Federal Prosecutors Banned From Court For Online Comments

Two Justice Department lawyers who wrote online comments under false names about the cases their department handled have been permanently barred from practicing law in federal court in theEastern District of Louisiana, which includes New Orleans.. Jan Mann and Sal Perricone avoid disciplinary action by taking the deal, and both remain licensed to practice law in Louisiana, though the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board is reviewing the case. Mann and Perricone’s comments led to the end of U.S. Attorney Jim Letten’s career after it impacted a major federal case in which five former New Orleans police officers were convicted of civil rights violations in connection with fatal shootings of unarmed civilians at the Danziger Bridge, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In September, the judge in that case called for a new trial in light of Mann and Perricone’s “grotesque” misconduct.