Louisiana Voice

Nineteenth Judicial District Judge Beau Higginbotham fell back on the classic legal maneuver of “splitting the baby” in his decision over the LSU-Shreveport committee’s illegal decision to conduct the TERMINATION HEARING of Dr. Brian Salvatore in closed session.

Salvatore attorney J. Arthur Smith slapped LSU with a lawsuit over the open meetings violation and the good judge did indeed rule that LSU had violated the law in closing the doors but in doing so, he failed to assess any damages against LSU, a move certain to gain political favor in the eyes of dictator Gov. Jeff Landry who has successfully gutted the State Ethics Commission for its sin of finding a campaign violation against him.

Without any penalty being imposed, the judge’s decision renders the Open Meetings Law meaningless and makes any attempt to enforce ethics on Louisiana political figures nothing more than a running joke. Hell, they don’t even let expired auto inspection stickers off that easily.

What’s next, a “tsk-tsk” should the governor wander astray of the Public Records Law? Probably. After all, Landry has already tried unsuccessfully to shield “public” records from public scrutiny. What’s to stop him from simply ignoring the law knowing that there will be no significant penalty imposed as a deterrent?

At the risk of pissing off a judge, his milquetoast decision reduces the law to a piece of paper devoid of any real meaning.

But, were armed guards really necessary at the LSU committee hearing on the ouster of Dr. Brian Salvatore? Well, when you’re violating the law, do so with an appropriate show of force.

Dr. Salvatore, you may remember, had requested that his hearing be conducted in open meeting, as is his right under Louisiana law. But an ad hoc faculty committee, hand-picked by LSUS Chancellor Robert Smith, had other ideas, much like that ignoble hearing of four fired professors at Southern University.in which a similar scenario played out with the public – and the four professors – being barred from a hearing on their fate.

In the SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY case, the four professors and LouisianaVoice sued over the blatant violation of the state’s open meeting laws. Southern’s brilliant legal team argued to no avail that the committee was not a public body and the four professors and LouisianaVoice were awarded $1,000 each – an award yet to be paid five years post-ruling.

The LSUS rubber-stamp committee issued a recommendation that Salvatore be terminated. Smith has already made the recommendation for termination leaving the only remaining step is the decision by LSU system President William Tate who has long since shown his propensity to knuckle under to political pressure to the detriment of the university. Tate himself has violated the open meetings law in the past, including a closed meeting in Shreveport in 2022 to discuss the fate of the LSUS campus.

Of course, Salvatore’s unforgivable sin was to speak out loud, clearly and often against pollution of northwest Louisiana air, land and water by corporate and university interests. That kind of rhetoric is verboten in the eyes of university administrators terrified of losing grant money and of Republicans who have taken over every phase of government in the years since 1980.

Don’t believe me? HERE, HERE and HERE are three takeover stories just from today.

The dots aren’t really that difficult to connect.

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