cameras in courtrooms (and he stressed that everyone “needs to be”), he asked for everyone to push their legislators to back an effort to bring cameras into courtrooms.
David also said that he wanted folk to grab one of his business cards so that anyone can contact him about helping push legislation to accomplish the goal of cameras in Louisiana courtrooms. We took a card, and we want to help him in every way possible, so here is a blown-up version of his business card so anyone can reach out to him and learn how anyone can assist him in this (in our opinion) badly-needed effort to obtain cameras in courtrooms:
David emphasized the need for all of us to contact our Louisiana State Representatives and our Louisiana State Senators and get this done! It is long overdue, and now even apparently Gov. Landry knows just how out of control it has gotten! If you are unsure of which House or Senate District in which you reside, you can easily find out very easily right here.
We have intentionally named this feature with four short letters (cinc – short for “cameras in courtrooms”) to make it as easy as possible for anyone to send a very quick email to her Louisiana Legislators, which we too will be doing. Here’s all the email needs to say (and all we intend to place in our emails to State Sen. Franklin Foil and State Rep. Dixon McMakin):
We desperately need cameras in courtrooms, and the rationale for why is outlined here: www.SoundOffLA.com/cinc
It’s literally that simple but, as David says, these legislators need to be flooded with such requests by constituents because we (citizens and the media alike) are going up against (his words), “an entrenched judiciary in this state!”
CLICK HERE for David’s presentation in its entirety, which also includes a 17-minute segment where Burns and another reporter quizzed David one-on-one, and Burns openly inquired if the Legislature made a mistake in removing personal liability from the custodian of records for failing to turn over public records.
Another benefit of watching David’s video in its entirety is that he spoke at length about HB-410 of this past Legislative Session, which seeks to place some limitations to Louisiana’s one-party-consent rule of recording or videotaping of conversations with another individual without her consent. We certainly understand the intent of the bill, which is to restrict abuses of social media dissemination of embarrassing material, and we think that is a noble cause.
Furthermore, we believe that, with the significant number of exceptions (they are all outlined in the link for the final engrossed bill which becomes law on August 1, 2026), the legitimate needs of having a conversation recorded remain intact.
Furthermore, we think that the following provision of the bill is extremely noteworthy, and we salute David and others who fought hard to get the bill amended in the manner in which it was amended to protect the rights of folk who have a legitimate need to audio record or video record interactions which have a high probability of becoming problematic to the recording individual if he fails to have proof of activity which may give rise to his own civil or criminal claim against the individual(s) he is secretly recording:
Violation of House Bill 410 (now Act 965) is treated as a civil matter, not a criminal act.
The penalties section (§2790.4) specifies that a person found to have violated the provisions shall be liable to an individual for any damages, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees, as ordered by the court. There is no provision for criminal penalties, fines payable to the state, or prosecution as a crime.
This aligns with the bill’s placement under Civil Procedure in the Louisiana Revised Statutes (Title 9). It creates a private right of action for affected individuals rather than establishing a criminal offense. The law does not alter the existing Electronic Surveillance Act in a way that introduces new criminal sanctions for these in-person recording notifications.
So, the ability to covertly audio record or video record matters which may rise to the level of prompting the recording individual to file a civil suit or seek criminal prosecution for acts committed by the individual(s) being secretly recorded remains intact. Now we just need to get the court proceedings of both civil and criminal matters subject to cameras being permitted in courtrooms because, as demonstrated by the Murrill disaster and numerous instances we could cite that we have observed in courtrooms both entailing criminal and civil matters, those episodes absolutely should be subject to videotaping by camera!
We thank everyone for the dedication demonstrated to this blog over the 11 years of its existence.