2021 Legislative Update - Misdemeanor Obstruction of Justice

The Louisiana Legislature enacted a great number of new statutes and changes to the law during the 2021 Regular Session. For the next few weeks, we’ll be writing about some of the changes that might directly impact our clients in the future.

Effective August 1, 2021, the Legislature has now enacted a misdemeanor grade of obstruction of justice. Previously, the lowest penalty for obstruction of justice, even if the obstruction occurred in a misdemeanor case was a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars, imprisonment for not more than five years, with or without hard labor, or both. The change in this law now states:

involves any misdemeanor criminal proceeding that does not involve an intentional misdemeanor directly affecting the person, the offender shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.

If you or someone you know has been arrested for obstruction of justice, call us to set up a consult at (318) 459-9111