Inflated: The Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre is warning patrons to beware of online ticket scalpers selling tickets to The Nutcracker–A Tale from the Bayou at highly inflated prices. The ballet company, in a news release today, says tickets for the production, priced between $25 and $58, are on sale through Ticketmaster.com—the only authorized retailer. But some third-party websites are selling tickets to the production for as much as five times face value. BRBT advises tickets be purchased directly through Ticketmaster.
Under review: The sentences of 16,000 Louisiana inmates are under review as changes to the state’s criminal laws are set to take effect Nov. 1. That’s about 45% of Louisiana’s inmate population, which tops 35,500, NOLA.com reports. Gov. John Bel Edwards and the Legislature voted to overhaul the criminal justice system this past spring, aiming to reduce Louisiana’s highest-in-the-world incarceration rate. The 16,000 prison terms being reconsidered are for nonviolent offenses only and many will likely remain unchanged, said Jimmy LeBlanc, secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections. Read the full story at NOLA.com.
First amendment: White supremacists and other far-right extremist groups see college campuses as fertile ground to spread their messages and recruit followers. However, last weekend’s violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, has left universities across the U.S. bracing for more clashes between extremists and the protesters who oppose them. Some like LSU, Texas A&M, and the University of Florida have responded by canceling or denying visits by white supremacist groups or individuals. The universities and others are finding themselves in a tight bind as they try to balance the need to ensure campus safety in the face of recruiting efforts by white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups with freedom of speech. Read more from The Associated Press.
