Louisiana Voice

It’s really curious how some quotes never seem to go out of style.

It’s been a full decade since former Lt. Gov. candidate Caroline Fayard said Republicans eat their own.

Okay, that isn’t the precise quote. Her verbatim OBSERVATION was, “I hate Republicans. They are cruel and destructive. They eat their young. They don’t think. They don’t allow people to think. They are bullies.”

Okay, a tad strong even if, as Fayard later claimed, the quote was taken out of context. It probably came back to bite her three years later when she ran a poor fourth in the 2016 jungle primary for U.S. Senate with only 12 percent of the vote. (The race ultimately went to that Foghorn Leghorn hybrid John Kennedy. But more on him presently.)

Fayard’s observation came home in spades Saturday when the Louisiana Repugnantcan Party, intolerant of any pretense of allowing its members to think, CENSURED one of their own, Sen. Bill Cassidy, on Saturday only hours after he joined six other Repugnantcan senators in voting to convict impeached Donald Trump.

So much for devouring their own. And so much for allowing their members, no matter how loyal they’ve been in the past in toeing the party line, to dare to think for themselves, to put the nation’s interests ahead of the party’s, to even jeopardize their own political future by voting their conscience.

There is little doubt that Cassidy has put his own reelection in peril. Never mind he still has six years to mend political fences before he again goes before the voters. Never mind that his single overriding reason for voting for conviction was that Trump was guilty – something that even minority leader Mitch McConnell who, other than Mike Pence and Lindsey Graham, was undoubtedly the most loyal of Trump loyalists for four years, maintained in his strongly-worded epilog to the impeachment trial fiasco.

The fact is the Louisiana Repugnantcan Party, like the newly-branded Repugnantcan on the national level, is a bully. They did it in Arizona with Cindy McCain, Gov. Doug Ducey and former Sen. Jeff Flake and the Wyoming Repugnantcans did it with Liz Cheney although the national party chose not to strip her as the number 3 Repugnantcan in the House.

McCain and Flake endorsed Biden over Trump in the presidential election. Okay, it’s pretty easy to see why the Repugnantcans might get their panties in a wad over that but Ducey? All he did was sign the certification of Biden’s victory. Well, he did place restrictions on individuals and businesses in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus.

But back to Cassidy. On Jan. 6, the day that motley throng of insurrectionists descended upon the U.S. Capitol at Donald Trump’s urging, it was Cassidy who, alone among Louisiana’s Repugnantcan delegation, refused to vote to challenge the election by objecting to the certification of a state’s electors.

Let that sink in. Every other Louisiana Repugnantcan congressman took it upon himself to challenge the results of another state’s election results that had already been challenged dozens of times in the courts and those challenges rejected every single time.

Why?

Because the party deemed that they do so. Never mind what the courts, presided over in many cases by Trump appointees, ruled. Never mind what the voters in that state wanted. Never mind what vote recounts had affirmed. Trump wants you to challenge the results, so you’d damned well better do it.

That’s the kind of dictatorial edict one might expect in a totalitarian, one-party-rule country like…oh, say, North Korea, Iran, Russia, Venezuela, or Nazi Germany.

Cassidy also stood alone among his fellow Repugnantcans from this state in voting that the impeachment trial was legal and constitutional, that great constitutional scholar Jeff Landry’s opinion notwithstanding. But then, remember that Landry played a MAJOR ROLE in the Republican Attorneys General Association’s promotion of that Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. Where was the State Repugnantcan Party in condemning that action? Strangely quiet, that’s where.

Cassidy assuredly knew there would be backlash from those three actions, but he voted his conscience nevertheless.

John F. Kennedy (certainly not John N. Kennedy, make no mistake about that), had several quotes in his book Profiles in Courage that come to mind:

• “A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or reward that quality in its chosen leaders today.”
• “What is now important is the courage he displayed in support of his convictions.”
• “In whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience – the loss of friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men – each man must decide for himself the course he will follow.”
• “Today the challenge of political courage looms larger than ever before.”
• “When his regard for himself is so high that his own self-respect demands he follow the path of courage and conscience that all benefit.”

In Act II, Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, it is Caesar who says, “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”

Contrasting Cassidy’s decision to answer to his conscience as it dictated to him the right course to follow in the wake of deliberate insurrection and treason with the Repugnantcan Party’s response to his decision, it’s a simple task to accurately assign the labels of courage and cowardice here.

Suffice it to say the Repugnantcan Party has doomed itself to many such metaphoric deaths.

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Reports from a source with knowledge of the situation has described to LouisianaVoice what he describes as “serious problems” with the Louisiana State Police (LSP) Crime Lab, specifically the DNA Unit within the confines of the crime lab.

The “serious problems” he cited involve low morale, employee turnover and work backlog, all brought about by what he termed discriminatory practices on the part of the department’s new unit manager.

The source also described what he termed as a “hostile workplace and blatant racial discrimination, which is rampant all over State Police.”

His complaints have taken on new meaning with the filing of a federal discrimination LAWSUIT.

against LSP by two retired African American troopers who say they “and other similarly-situated black and minority employees” were repeatedly denied promotions that went to lesser-qualified white fellow troopers.

John Edward Childers and Anthony Pitts said they and other minority LSP employees in past years were provided “little or no reasons” for their promotion denials.

Childers retired at the rank of Master Trooper on May 15, 2020, and Pitts, a Captain in the Recruiting and Public Affairs Division, retired from LSP on Feb. 15, 2019.

Pitts began his LSP career in 1990 and Childers started in 1992.

Throughout their combined careers of nearly 60 years, Childers and Pitts “have been victims of employment discrimination and have observed that Black troopers receive harsher discipline and are denied more promotions than” their white counterparts,” their petition, filed in U.S. District Court’s Middle District in Baton Rouge, says.

Childers were promoted to Sergeant in the Indian Gaming Section of LSP in September 2001 but five years later was demoted back to Master Trooper and transferred to the Detectives Division with the Bureau of Investigation after being accused of an inappropriate relationship with a casino employee during business hours, though he has denied he was working at the time.

He subsequently applied for five different sergeant positions in various departments but each time, a white applicant, who he said in each case possessed lesser qualifications, was promoted ahead of him. “Some of those employees had significant disciplinary histories and/or had fewer years of law enforcement experience,” the lawsuit said.

When he inquired into the reason he was being passed over, he was told by Troop I Commander Capt. (now Major) Wayne Vidrine that it was because Childers had a “prior disciplinary history” that would be required to be disclosed pursuant to Brady v. Maryland should he ever be asked to testify at trial. The lawsuit says Vidrine told him his disciplinary history could implicate his credibility and reliability as a witness.

One of those promoted over him, Lt. John Cannon, a white trooper who while still holding the rank of trooper, was disciplined “at least once” for having sexual intercourse with a woman in the backseat of his patrol car and was also involved in the theft of internet or cable services, the suit claims. “Unlike Childers, Lt. Cannon’s discipline did not include a demotion,” it added.

Actually, a Oct. 4, 2015, STORY by LouisianaVoice indicates that Cannon twice had sex with the woman on two occasions. The woman told West Feliciana Parish sheriff’s deputies that she had exchanged sex for money with Cannon. The only discrepancy in Childers’ claim was that Cannon held the rank of trooper at the time. In reality, he had been promoted to lieutenant in August 2010.

But Childers were correct in asserting that Cannon was not demoted, though he did get a 36-hour suspension without pay and a $904.96 per pay period reduction in pay for nine two-week pay periods.

Other white troopers promoted over Childers, the lawsuit says, include:

Lt. Jude Matthews, disciplined for “the same and/or similar infractions” as that of Childers;

Lt. Shannon Lavergne, while holding the rank of trooper, was arrested for driving while intoxicated and was subsequently promoted first to sergeant, then to lieutenant.

Lt. Lanny Bergeron, while a trooper, was arrested for domestic batter and subsequently promoted first to sergeant, then to lieutenant.

Sgt. Travis Colombel, while still a trooper, was arrested in March 2010 for malfeasance in office but in October 2018, was promoted to the rank of sergeant.

“Childers has never been arrested and did not have disciplinary histories as extensive as Matthews, Lavergne, Bergeron or Colombel,” the lawsuit said. “Nevertheless (he) was denied 24 promotions.”

Moreover, he said his placement on the so-called “Brady List” was used as a device to deny him promotions for 14 years.

Pitts likewise applied twice for the position of Major but was passed over in favor of what the lawsuit says were “less-qualified white LSP employees, namely Darrin Naquin and Vidrine.

Pitts had 16 years of supervisory experience and was a graduate of the prestigious Northwestern University Center for Public Safety, Staff and Command School in Evanston, Illinois. “It is believed that Maj. Vidrine had not attended any such schools at the time,” the suit says, adding, “It is further believed that Maj. Darrin Naquin (now retired) was once the captain/commander of Troop C and was subsequently involuntarily transferred to Troop N as the commander for disciplinary reasons.”

Pitts also applied for a third major position in LSP’s Gaming Division as well as an office at LSP headquarters but was again passed over in favor of white applicants. “Some of these [white] employees [who were promoted over Pitts] had significant disciplinary histories and/or fewer years of law enforcement experience than Pitts.”

Both men, represented by Baton Rouge attorney J. Arthur Smith, III, say that their denials of promotions cost them considerable money in potential salary increases that would’ve gone with promotions.

The individual who lodged his informal complaint with LouisianaVoice said, “The Crime Lab is considered the crown jewel of the State Police operation and the DNA Unit is the crown jewel of the crime lab.”

The current manager is Erica Sparacino, the former training officer. “She was the least experienced of the candidates for the position,” he said, “which was vacated when former manager Joanie Brocato was forced out (on February 24, 2019), in part due to a pending lawsuit.  Brocato made a soft landing into another position (first at the Louisiana Department of Hospital’s Office of Public Health on February 25, 2019, and on Jan. 14, 2020, as a professor at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans) and helped choose her replacement, as she is connected to a high-level lieutenant colonel from the previous administration. It seems that during the time that Erica Sparacino (a former crime lab analysist) was the training officer, no minority employees made it through training and probation.  So, there are few, if any, Blacks working in the DNA lab.”

He said it is “very hard to find people to work in the DNA Lab, who are qualified and who can pass the background check. It’s very expensive to train new staff, and the turnover is high. The DNA unit once had a huge backlog and worked hard to eliminate it. There is now a big backlog of cases once again, in large part due to being understaffed.”  

Like Childers and Pitts, the LouisianaVoice source cited several Sparacino promotions of individuals who were appointed over better-qualified and longer-tenured employees. Erica’s trainees who work in the DNA Lab are neurotic and unable to cope with the demands of the job, both men and women,” he said. “There has been a huge turnover since she became the manager. The technical leader recently left after 15 years in the lab, and several other highly experienced people have also left.” 

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Apparently, there is no herd immunity for nearly a third of the US population.

Research data provided by the Associated Press National Opinion Research Center (NORC) for Public Affairs indicate that 32 PERCENT of the overall population either “probably will not” (17 percent) or “definitely will not” (15 percent) receive a Covid-19 vaccination whenever it becomes available.

For Republicans, Independents, non-college graduates and the 30-44-age group, the responses were even more negative.

The numbers offered up by NORC must make one wonder what it would take to get through to a certain segment of the population.

Perhaps experience that only comes with age. It was comedian Richard Pryor, after all, who once said, “You don’t get old being (a) fool.”

Of those age 60 and over, 20 percent (the largest number of any group) have already had their shots while 50 percent (again, the biggest number of any segment polled) say they “definitely will” receive the vaccination and 11 percent said they “probably will.” Another 11 percent said they “probably will not,” and only 7 percent said they “definitely will not.”

Likewise, the numbers for college graduates were 17 percent already have, 50 percent “definitely will,” 15 percent “probably will,” 10 percent “probably will not,” and 7 percent “definitely will not.”

The numbers are similar for Democrats: 16, 48, 15, 11 and 7.

Conversely, for non-college-graduates, 12 percent have been vaccinated, 27 percent say they “definitely will,” and 21 percent say they “probably will.” Incredulously, 40 percent in this group say they either “probably will not” (21 percent) or “definitely will not” (19 percent).

Among Republicans, the numbers are 12, 24, 20, 21 and 23. That’s is nearly half (44 percent) who either said they “probably will not” or “definitely will not.”

Independents: 10, 26, 20, 26 and 16.

For ages 30-44, those questioned appeared to feel they had an aura of invincibility with 42 percent (21 percent each) said they either “probably will not” or “definitely will not” take the vaccination.

Some skeptics hold to the absurd belief that with the vaccinations, the government would be injecting a monitoring device by which the government would be able to track our movements.

Others cling to their assertions that the coronavirus was never more than a regular case of the flu. That, too, is ludicrous. In 2019, the year before coronavirus struck, 34,200 Americans died from influenza. Thus far, coronavirus has killed 450,000 Americans.

In two years (1918-19), before the invention of penicillin and with substantially fewer weapons to fight the spread, 675,000 Americans died of the Spanish Flu.

If Americans in 2021 cannot be convinced of the sanity of wearing masks and getting vaccinated, we are almost certain to surpass the 675,000 of 1918 and 1919.

In retrospect, all it would have taken was for Donald Trump to plead with his Republican and non-college-education devotees to wear the damn masks, to get off his Big Mac eating, twitter-sending, Fox-watching ass and have a decent and efficient system of vaccine distribution in place and ready to go when the vaccines became available.

But he just couldn’t do that. Instead, he placed JARED KUSHNER in charge of developing a vaccine – after he’d already botched an earlier assignment of overseeing the availability of personal protection equipment for front line workers and ventilators for patients. Meanwhile, Jared and daughter Ivanka were busy raking in $640 million while working in Daddy’s administration.

And let’s be perfectly clear: Jared Kushner did not develop a vaccine. In fact, he had nothing to do with developing a vaccine. He is no a scientist. Researches extensively trained in immunology, who have spent their entire careers in research, are the ones who developed the vaccines. Jared Kushner’s background is that of a slumlord.

If Trump had only not downplayed the coronavirus (“it’s like the flu,” “it’ll disappear by Easter,” “it’s a Democratic hoax”) and told his base to mask up and take the vaccinations when they became available, you’d see pro-Trump anti-vaxxers who slept through civics classes in high school signing up for their shots.

But that’s the reality in which we live today – a reality where, thanks to social media, up is down, black is white, wrong is right and those who can shout the loudest prevail.

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An alarming trend in efforts by public agencies and public officials to shield themselves of public accountability via a tactic called strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP) is being employed with more regularity in Louisiana.

The most recent manifestation of this strategy is the lawsuit by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (who, by the way, has championed transparency on the part of others) against the Baton Rouge Advocate-New Orleans Times-Picayune and its reporter Andrea Gallo.

So, what exactly did Gallo do that warranted legal action against her and her publications by the state’s top legal authority (a description, by the way, that goes far in illustrating just how bad it’s gotten in this state)?

Basically, she made a public record request Pursuant to LA. R.S. 44.1 (et seq.), which gives every Louisiana citizen of legal age the right to examine public documents that are not otherwise exempt from examination and/or copying.

Peter Kovacs, executive editor of the papers, said, “In my 40 years as an editor, I’ve never seen a journalist get sued for requesting a public record.”

Apparently, he hasn’t been paying attention.

As early as May 2015, judges in the 4^th Judicial District (Ouachita and Morehouse parishes) FILED SUIT against the Ouachita Citizen newspaper after that publication made a public records requests for documents on whether 4^th JDC Clerk Allyson Campbell destroyed or otherwise mishandled public records in a high-profile lawsuit in that court.

In June 2016, JOHN WHITE, thenserving as Louisiana Superintendent of Education, FILED SUIT against activists Mike Deshotels and Dr. James Finney over public record requests they made.

Not long after that, in August 2016, Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter employed criminal libel law that was no longer in force to justify a raid on the home of a local blogger who had the temerity to criticize the sheriff on his blog. The good news on that one was a federal judge blocked the sheriff, the blogger sued and won a $250,000 settlement from the sheriff.  

In 2015, Lake Charles attorney RUSSELL STUTES, representing Calcasieu Parish’s Gravity Drainage District 8, sued Breaux Bridge contractor Billy Broussard because Broussard kept attempting to get the parish to pay him about $1 million for his work in cleaning out Indian Bayou following Hurricane Rita in 2005. Broussard also never got the money that was owed him. Broussard was placed under a restraining order PROHIBITING him from making public records requests or even being allowed to communicate with members of the gravity drainage district or the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury. Broussard also never got the money that was owed him.

That, apparently is what you can expect when the legal system is used to the advantage of those who know how to manipulate it.

Also in 2017, the mayor of Welsh, her daughter and son and the town’s police chief filed four separate lawsuits (using the same attorney) against Alderman JACOB COLBY PERRY who ultimately prevailed and collected attorney fees of about $16,000 from the four plaintiffs – all because he was asking questions about the town’s budget, something an alderman might reasonably be expected to do.

About that same time, I was also sued and won a judgment against the plaintiff for court costs and attorney fees.

The most flagrant violation of a citizen’s right to ask questions came in 2018 in VERMILION PARISH when a Kaplan middle school teacher was hauled out of a school board meeting and arrested because she asked why the local school superintendent was being given a health pay raise when teachers were not getting an increase.

That incident made national news and did nothing to enhance the public image of the local school board. Charges against the teacher were quickly dropped but the damage was done and the pollical fallout had begun. A 15^th JDC judge nullified the $30,000 per year pay raise for Superintendent Jerome Puyau.

And of course, Attorney General Landry was quick to recognize the political capital to be gained by weighing in with his defense of openness, transparency, accountability and apple pie.

“…[E]very community has a stake in the performance and the governance of its public schools,” sniffed Landry. “The community’s views and thoughts should be taken into account before any action or discussion on an agenda item occurs.”

“Ms. Hargrave [the teacher in question] has been a dedicated public servant, educating our State’s youth and even earning Middle School Teacher of the Year Honors for her efforts. Her voice and the voices of her fellow teachers, who have not received a pay increase in many years despite growing class sizes, should have absolutely been heard.

“I applaud Judge Smith for remedying this injustice, including assurance the Board will abide by the laws and policies related to public comment at future meetings,” he said. “And I pledge to continue diligent enforcement of our Open Meetings Law.”

Well, that certainly sounded good and wholesome at the time.

But that was then and now the shoe is on the other foot and it’s a horse of a different color (check back for future clichés as they occur to me).

Landry is first, last and always, a political animal whose first instincts are survival – not the self-serving claim of protecting the public’s interests.

It now seems that when one of those “fake news” reporters gets too close, the attorney general must finally turn his attention from trying to get Trump back in office by encouraging (through the National Association of Attorneys General) a riotous INVASION of the U.S. Capitol back on Jan. 6 to protecting his own turf.

So, as a result of reporter Gallo’s Dec. 14 public records request of copies of sexual harassment complaints against Pat Magee, director of the criminal division for Landry’s office, the only logical thing to do was to filed suit to block Gallo’s request.

Magee was put on administrative leave by letter of Jan. 19 and an official investigation was initiated. But here’s the really wild part: in a state racked with the costs of hurricanes and a pandemic during 2020, where state sales tax revenues have taken a hit, Landry sees fit to spend money the state can’t afford by engaging the services of Taylor Porter, one of the big-dollar law firms in Baton Rouge, to conduct its investigation of allegations against Magee when a smaller, less expensive law firm could do the same job at far less cost. (Pre-2008 and pre-Jindal reforms, I would suggest letting the State Ethics Board look into the allegations but that possibility is but a distant, fading dream.)

Both Magee and Landry hail from the Lafayette area and both attended Southern University Law School together and Magee is a member of the Southern University Board of Supervisors. He earns about $140,000 per year as head of the Criminal Division.

In seeking the complaints, the newspaper offered to make concessions to protect the identity of complainants. “We would invite redaction of the initial complaint to protect the identity of the victim, but that is the only privacy interest even arguably applicable,” said Advocate-Picayune attorney Scott Sternberg.

But Landry would rather sue to block any public accountability.

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One of the campaign promises made by President Joe Biden was an end to the practice of private prisons.

If the examples of problems experienced by LaSalle Management, aka LaSalle Corrections, of Ruston are in any way indicative of conditions throughout the industry, that might be a very good thing indeed.

LouisianaVoice in recent months has had no fewer than nine stories of wrongful death lawsuits, class action lawsuit over forced hysterectomies at its Georgia facility, wrongful injury lawsuits, violations of Department of Labor requirements, falsification of records, inadequate employee training and even a description of how the company reorganized its corporate structure in order to deny the ex-wife of one of the company’s principals her ownership share of corporate stock.

As the calendar rolled over to 2021, LaSalle has found itself hit by two more legal blows in quick succession.

In January, the company paid out a $405,000 settlement to a former prisoner at the Jackson Parish Correctional Center who said a fall at the jail left him severely injured and that he was subsequently denied physical therapy. The man, Lane Carter, said he was often forced to drag himself across the jail’s floors because guards refused to provide him a wheelchair. Moreover, following his injury, medical treatment was denied on several occasions and his only treatment was an over-the-counter pain medication.

The latest legal salvo against the company comes in the form of yet another wrongful death claim by the family of inmate Cecil Williams who suffered an asthma attack at the LaSalle-run Madison Parish Correctional Center in Tallulah. He was denied treatment or resuscitation efforts for more than an hour after he lost consciousness and ultimately died, the lawsuit claims.

LaSalle, which Dun & Bradstreet says generates $34 million per year in sales, operates NINE FACILITIES in Louisiana as well as other installations in Texas, New Mexico and Georgia.

Operated by the McConnell family, the company’s headquarters are located, perhaps appropriately, at 192 Bastille Lane in Ruston.

Here are links to other stories LouisianaVoice has done on LaSalle:

Whistleblower’s hysterectomy complaint on LaSalle Georgia detention center has strong Ruston, Louisiana connections | Louisiana Voice

Judge cites LaSalle Corrections for lack of training, falsifying documents in abuse, wrongful death in Texarkana jail ruling | Louisiana Voice

LaSalle Corrections penalized by Dept. of Labor for failure to pay benefits to 122 contract employees at its Tullos facility | Louisiana Voice

Inaccessibility of doctor, falsification of records, neglect lead to still another wrongful death lawsuit at LaSalle jail facility | Louisiana Voice

A peek into LaSalle Corrections background and how its principals will go to great lengths to protect investment | Louisiana Voice

LaSalle’s Web page is back up and it’s a dream job now; still, that doesn’t erase $177,500 pepper spray incident settlement | Louisiana Voice

Inmate beaten while “lost” to personnel of LaSalle-run jail; just another in long line of woes for Ruston prison company | Louisiana Voice

Case in LaSalle-run facility in Georgia now a class-action suit that could expose widespread detainee sterilizations | Louisiana Voice

Employee reviews of the company paint an equally bleak picture:

Working at LaSalle Corrections: 182 Reviews | Indeed.com

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