Louisiana Voice

As if Louisiana State Police (LSP) has not experienced enough problems in recent years, the Louisiana Supreme Court has affirmed a judgment of more than $850,000 against the agency over its imposition of a schedule of fines against a New Orleans towing company that was ultimately deemed to be unconstitutional.

In April of this year, a three-judge panel of the FIRST CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEAL unanimously overturned a dismissal of the initial lawsuit by the 19^th Judicial District Court and LSP took its case to the state supreme court, which denied writs, thus making the award final.

A suit was brought by Mid-City Automotive of New Orleans in 2016 after state police issued three citations to the company for violations of a law which regulated the towing of vehicles from private property.

Mid-City, which operates a towing company in New Orleans, which conducts nonconsensual tows of vehicles from private property, was first assessed fines on March 19 and September 1, 2015 in the amounts of $250 and $300, respectively. Following a third citation on September 22, 2015, Mid-City’s storage inspection license was suspended for 30 days under the statute.

Mid-City filed suit, alleging that certain provisions of the statute were invalid. Following a bench trial in Baton Rouge, the court dismissed Mid-City’s petition with prejudice, meaning the suit could not be revived.

Mid-City appealed and won, prompting LSP’s application for writs to the Supreme Court.

The statute stipulated that property, parking areas, and spaces must be clearly marked to warn motorists that unauthorized vehicles may be towed. Mid-City was cited for towing vehicles from parking areas which were not properly marked.

Mid-City argued in its petition that the schedule of fines contained in the statute was invalid because the legislature’s delegation of authority to LSP to adopt and levy fines was an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to an administrative agency and therefore exceeded the scope of the authority granted to LSP.

LSP was ordered to pay $851,185.83 to Mid-City and also ordered to pay appeal costs of $4,656.

It was the latest in a string of legal setbacks for the embattled agency that has been the subject of dozens of stories about miscreant state troopers, mismanagement, the death of one black motorist and the beatings of other black motorists, cover-ups, a state police academy cheating scandal, and high turnover in recent years at its leadership level.

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Here’s a novel idea that’s certain not to catch on:

Before you become a candidate for a judgeship at any level – municipal, district appellate, federal, or a state or US Supreme Court – whether appointive or elective, you must renounce all affiliation with any political party and you must never so much as whisper any partisan political utterance whatsoever.

And when any such judgeship to which you aspire is elective (as all but federal judgeships in Louisiana are), you are forbidden from accepting political contributions from any attorney, paralegal or private investigator or any of their family members.

Finally, if you so much as think you might want to be a judge one day, you must refrain from making political contributions yourself or from any member of your immediate family to any political candidate.

All that flies in the face of tradition and amounts to a slap in the face of good old fashion politics but in the end, aren’t judges, by definition, supposed to be impartial to a fault? To carry the label of a political party or to express personal leanings in an election ad seems to debase the very image of the position, lowering the title holder to little more than just another political hack.

So, why do I feel this way? And am I alone in this? It’s really only common sense when you think about it. Let’s say, for example, that you are a plaintiff or defendant in some criminal or civil case. The presiding judge has received generous campaign contributions from your opposing counsel while your attorney committed the unpardonable sin of supporting the judge’s opponent in the last election.

Think you’re going to get a fair deal? Perhaps, but if things don’t go your way, you will never be able to shake that feeling that you got screwed by politics.

Maybe your courtroom opponent was the CAMPAIGN MANAGER for the judge’s election campaign. How impartial is that? Perhaps a better question would be how cozy is that?

How about the case of former 2^nd Circuit Court of Appeal Judge HENRY BROWN? His case had nothing to do with campaign contributions or the like, but it did illustrate how easily judges can lose sight of their ability to rule impartially and fairly.

Or say you have what you feel is a solid case of excessive force by the local sheriff on your kid. Or maybe the sheriff barged into your house by mistake on one of those no-knock warrants and in the ensuing confusion, shot and killed your prize show-dog. But when you sue the sheriff – if you can even get past the qualified immunity obstacle he’s sure to throw in your path – you find that the presiding judge, of all people, contributed to the sheriff’s last election campaign. What do you think your odds are now?

Take, for instance, a Republican judge on one of the state’s five Courts of Appeal. On her web page, she unabashedly describes herself as “a lifelong conservative,” which might be slightly off-putting to a dedicated liberal who, understandably, might desire a more open-minded judge hearing his case.

Not only that, but this judge has contributed generously through the years to various political candidates, including $2,000 she once dropped on Attorney General Jeff Landry.

Another Republican appeal court judge hedged his bets somewhat back in 2003 when he contributed $3100 to Democrat Kathleen Blanco but was less generous in giving only $600 to Republican Bobby Jindal. But he scattered smaller contributions to a host of other political candidates.

And then there’s Louisiana Attorney General and probable 2023 gubernatorial candidate Jeff Landry, who greased the campaigns of judges, political action committees, gubernatorial and legislative candidates.

There are certain NORMS that judicial candidates are expected to observe. Even when subject to the rigors of a public election, a judge must assume a role separate from that of a run-of-the-mill office holder. Rather than making the popular decision based upon the expressed views or preferences of the electorate, a judge makes decisions based upon the law and the facts of every case. Period. Therefore, it is critical that judges and judicial candidates, to the greatest extent possible, be free from political influence and the prevailing mood of the moment.

Both party affiliation and contributions to political parties are allowed but not to individual candidates, according to JUDICIAL CANONS, which also caution that judicial candidates should not “make statements which cast doubt on the judge’s capacity to decide impartiality any issue that may come before a judge.” (emphasis added)

Despite the existence of those canons and of disciplinary procedures theorhetically in place, judges continue to fly below the radar and are probably the public officials held least accountable, recent scrutiny of the US Supreme Court notwithstanding.

Which brings us to Louisiana Supreme Court Justice JEFF HUGHES who, in his campaign for the state’s high court was so frank as to trumpet his pro-gun, pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, and pro-death penalty positions while boasting in his TV ads, “President Obama would never appoint Jeff Hughes to the Louisiana Supreme Court.” (John Kennedy is probably wishing he’d said something like that in one of his folksy TV spots. I’s so him.)

Well, of course not, silly man. First of all, the position is elective, not appointive. Second, Obama doesn’t appoint any judges at the state level. You see, he’s federal. We’re state. You should’ve learned that in high school civics.

And pity the poor pro-choice gay shooting victim who might suffer the fate of having Hughes write the opinion on his appeal.

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My apologies, readers, but I just don’t have the imagination of the former guy when it comes to grifting.

I come around only twice a year with hat in hand asking for your financial support of this blog and the research it does to bring you inside stories of Louisiana politics and politicians. The former guy shows up in my email inbox no fewer than 20-25 times each day asking for money – and he never even bothers to inform me that once I fall for his line and contribute, he then extracts an identical amount not just that once, but weekly.

I don’t do that.

He offers autographed golf balls, caps, gold membership cards to his special club, a chance to meet him at some event, an opportunity to “look at” his new plane, certificates, and various other “benefits” for contributing. I can’t complete with that, though I have offered copies of my books, which Donnie Jr. is also hawking on some of those emails (he says his book is breaking all records, though he neglects to say what records those are).

I don’t do that.

And he asks his donors to help him save America.

I don’t do that, either.

But I do ask that you help me continue my work exposing the corrupt underbelly of Louisiana politics.

So, if you feel moved to help LouisianaVoice do its job as opposed to helping TFG do his job of “saving America from the libtards,” I invite you to click on the yellow DONATE button in the column to the right of this post. That will allow you to pay by credit card. You don’t need a PayPal account to do this; your credit card will deposit your contribution into LouisianaVoice’s PayPal account. And better yet, it will be only a ONE-TIME payment as opposed to those repetitive payments to TFG.

If you don’t want to pay by credit card, you may mail a check to Tom Aswell, P.O. Box 922, Denham Springs, Louisiana 70727.

As always, your continued support is both vital and appreciated.

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A reasonable assumption would be that with all the stories of abuse, payroll fraud, sexual escapades, and cover-ups over the past 17 years, the Louisiana State Police would at least make an effort to clean up their act.

But that just doesn’t seem to be the case at all. Beginning with the physical abuse inflicted on former New Orleans attorney ASHTON O’DWYER during Hurricane Katrina by State Police from Troop F and culminating in the beatings of black motorists in Troop F and allegations of cheating by cadets at the State Police Academy, the agency has been plagued by a series of self-inflicted troubles.

And just as things had settled down somewhat, came back-to-back-to-back stories that gave State Police yet another black eye.

On September 12, a performance AUDIT of LSP by the Legislative Auditor’s office revealed that the number of investigations of unbecoming conduct, excessive force, and unsatisfactory performance increased by 92 percent from 2020 to 2021.

The same day the audit was released, a former state trooper pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice in connection with a traffic stop during which she shot an unarmed man, leaving him partially paralyzed.

Nine days later, State Police Lieutenant Kirk Thibodeaux was arrested in South Dakota on a misdemeanor charge of hiring a prostitute while he was in Rapid City for a work conference. He was placed on administrative leave pending criminal and administrative investigations.

Former State Trooper Kasha Domingue was fired in 2021 following her indictment on counts of aggravated second-degree battery and illegal use of a weapon in connection with the 2018 shooting of teenager Clifton Dilley. As part of her plea agreement to the reduced misdemeanor charge, she was sentenced to six months’ probation. She also signed a letter of agreement with the victim’s family in which she promised to never serve in law enforcement again.

Back in June, Trooper Aubin Young was placed on leave after he refused to provide a blood sample following his DWI ARREST in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Louisiana State Police problems persisted despite having one of the largest budgets and being among the highest-paid in the South. The LSP budget of $330.7 million for Fiscal Year 2022 was second only to the $409 million of Texas, which has 3,878 state troopers compared to 1,779 for Louisiana. South Carolina, with 1,138 state troopers, has a budget of only $89 million.

Of the nine other states included in comparisons – Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas – Louisiana was the only state that required that its state police superintendent be appointed from LSP ranks.

Most disturbing was the finding that from 2019 to 2021, there were 366 complaints filed with 247 (67.5 percent being sustained.

And that was after LSP did its dead-level best to cover up details of the RONALD GREENE beating death by Troop F troopers in May of 2019.

And the first arrest in connection with the Greene death only came after 175 STORIES by LouisianaVoice about State Police, after at least two beatings, one death, and numerous retirements.

And still, there’s turmoil at the agency.

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It’s that time of year again and this time the need is greater than usual.

LouisianaVoice holds two fundraisers per year – in October and April. Keeping this blog going is not free, though the cost is not a deal breaker. We’ve managed to keep the lights on, even in the aftermath of the 2016 flood and last year’s Hurricane Ida.

We try to keep up with our members of Congress because the mainstream media seem to ignore the little things that we never see or hear about. When they cast votes that are detrimental to the interests of their constituents, the people of Louisiana need to know that.

That’s why we told you when John Kennedy voted to deprive military veterans exposed to toxic burn pits in Iraq critical medical benefits.

That’s why we told you about Rep. Clay Higgins’s bogus “investigation” into the “real story” of Jan. 5, 2021.

That’s why we told you about the entire Louisiana House Republican delegation voting no on the Presidential Elections Reform Act.

It’s why we explained the history of the state’s $101 million class action lawsuit over the Tangipahoa flooding – that occurred 39 years ago, a case that had grown to some $330 million with judicial interest before the reduced settlement was negotiated.

And it’s why we reported that Orleans Parish had the highest percentage of wrongful convictions in the U.S. (Jefferson Parish was fourth highest in the nation) due in large part to the concealment of exculpatory evidence by prosecutors.

Right now, LouisianaVoice is pursuing information about the selection of juries in Louisiana (and the manner in which some are exempted from jury duty) and one clerk of court has informed us that the records we seek will cost at least $1,000. Other clerks also are demanding payment for their records. At the same time, efforts to obtain what are clearly public records from the Louisiana Clerks of Court Association appear to be headed to litigation.

All that costs money, considerably more money that we normally are required to spend on public records.

Because of those added expenses, we are coming to you to ask that you continue to support our efforts financially as you have in the past. Your past support is appreciated more than you know. Now we ask that you click on the yellow DONATE button in the column to the right of this post and pay by credit card or you may mail your checks to Tom Aswell, P.O. Box 922, Denham Springs, Louisiana 70727.

Again, we thank you for your support.

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