Don Quixote, Jimmy Faircloth, Chicago Cubs, Bobby Jindal William Jennings Bryan, LSU Board of Stuporvisors, Minnesota Vikings, Jimmy Faircloth (again), Houston Astros, Bobby Jindal, Charlie Brown.
They all have one thing in common—the inability to grasp the brass ring. Yeah, we know, the Minnesota Vikings went to the Super Bowl four times, but how many of those did they win? The same number Jimmy Faircloth has won going to bat for Bobby Jindal in the state courts on various issues pushed by the governor.
Like Charlie Brown, Faircloth keeps trying to kick the football being held and suddenly pulled away by Lucy, aka Bobby Jindal only to fall flat time after time.
The futility of the Cubs and Astros should by now be familiar to Faircloth who this week was again shot down by the Louisiana Supreme Court, this time on the issue of turning over the list of semifinalists and finalists for the LSU presidency.
That list apparently is the equivalent to a closely guarded state secret and even now Faircloth refuses to capitulate to the state’s high court.
“Writ denied. Stay denied” was the terse message in the Supreme Court’s ruling. During my 20 years with the Office of Risk Management where I worked with state attorneys to defend lawsuits against the state, that language meant one thing: we write a check to the plaintiff. Period.
Ah, but the ever-optimistic Faircloth proclaimed that those four words were “not a comment by the Supreme Court one way or another concerning who’s right or wrong on the lawsuit.”
Huh?
“That’s simply the court saying we’re not going to hear the case now.”
Huh? Again.
Uh, Jimmy, loyalty to one’s boss is a fine attribute. But there comes a time when those of common sense must understand the finality of an issue and throw in the towel.
This is one of those times.
It is more than apparent by now that Faircloth/Jindal/LSU is not going to emerge victorious in this little showdown over the public’s right to know what its representatives are doing behind closed doors.
The continued resistance to the courts and the insistence that the records do not have to be produced only feeds an already growing suspicion about the forthrightness, honesty, and candor of this administration which has managed to operate in the dark shadows of obscurity, ambiguity and deceitfulness during Jindal’s nearly seven years in office.
Requests for public records by LouisianaVoice—records that are in no way protected—have been met time after time after time after time by delaying tactics, generally preceded by a cryptic email that reads, “Pursuant to your public records request, we are still searching for records and reviewing them for exemptions and privileges. Once finished, we will contact you regarding delivery of the records. At that time, all non-exempt records will be made available to you.”
This was the message from Division of Administration (DOA) attorney David Boggs on Aug. 7 to a request we submitted on Aug. 1. The Boggs response was already three working days late by the time he sent his response. The state’s public records law stipulates that records must be made available immediately upon request unless they are unavailable in which case the custodian of the record must respond in writing as to when the records will be available within three working days.
LouisianaVoice is still waiting for the records we requested 29 days—20 working days—ago. At the minimum fine of $100 per day, that comes to $2,000 for each of the seven records we requested, or $14,000 total.
The LSU litigation, however, has inspired us. District Court Judge Janice Clark imposed a $500 per day fine for LSU’s non-compliance. That bill currently totals more than $50,000.
We will likewise request the $500 per day fine, plus court costs, attorney fees and damages. The $500 per day fine alone comes to $70,000—money we can certainly use but which the taxpayers of Louisiana would not be asked to pay if the administration had simply complied with the law as public servants are expected to—and should—do.
Jimmy Faircloth, David Boggs or whomever DOA designates may wish to prepare for another defense after we file suit.
Not that he minds. Whenever he is given one of these dogs to defend, he simply turns on the time clock and the meter begins ticking—at the expense of you, the taxpayer. And he has done quite well defending indefensible lawsuits from pension reform to vouchers to public records. He has been paid more than $1 million to date by the Jindal administration, enough to place him in the upper tier of state legal contractors.
Louisiana Voice 
Nice work if you can get it – and still be able to sleep at night.
It would be funny if the checks started bouncing with the State having no money. Really??? Hard to believe, huh???
Love it! 😆
I wish you the best in seeking damages from the DOA. Perhaps the Supreme Court should issue contempt citations for Faircloth and the Board of Stuporvisors along with arrest warrants for refusing to adhere to a court order. I don’t know why they shouldn’t although I can imagine why they wouldn’t.
We can pass as many laws as we want, but as long as they can be blithely ignored, with no real repercussions, we haven’t accomplished much. As far as fines go, what do the board of supervisors, commissioner of administration or others care if they are not held personally responsible (i.e., if they don’t pay from their own personal pockets) and they very rarely are.
This brash disrespect for state law shown by the board of supervisors has got to impact contributions to the university. I also agree with a prior comment. I believe the law says “personally responsible.” Public employees should only be protected by qualified immunity when they do not knowingly violate the law. It would be hard to make that claim when the highest court has said this is so ridiculous we have nothing further to add.
So, it’s ok for them to make a mockery of the court by ignoring a direct order? And they don’t care because the fine does not come from their bank account? If I were the judge, I’d put someone’s hiney in jail pronto just to make my point. And I would fine them personally so it would sting. These folks love BJ so much – let’s see if they would go to jail for him.
Hmmn,
Maybe now would be a good time to ask a court to enjoin anyone in the governor’s administration from destroying any records of any kind, before the current governor’s term ends. Maybe the next administration would be more interested in disgorging info on the sins of the prior administration.
Dick Hemmings
Go for it!!!
Good luck, they need to be taken down a few notches
They ignore court orders. Laws are for the little people. Our magnificent governor sets a wonderful example for criminal behavior – honest, Christian, plain unhyphenated American that he claims to be. I AM EMBARRASSED to be have this man representing our state. His greatest flaw is to be conscious of none!
How much longer can the mainstream media continue to ignore Jindal’s many scandalous violations of the law & his steadfast refusal to surrender public records that BELONG to the public?
Read today’s Daily Advertiser Editorial!!
Is it possible for Jindal, as chief executive officer for the state, be found in contempt and be confined to jail until such records are produced and fines paid? I realize the impeachment process is an alternative, however, since Jindal’s is failing to carry out a direct order from the LA Supreme Court, is it possible he be found in contempt? Probably not, but a contempt citation on a sitting governor would provide one hell of a black eye on his resume for any further political escapades and could produce the grass roots bases for an impeachment trial.
Impeachment is not only unlikely, it should not even be in the conversation. That is a remedy for serious criminal activity–much more serious than this, I’m afraid. Impeachment is—and should be—difficult. If not, no governor, good or bad, would feel free to initiate any programs for fear of being impeached. And even Jindal has had good ideas, like the proposed merger of Southern University New Orleans and the University of New Orleans. That made perfect sense but with a more liberal interpretation of impeachable offenses, that proposal would never have been made.
The key word here is “criminal”. The laws being ignored are civil. Tom’s point here is exceptionally well-taken.
Tick tock, tick tock…pay the nice man. Garnishing wages would be a nice thought. As stated above, what monies to be paid will come from state coffers, not the personnel involved. Tsk, tsk…I say personal responsibility. These guys are laughing all the way to the bank, especially Jimmy Faircloth. Cha Ching! For those seeking employment and cannot find, look to LA for top tier windfall financing retirement, gratuities, take home vehicle, (including your out-of-state license plate) on-the-job-training, assistants, etc. Give ’em all thorns, thumbs down!
Reblogged this on The Daily Kingfish and commented:
Don’t let Jindal stonewall Louisiana Voice’s public record requests. Help Tom him accountable.