INDReporter

La. earns high marks ... for corruption

by Walter Pierce

With a federal probe into former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin as a handy backdrop, a new study ranks Louisiana high on the list of the most politically corrupt states based on federal convictions.

With a federal probe into former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin as a handy backdrop, a new study ranks Louisiana high on the list of the most politically corrupt states based on federal convictions.

The study by the Institute of Governmental and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago ranks Louisiana 10th overall based on federal public corruption convictions between 1976 and 2010; the Bayou State earns a second-place distinction when the convictions are ranked per capita. Louisiana logged 906 corruption convictions during the 35-year span considered by researchers - an average of 25 per year.

On the per capita ranking, the District of Columbia leads the pack. Louisiana is followed in descending order by Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Florida, California and Texas in the Top 10.

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