Harry Connick Sr., a long-serving district attorney in New Orleans whose office gained national notoriety for prosecutorial overreach that eventually resulted in many reversed convictions, died on Thursday at his home in New Orleans.
His death was announced by his son, the singer Harry Connick Jr., in a statement.
The older Mr. Connick was a singer himself and became locally renowned for his nightclub performances in the French Quarter.
But his national reputation as a district attorney was much darker, particularly after a 2011 dissent by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that blasted the Orleans Parish district attorney’s office, under his leadership, for singular incompetence and misconduct.
Justice Ginsburg found that Mr. Connick’s subordinates systematically hid evidence that could aid the defense, in violation of the Constitution.
Persons:
Harry Connick Sr, prosecutorial, Harry Connick Jr, Connick, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ginsburg, “, Mr
Organizations:
Supreme, Orleans Parish ”
Locations:
New Orleans, Orleans Parish