Apparently Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter has never read the First Amendment. Neither, apparently, has 32nd Judicial District Court Judge Randal Bethancourt. Nor does it seem that either has ever checked into the constitutional status of Louisiana’s criminal defamation statute.
Larpenter made national news last Tuesday (August 2) when he sent a posse of six deputies to the home of a suspected blogger and hauled away two laptop computers because the blogger said bad things about the high sheriff. Somehow, six men to confiscate two laptop computers approaches overkill, but perhaps that’s the way things are done in Terrebonne Parish. After all, the laws that apply to the rest of us don’t seem to hold much water with Larpenter and Bethancourt. https://theintercept.com/2016/08/04/sheriff-raids-house-to-find-anonymous-blogger-who-called-him-corrupt/
The blogger, after all, had said some really bad things about Larpenter and Parish President (and former State Rep.) Gordon Dove and Dove’s business partner Tony Alford, who landed a huge benefits package brokerage contract for Larpenter’s office, and their jointly-owned trucking firm, and Dove’s former legislative assistant Debbie Ortego who was given a $79,000-a-year job as Dove’s new officer manager, and Debbie’s husband Dana who is Dove’s Risk Manager, and Dana’s nephew Parish Attorney Joe Waitz, III, District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr.’s son, and Sheriff Larpenter’s wife Priscilla who has a six-figure job as manager of Tony Alford’s office, and Jackie Dove who is married to Assistant District Attorney Sye Broussard. There were a few other names in the organizational flow chart compiled by the publisher of the Internet blog http://exposedat.in/wp/ but it gets complicated and somewhat confusing after that.
But the gist of the story is that certain connected entities have successfully evaded their responsibility to pay nearly $400,000 in parish taxes, malfeasance on the part of local officials for not pursuing the collection of the delinquent taxes with, in the words of the late John F. Kennedy, “great vigor,” nepotism, ethics violations, and violations of environmental regulations.
To give you a bit of background, LouisianaVoice had a post two years ago about Dove and his trucking company which got into trouble with the environmental watchdogs in Montana who, unlike their counterparts in Louisiana, tend to do their jobs with no consideration given to oil company political contributions and highly paid oil and gas lobbyists milling around the State Capitol’s rotunda with steak restaurant vouchers for famished legislators. https://louisianavoice.com/2014/06/01/gordon-dove-fox-in-the-house-natural-resources-committee-henhouse-or-perhaps-its-just-louisiana-jindaltics-as-usual/
As we read through the mystery blogger’s most recent post about Terrebonne Parish (the one that got him into trouble with Larpenter and Judge Bethancourt), we couldn’t help but be impressed with the detailed thoroughness with which he laid out his case, supported by document after document.
He had documents and links to documents to support every claim in his post and yet all that made no difference to the two officials who went after the presumed publisher of the blog, one Wayne Anderson who just happens to be a police officer for the City of Houma and who formerly worked as a Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s deputy.
Despite his denials that he is the owner of the blog, he was placed on paid leave a little more than an hour after the raid.
Regardless whether or not Anderson is being truthful in denying authorship of the blog, the entire thing should be a moot point. The blogger, Anderson or whomever, has a right to free speech guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. It’s not that there hasn’t been an effort to thwart freedom of speech. Louisiana’s criminal defamation statute comes immediately to mind.
http://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/2013/code-revisedstatutes/title-14/rs-14-47
That law was passed way back in the beginning of John McKeithen’s last term as governor. It was also the start of the final four-year term for Attorney General P.F. “Jack” Gremillion of whom former Gov. Earl Long once said, “If you want to hide something from Jack Gremillion, put it in a law book.”
Bethancourt said he had to stay within the “four corners” of the warrant and affidavit (whatever that means) and that he was unable to discern if Alford was a public official (under the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Sullivan v. New York Times which ruled that for a public official to claim libel, he must prove not only malicious intent but “reckless disregard for the truth”)—despite Alford’s status as a member of a local levee district. Louisiana’s criminal defamation statute, he said, is “pretty broad” and that he would the state to have a “look-see” at what was contained on the computers that might have defamatory statements on them.
The only problem with the judge’s interpretation of the state’s “pretty broad” defamation statute is that it is non-existent.
David Ardoin, Anderson’s attorney, correctly pointed out that Bethancourt made a mistake in approving the warrant to raid his client’s home because in 1981, the second year of former Gov. Dave Treen’s term of office, the law was declared unconstitutional. http://www.lsli.org/files/unconst_report2016.pdf
Just to put things in their proper perspective, that was 35 years ago. Way to stay current on the law, Judge. And Judge, one more thing: since the law was held unconstitutional, it would seem that neither your nor the sheriff—nor anyone else, for that matter—has any right to have a “look-see” at what is contained on Anderson’s computers. That, yer honor, is invasion of privacy.
I happened to run into former Gov. Edwin Edwards last Friday when we each were guests on different hourly segments of the Jim Engster Show in Baton Rouge. I asked him if he remembered the defamation law and he immediately responded, “Of course. It was later declared unconstitutional.” A pretty sharp mind for a man who turned 89 on Sunday (August 7).
When I explained what had occurred in Terrebonne Parish, he said, “It sounds to me like the sheriff has some very serious legal problems. I would love to be that blogger’s attorney in that civil litigation.”
Sheriff Larpenter and Judge Bethancourt have greatly overstepped their authority and their responsibility to the citizens of Terrebonne Parish. So much so that the local newspaper, the Houma Daily Courier, took a big risk in alienating the local power structure when it took the sheriff to task in a sharply worded EDITORIAL on Sunday (Aug. 7). The paper, however, stopped short of condemning Judge Bethancourt for going along with the sheriff’s Gestapo-like tactics.
Just a cursory read of ExposeDat makes it abundantly and undeniably clear that there are some cozy—too cozy—relationships that border on political incest in Terrebonne Parish. Too much authority and power is vested in the hands of too few people to allow for a workable system of checks and balances. Those few control how millions upon millions of public dollars are spent. Whenever that occurs, there is no oversight and invariably, greed becomes the motivating factor that drives virtually every action.
And it is the citizens who are the ultimate losers.
Local media are subject to economic realities, they can be—and are—squeezed by those in power so that any real investigative reporting is tempered by whatever financial pressure (read: advertising revenue) can be applied by those with the most to lose.
Because of that, bloggers like ExposeDat who are not beholden to the Chamber of Commerce or the local banks are more important than ever before.
Whenever a blogger draws the ire of a public official or is referred to as a “chronic complainer (as in the case of LouisianaVoice recently), it only means that blogger has struck a nerve. Whenever someone says “They’re just a blogger” like a State Trooper ally of State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson recently said in an attempt to discredit LouisianaVoice, we just smile and say, “Yep. We are ‘just a blogger’ who exposed an attempt by Edmonson to enrich his retirement benefits by about $30,000 a year—illegally, we might add—and stopped that little scheme in its tracks.
To ExposeDat, we strongly urge the publisher, whoever you are, to keep the heat on. You’ve already done the heavy lifting and we support your lonely vigil. Don’t relent. If you know you’re doing the right thing, then follow the advice of Winston Churchill: “Never give up. Never, Never, Never.”
Louisiana Voice 
Louisiana politicians seem to revel in making our state seem like a third world entity. As if our state is not already being ruined by Republican politicians who care little for Louisiana or for America. I guess they think being number one on the lists of bad things is something to be proud of.
Wait, this is in the U.S.??!! Welcome to North Korea. The sheriff should be arrested. This is extortion and unauthorized entry into an inhabited dwelling. The FBI should be knee deep in this. This cannot stand.
I’ve heard the term “Lawlessness” used all of my adult life and thought I had a pretty good understanding of its meaning. But ever since I began reading LouisianaVoice, I’ve come to understand that term in a different light. In Louisiana politics at ALL levels, no exceptions whatsoever, that term describes unlawful acts by those in positions of public trust that go unpunished even when brought to the attention of those charged with regulating such. Do Louisianans just accept this as “normal” and thus “acceptable?” Have we “thrown in the towel” so to speak? If so, as I’m the last of my family living in Louisiana, I guess it’s time to pack up and leave this lawless quagmire to those to whom this doesn’t appear to matter. I’ve tried to do my part but to no avail. God bless Tom Aswell and other “just bloggers” for their tenacity and best efforts to help us. I pray for them to have success in breaking through this iron curtain of indigenous lawlessness and its acceptance. But I don’t hold out much hope.
If the person IS a Houma police officer, could it be that the issue is the strong prohibition against political activity? You know, any attempt to support the election or opposition of a person or political party. That might could have opened the door to what appeared to be strong arm tactics. If it was political activity, the penalty is very severe – termination. If a person is legally prevented from expressing opinions in some situations, doing so under the cover of annonymity might not be okay either. I seem to remember a case a few years ago where some attorneys in the New Orleans area got in trouble over something similar.
…Unless you’re a member of the Louisiana State Troopers Association. They, apparently, can participate in political activity with impunity. But even so, it would not fall to the sheriff to conduct a raid. A scenario like the one you lay out should be handled by Anderson’s employer, the Houma City Police Department. The cold, hard facts are Sheriff Larpenter conducted an illegal search and seizure, based solely on a law declared unconstitutional more than three decades ago—warrant notwithstanding—and Anderson now has what appears to be a slam dunk civil lawsuit in store for the sheriff.
Not disagreeing with you, Tom – just trying to think outside the box and trying to figure out if there was any rational explanation for what happened. Even if what I said had any merit, you would have thought that explanation would have been given. My thoughts immediately went in the direction of Stephen’s.
It’s only a problem when you are caught…. but stay tuned more corruption on the way……..
I won’t waste any of my expletives on these individuals/offices. Perhaps we should simply identify them as incompetent – a fact – to hold a job/office and let them publicly acknowledge that fact on their reason for resignations.
Hmmm…I wonder if we could expect more, or less, of this kind of thing under a POTUS Donald Trump, God forbid? I know my answer.
P. S. Fortunately for us, his goose is just about southern fried. I just wish it was November 7 or 8 already so we could be sure. Of course, at may age I can’t afford to lose any days 🙂
I’m not a Trump fan, but you have just lived 8 years under an administration that has done everything in its power to stifle free speech and harm its enemies. And when is the last time the complied with a FOIA request. Give me a break.
[…] The Louisiana Voice – Blog in Terrebonne Parish makes officials nervous; sheriff conducts raid based on law ruled unconsti… […]
Apparently Louisiana still thinks it is in France. There was an old story in the 1920s about someone from Louisiana who went to Mexico and couldn’t get back in the US because they said they were French but had no French passport. France just renewed its state of emergency with the powers to grab people’s computers, ipads, etc., from homes or cars. Most of Europe has ridiculous defamation laws. It seems only the English speaking world has the concept of free speech. Not really surprised about Louisiana. It just reaffirms my belief that it’s a lot like Russia and that people should think twice before even sticking 2 toes in it.
For former Governor Edwin Edwards it’s important to recall his apparent role in the illegal burning of unfiltered radioactive and toxic waste in North Baton Rouge (i.e. protecting the culprits):
http://www.smokeschool.net/edwinedwards.htm
I remain amazed that he would burn it over his own head!
@ Miningawareness and Tom Aswell: Respectfully suggest you rephrase and qualify that it is quite a few elected officials, not the general population, who seem to have the mentality of Russia, Miningawareness. Ever since (and possibly before) Huey Long reigned supreme in Louisiana, the citizens have had to deal with political corruption, scandal and often decades-old dynasties there, many who do, indeed, behave in a manner which can leave one shaking the head in utter disbelief. Pity the citizens who live under such. The people of Louisiana themselves are as far from Euro-Russian mentality as day is from night. Having lived there many years and having known many electeds quite personally, I can only suggest that the main problem lies within the small circle of the established dynasties, not all, but many within it. Just as Long laid siege to New Orleans and Baton Rouge and was first to establish a paramilitary organization in the state, his admirers live and reign today. I will admit that it surely looks like the voters of that state seem unwilling or unable to change things by voting the scoundrels out and putting an end to this kind of thing. As elsewhere in the nation, “party loyalty”, voting the ticket, has, shall we use the term “screwed-over” the populace, but a quick look at voter turnout can show us that the majority do NOT rule, but the minority who actually VOTE. Being a longtime admirer of your dedication to factual detail and journalistic excellence, Miningawareness, I just wanted to point this out for clarification.
Tom Aswell, having been married to a “Louisiana State Troopers Association” member who wouldn’t have stood for such a thing (many moons ago, perhaps even before you were born?) I must come to their defense as not ALL are willing parties to such as we see in this particular instance. Some are actively opposed to “what goes on” in such cases when an ELECTED ‘LEO’ conducts such an illegal raid, etc. Beware sweeping generalizations.
What this must, for it does, show any looking in from outside Louisiana is that the ‘Long mentality’, the iron rule dominance of certain sects lives, and has not been subdued in all these years by concerned citizens who perhaps would do well to be a voice in protesting in more meaningful ways and voting for change, demanding accountability.
Had MANY spoken out publicly, perhaps in writing, in blogs, whatever, this ONE man would not have been such a “lone target”. He would have been merely one of thousands, should ALL who see what he saw SPEAK OUT and take ACTION, not just pay lip service to a need for change.We either call manure what it is, shovel it away from us, or choose to live with the stench, no?
Reblogged this on Mining Awareness + and commented:
Louisiana seems to think French State of Emergency applies to them.
Dear Wani,
Thanks for helping things to be clarified. People in France and Russia actively oppose bad things government does there too and get actively beat (and killed for it). People have been threatened (sometimes by law enforcement) and probably killed (by unknown parties) in Louisiana for protest in the past. The French State of emergency sets a really bad precedence. The journalist union recently made a poster complaining about police brutality and the police were suing or threatening to sue the journalists for defamation against police. Russia raided the house of a blogger. France can now raid with no warrant and even since this comment was made they can now stop your car legally and grab your computer with no warrant. France has been doing the things that South Dakota does to the Standing Rock protestors all over France to protesting students and trade unionists. They bring in 20 riot police to grab 10 people peacefully gathered at city hall. It wasn’t like that in France before the state of emergency except maybe in the 1950s or 60s it was that bad. Louisiana is also well known to vary in behavior by regions. Sociologists spilled a lot of ink on north south divisions but there are surely many divisions. I think that in some rural US counties there is so little law enforcement that the sheriff often thinks he can do as he pleases. However, Edwin Edwards was a well-known franco-phile and sent students to study in France on CODOFIL scholarships so they may be more aware of what is going on there. Louisiana now has bilingual schools. The US and Britain seem to be the only countries where people have the right to criticize government officials under the law without risking defamation suits. Thanks too for reminding me of the dangers of Louisiana and France for I had forgotten my promise not to set a toe in them. The French people – at least in Paris – are generally very nice, countrary to popular opinion, and even the French government has done a lot more good for me than my own country so I don’t criticize them with glee either. My experience in France has always been much better than in the US. I have never met a Russian who wasn’t nice and kind. But, there are bad Russians controlling things. In the end, though, blogs are an expression of opinion and interpretation of facts based on opinion. I intend to start doing more opinion and less “facts” on my own blog. And, places are always changing even while sometimes they stay the same. I’ve lived in a place and experienced it as wonderful, come back and experienced it as horrible. The changes in France are shocking to me. Nothing which happens in Louisiana shocks me. I consider Tom Aswell a very brave man to speak up about bad things which occur in Louisiana and hope that he’s hanging in there since the flood. I hope this is enough clarification.
Respectfully as always, Mining Awareness, Russia is doing nothing that is not done in the U.S. We have a 100-mile wide “Constitution Does Not Apply” zone at all our American borders. § 287 (a) (3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 66 Stat. 233, 8 U.S.C. § 1357(a)(3). A look at the map shows that includes millions of Americans who can be stopped, searched & have THEIR computers confiscated. Border agents are NOT required to have probable cause. Between 2008 and 2010, 6,500 persons had their electronic devices searched along the U.S. border, according to DHS data. The Supreme Court rued in favor of the DHS on this warrant-less search & seizure in 2013. I could introduce you to people this has happened to.
The Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act allow for the indefinite detention of a citizen on the order of the President without charges or a trial.
Next door to Louisiana, in Mississippi, I can introduce you to 6 people who, after making purchases at gun shows last year, had the FBI show up, take their weapons and ammo, and only 1 of those ever recovered anything from the FBI.
In Alaska, I can introduce you to a family who, 9 years after a home invasion by unidentified “law enforcement” in which a family member was ‘taken into custody’, has no idea where that person is and no one they’ve approached is interested in looking for him.
“Sheriff often thinks he can do as he pleases”? Like Arizona’s Joe Arpaio, like a long past Neshoba County, MS sheriff whom most on the Choctaw rez could list atrocities committed by for months, like sheriffs near other reservations all across this nation, like sheriffs who have become, shall we say “legend” all over this country for ‘unleashing hell’ on opponents and anyone who speaks out against them?
“The US and Britain seem to be the only countries where people have the right to criticize government officials under the law without risking defamation suits.”
Which shall we count as worse, getting arrested for criticizing gov. officials or getting sued? Nancy & Jeff Rank come to mind if we choose arrest is worse, Frank Van den Bosch, who was merely holding a sign that offended ‘someone’ in a Bush motorcade, two grandmothers in St. Petersburg, FL, for holding up signs that said only “War is good business, Invest your sons”…I could list similar for days without pausing.
Since 2003, most of us in America have been on the list of “possible terrorists”.
Surely France, Russia, anywhere, has an agency that can completely suspend their entire Constitution, send their legislative branch home for 6 months and move all citizens anywhere they please, who can take children from schools to undisclosed locations without notifying parents or revealing where those children are?
We have FEMA who has that power & has had it since the 1970s.
That America is unlike France, Russia, even North Korea in some instances, is a myth.
We don’t live in France or Russia.
Those who do must fight their fight and we must fight ours.
For me, knowing the extent of the power-mad disease amongst those we “elect” or accept as being “appointed” should make dissidents of us all.
We should ALL be standing beside men like Tom.
” I consider Tom Aswell a very brave man to speak up about bad things which occur in Louisiana.”
Agreed, hats off to Tom, and to the “dissidents” I named above who suffered the wrath of those in power.
To call them out BY NAME is a noble thing.
To be willing to die for calling them out again and again is very noble.
It’s what our ‘soldiers’, our ‘watchers on the walls’ do every day, it’s what started the American Revolution.
NAMING any wrongdoer in any government office takes guts.
We have so many of those wrongdoers in America that the air should be filled with a cacophony of voices raised in naming them all…over & over & over again, with every silenced voice being replaced by three raised anew.
I’m all for NAMING them, every single one.
Just not for sweeping generalizations in which those who don’t fit into the growing herd of traitors to their oaths of office are swept in though not named and get branded with the ones who deserve the brand.
Louisiana is one of 50 states experiencing government corruption.
Would that all 50 had thousands like Tom who aren’t afraid to pound a stake into the ground, tie themselves to it and STAND against it, shouting with raised fist the very names of the offenders, demanding accountability…and an end to corrupt government.
Yes, I said long ago if there were many who were good watchdogs like Tom it would be a better country and world.
Whoops I meant to say interpretation of facts and often based on experience. Even hard science isn’t science, but an interpretation. One means of doing research is to look at personal experience and then see if it is indeed more widely true, however. C. Wright Mills speaks of this in the sociological imagination – the intersection of biography and history. And, in anthropology “case studies” are allowed which are sometimes based on the experiences of individuals – qualitative as opposed to quantitative analysis. The oil industry brought in a lot of people and habits which I believe distorted the work ethic in Louisiana too. Like I said, there are many “Louisianas”. Blogs are supposed to be expressions of opinion, in my opinion-understanding.
Having just re-read Tom’s post, as opposed to Wani’s comment, I think he makes very clear that he is talking about the parish, which I did not. Tom is a professional journalist and I am not. And, while the blogger in question sticks to the facts bloggers have the right to opinion too. I thought blogs are more like Op-Eds. I am personally a fan of things that Huey Long did – like locking the bankers in the Capitol until they found a solution to save the banks. I think that any troubles came with his brother. I think that the US would have been a better place if Huey had lived and that’s my opinion which is unlikely to change. The more I read about him the more I like him. It would be hard for the US to be in a worse state anyway, though possible. It was supposedly because of the Longs that Louisiana didn’t have the problems that Mississippi did during the Civil Rights movement though I think it may have had more to do with the importance of free peoples of color in Louisiana. Huey wanted blacks and whites to be educated and the oil companies to pay. For his time and place he was absolutely revolutionary in this. Huey Long died, however, and discussions of what he would or wouldn’t do won’t matter in 100 years because we will all be dead or dying at age 20 from nuclear discharges, which is why I try to stay focused on that.
The Sedition Act of 1918 (Pub.L. 65–150, 40 Stat. 553, enacted in May of 1918) extended the range of offenses named in the Espionage Act of 1917, perhaps most notably ADDING all speech and any expression of opinion that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light.
Simply put, the Sedition Act of 1918 stated that people or countries cannot say negative things about the government or the war.
The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, H.R. 1955, actually passed the House on Oct 23, 2007.
It goes past the two earlier Acts in ways most cannot imagine.
Though it didn’t pass the Senate (YET) the intentional vagueness of definitions in that ‘act’ would permit government to classify those of us who merely blog our opinions as terrorists.
Think about that.
Our ‘electeds’ in the House of Representatives passed that, agreed to it.
It would have become law and still may.
The Senate bill version, S-1959, continues to be “discussed”.
Right to our opinion?
Absolutely….but wait, maybe not.
That may NOT be allowed much longer.
Why would such a bill pass in Congress?
To silence those like Tom, like any of us who name names and name the offenses associated with those names.
If that bill does pass, will Tom, will I, will others continue to speak out, shine a light on corruption, point fingers at tyrants, at abusers of power, etc?
I’d bet the farm we will.
Who else will… when our voices are silenced?
I’d like to imagine millions would.
Silencing the voices of dissent, the opinions of the masses, …coming soon to a theater near you…maybe even to your very door.