Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill can seek to end a 12-year-old settlement that prevents Orleans Parish jail officials from helping federal immigration authorities to detain some people in the city's lockup past their release dates, a federal judge ruled Friday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Janis van Meerveld ruled that Murrill's office has a right to intervene in a longstanding federal case to argue that a 2013 agreement reached by former Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman conflicts with state law.

The settlement came in a case in which two men, Mario Cacho and Antonio Ocampo, sued for allegedly being jailed far past the end of their sentences under an ICE request. It bars Orleans deputies from heeding such requests unless the person was charged with murder, aggravated rape, aggravate

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