It’s not certain if Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) Chairman T.J. Doss is simply LSPC’s equivalent to Donald Trump or if he’s not seeking or getting sound legal advice from commission legal counsel Lenore Feeney.
Either way, the commission, already reprising author Jimmy Breslin’s Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight, just can’t seem to conduct a simple investigation into State Trooper political activity. Nor can Doss seem to get it right when seeking nominations to fill vacancies on the commission.
Article X, Part IV, Sec. 43 (c) of the 1974 Louisiana State Constitution says of nominations for appointment to LSPC:
The presidents of Centenary College at Shreveport, Dillard University at New Orleans, Louisiana College at Pineville, Loyola University at New Orleans, Tulane University of Louisiana at New Orleans, and Xavier University at New Orleans, after giving consideration to representation of all groups, each shall nominate three persons. The governor shall appoint one member of the commission from the three persons nominated by each president.
That should be plain enough. The presidents of the private universities are required to submit three names from the congressional district within which a vacancy occurs.
With four of the six schools located in New Orleans, that can become something of a problem if the vacancy is from, say the Third Congressional District which comprises much of Acadiana and Southwest Louisiana.
But if a vacancy occurs from the Fourth District, common sense says contact the President of Centenary in Shreveport for names of nominees. In the Fifth District, it would be the President of Louisiana College in Pineville.
So, when Lloyd Grafton of Ruston resigned earlier this month, why did Doss contact Gov. Edwards on Feb. 10 to say he was soliciting names from the President of Loyola University in New Orleans? And why did he, on that same day, fire off a letter to Loyola President Rev. Kevin Wildes saying that the Louisiana Constitution requires that Grafton’s vacancy be filled by gubernatorial appointment “from one of three persons nominated by the President of Loyola University”?
Doss was correct in saying the vacancy had to be filled by someone from the Fifth Congressional District, but there is no such requirement that the names of nominees come from Loyola. Louisiana College is in the Fifth Congressional District and that institution’s president should have been the one contacted for names.
Perhaps Doss has access to alternative facts when complying with the Louisiana Constitution.
Of course, if Feeney dared try to correct him, there is legal precedent for firing the messenger: There’s Trump and his dismissal of interim Attorney General Sally Yates. And there’s the LSPC itself with the manner it forced out former Executive Director Cathy Derbonne in January because she insisted on complying with the law.
Louisiana Voice 
I don’t think that Donald Trump has anything to do with this. Believe it or not, a lot of actually own copies of the Constitution and believe the great “Constitutional scholar” BHO pissed all over it.
Again, you succeeded in missing the point entirely. Never one time does this article say Trump had anything to do with the state police commission. It simply says that like Trump, Mr. Doss ignores the constitution, in this case, the state constitution.
As for your second sentence, try again and this time make it a complete sentence that makes sense.
You’re going to stick with Trump no matter what he says or what he does. What are you going to do when there are no checks on pollution, no labor laws to protect you, the police haul you in for nothing because you no longer have any rights, you have no health care, and the Wall Street bankers destroy the economy (again)? Those are the things Trump stands for but you can’t see past the rhetoric of anti-immigration and his tough talk about how he’s going to destroy ISIS (and we know that’s empty talk).
I thought Ringlings Brothers Circus was shutting down. I see it has moved to LSPC with Doss as the ringmaster. All I need is some peanuts and popcorn to watch this circus they call a commission. Don’t need the clowns, they are already there.
Maybe Govenor Edwards would be the ringmaster instead because Doss certainly is a clown.
Ringmaster Doss with the one button suit. Well, if they were to hire a Director and the famous four votes don’t like their hair that day, or they don’t comply to THEIR RULES, they will be on the street before dark-thirty!What a circus indeed!
I wonder who in State Police wrote those letters for Doss?
WHAT A JOKE!
Reading the condescending tone of these letters speaks volumes. They basically tell these folk, including Edwards, what they’re going to do! Maybe on one occasion before he leaves office in 35 months, Edwards will show some backbone, but I would certainly not advise that anyone hold his breath waiting on it,
Mr. Robert please don’t count the Governor out just yet. Remember he knows exactly what is going on. I think he will make the right decision though. If not, it is what it is and people will not forget about it at election time I can promise you that one.