Louisiana Voice

It can no longer be ignored, denied or otherwise justified by any interpretation or defense of the Trump administration’s actions:

America is now officially a police state.

Take your time. Let the gravity of those seven words sink in and you will realize the dreadful accuracy of that assertion.

How else could you possibly explain masked men with no official law enforcement credentials (The “POLICE ICE” stenciled on the backs of their bullet-proof vests do not constitute fully-trained officers of the law) arresting 10,000 persons over a five-day period in June? ICE arrests 10,000 in 5 days | AP News

How else can you explain the wanton killings of nearly three dozen unarmed, innocent people by these Gestapo agents who all too often either do not even have or fail to activate body cams and who are not held accountable for the murders they commit?

(…And the list of fatalities above isn’t even complete…)

Take ICE thug David Brouillette, the man who gunned down 25-year-old Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero near the victim’s home in coastal Maine. Brouillette, it turns out, is an Army veteran with a history of struggling with serious mental health issues since childhood, according to his own relatives. Family members TOLD ASSOCIATED PRESS that Brouillette had a history of terrifying and violent behavior. He was said to be abusive of women, telling one in a voicemail that someone should slit her throat. His ex-wife said he once threw boiling water at her while holding their daughter. Yet, he was an official ICE agent, charged with protecting American citizens. Do you feel protected by this thug?

Only days earlier, an ICE agent shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston. Agents claimed the victim tried to run them down in his vehicle. Of course, that’s the same claim agents make in these cases—like that of Renee Nicole Good. That claim was disputed by witnesses, and, of course, there was no body cam video to back up that claim of “weaponization” of his vehicle. His son, Ronaldo Salgado, sad he learned of his father’s death not from official sources, but from a social media video taken from a passing auto.

The day following Brouillette’s killing of Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine, an unidentified man in Florida was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer truck as he was being pursued by ICE.

On July 14, following the Maine shooting, ICE announced it would temporarily end traffic stops

But guess what? Donald Trump did what he does best: shoot from the lip. Taking to Truth Social, he countermanded that order, directing ICE agents, who he said were “doing a GREAT job,” to continue doing traffic stops.

Trump Orders ICE to Not Change a Thing After Third Killing in a Week | The New Republic

Borrowing a phrase LBJ used to describe his predecessor’s Caribbean policies, Trump is running “a damned Murder, Inc.” through ICE. And one of its biggest branch offices is right here in Louisiana.

Inside-the-Black-Hole_Systemic-Human-Rights-Abuses-Against-Immigrants-Detained.pdf.

Louisiana has surged to the FOREFRONT OF NOTORIETY in the treatment of detainees, mostly by private prison companies like LaSalle Enterprises of Ruston and GEO Corp. of Boca Raton, Florida.

When searching online for ICE detention centers in Louisiana, it’s difficult to find anything positive about them. Plagued by inhuman conditions, reports abound about isolation, withholding of medical care that is often inadequate when received, stabbings, beatings and deprivation of civil and legal rights, story after story relates horrific treatment of immigrants and citizens alike.

Louisiana ICE Detention Centers Face Worsening Conditions – VisaVerge

Conditions at Louisiana ICE lockup worsen as detainees increase, immigrant rights advocates say • Louisiana Illuminator

Conditions are such that publications and organizations as diverse as The Washington Times, the Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center and Physicians for Human Rights have found it necessary to feature Bayou State ICE facilities in a negative light.

Federal watchdog flags use-of-force violations at Louisiana’s largest ICE facility

End Louisiana Immigration Detention – Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center

“Endless Nightmare”: Torture and Inhuman Treatment in Solitary Confinement in U.S. Immigration Detention – PHR

Even the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General’s office reported “horrifying” use-of-force violations at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield operated by LaSalle.

DHS watchdog reveals ICE agents’ horrifying use-of-force violations

A Louisiana judge earlier this month ordered the ICE facility in Basile in Evangeline Parish to RELEASE A WOMAN only months after she had given birth when ICE ignored its own rules on detaining pregnant and postpartum women.

But that order notwithstanding, ICE, a rogue gang of vigilantes who are unable to conform in a civilized society, routinely defies or otherwise ignores judges’ orders to release detainees.

 How ICE defies judges’ orders to release detainees, step by step – POLITICO

And why not? Those private prisons like LaSalle are paid by the occupied bed, so it’s critical that as many beds as possible be occupied to generate top dollar for the private prison. And because they contribute generously to Republicans like Trump and Jeff Landry, it’s a dead certainty that the orders are going to come down from the Justice Department to DHA and to ICE to keep the facilities as full as possible at all times.

It was only a matter of time before Gov. Jeff Landry, with the blessings of DHS and Trump, would decide to open a detention facility in America’s deadliest prison, the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The decision to house asylum seekers in a place intended for hardened criminals tells you a lot about the mindset of the decision makers and their complete lack of human compassion.

The Notorious Prison Chosen As Latest ICE Facility – Newsweek

What can you do about it? Plenty.

Here is a list of corporations who bankroll the biggest ICE supporters in Congress and the contributions they’ve made for those members who, in turn, lead the efforts to fund ICE so that it can continue to terrorize innocent people with zero accountability:

One individual’s boycott of these corporations won’t mean a thing to them. But collectively, if thousands or tens-of-thousands suddenly were to cease support all at once, the message would be heard loud and clear.

Folks, this may get me in a world of trouble, but these damned ICE agents are nothing more than domestic terrorists masquerading as guardians of the universe as if they were Storm Troopers in a George Lucas movie. My question is, if they’re legitimate, why do they wear masks? Why do they drive unmarked vehicles? Why are local law enforcement agencies so eager to work with these criminals? Why do we allow it?

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Landry, GOP govs join Trump pledge to shield utility ratepayers from data center costs • Louisiana Illuminator

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The LOUISIANA ILLUMINATOR, as it generally does, had a most interesting story today. Among the quotes contained in that story:

[Atty. Gen. Liz] Murrill and [Gov. Squeaky Toy] Landry said during a Wednesday news conference that although the special prosecutor has dropped the charges, it is not enough to prevent accountability for the city leaders Murrill accused of weaponizing the criminal justice system against her.

Maybe it’s just me, but I see (and hear) a lot of irony in Lizzie’s claim of weaponizing the justice system against her.

I mean, after all, she and the Gov. are butt-kissing buddies of Cadet Bonespurs who has pretty much set the standard for weaponization of the justice department against anyone—opposing politicians, prosecutors, journalists, former Olympic athletes, TV personalities, any person of a darker skin than Nehi orange.

“It’s not over,” Murrill said. “You can’t be friends with somebody who wants to put you in jail for 80 years.

See third paragraph.

“Mutual professional courtesy and professional working relationships, absolutely. We have always extended that to the city of New Orleans and its leadership, no matter how bad their decision-making is.” 

That’s an interesting observation for Landry’s sock puppet Murrill to make in light of her reluctance to meet with Mayor Helena Moreno and of her former (and current, it seems) boss’s assertion that N’awlins is no longer so important to the state:

Again, from the Louisiana Illuminator, which has become the GO-TO SOURCE for all things Louisiana, we have Squeaky Toy saying, “Used to be, the saying was, ‘Where goes New Orleans, where goes the state.’ Let me tell you what happened today. That has changed. Where goes Louisiana will determine the fate of New Orleans, okay?”

Perhaps it slipped Squeaky Toy’s mind that the Port of New Orleans ranks 6^th among all U.S. ports by total cargo tonnage.

Maybe he doesn’t realize how much revenue is generated by the Superdome and Smoothie King facilities in terms of sporting events, concerts and conventions or how much is generated by the Sugar Bowl and on those occasions when a Super Bowl or NCAA national championship game is held at the ‘Dome. Haven’t seen any of those events held anywhere else in Louisiana.

It could be he doesn’t remember the financial impact of the New Orleans Mardi Gras of Jazz Fest and other tourist attractions.

I haven’t observed anyone knocking down the doors to attend similar events in Monroe or Shongaloo or Dry Prong and the advantages of the huge datacenters he is so proud of have yet to be determined. If they result in higher electricity rates and water shortages, then I’m not buying what he’s selling.

As for now, I would put the value of the Louisiana Offshoe Oil Port (LOOP) in Port Fourchon, some 58 miles south of New Orleans, over the questionable and as-yet-to-be-determined benefits of those datacenters.

Lizzie, you may have won this round with a little help from your friends at the Louisiana Supreme Court, but as you yourself said, “It’s not over.”

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If you are a parent who has never had to enter a family courtroom to do battle with an ex-spouse over the welfare of your children, you are indeed a lucky person.

If you are fortunate to never having been involved in a custody/visitation dispute, you:

• Have never encountered judicial favoritism based solely on who has which attorney;
• Have never been screamed at and/or threatened with jail time—especially when there are no witnesses;
• Have never experienced the use of status conferences as a means to intimidate and coerce you;
• Have never been told you must agree with the judge’s recommendations lest the results will be worse—or you’ve previously held in contempt of court, threatened with jail;
• Seen matters that are by law, supposed to be heard with days continued for months until you are forced to cave in and stipulate to draconian conditions;
• Seen the opposing attorney and not the judge control the pace of litigation;
• Seen an attorney who puts up a good fight suddenly be deemed disqualified, leaving you “lawyerless” at a critical juncture of proceedings;
• Experience certain lawyers appearing before a certain judge never seeming to lose a case;
• Been the subject of a smear campaign by the opposing litigant, not through evidence from the witness stand, but from letters, emails and in status conferences suggesting you are mentally unstable, in need of counseling or therapy or worse, that you are dangerous;
• Seen your case continued month after month with no actual hearing of real evidence;
• Closing the courtroom to isolate and intimidate without the presence of witnesses;
• Seen members of the “in-club” receive efficient (and favorable) service while others, particularly pro se litigants run out of options for representation and treated as pariahs;
• Been involved in a case where procedure is at the whim of he presiding family court judge rather than the Cde of Civil Procedure;
• Had economic leverage used against you through endless counselors, therapists and psychological evaluations;
• Found yourself subjected to the costs of multiple experts and the opposing parent’s attorney fees as yet another form of coercion;
• Experienced endless litigation that further drains your economic resources and which seem to enrich only the attorney;
• Have the court charge exorbitant fees for copies of transcripts ($6.50 per page in East Baton Rouge Parish Family Court, for example) when state statute says the maximum charge should be $1.50 per page.

Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jeff Hughes said in an EIGHT-PAGE LETTER last December that EBR Family Court was in dire need of reform, adding that a line had been crossed to actual favoritism. He said Family Court HAS BECOME A PLACE not where justice is administered, but a place where “it’s all about the money, not the best interest of the children.”

Retired First Circuit Curt of Appeal Judge James E. Kuhn, appointed by the State Supreme Court to “observe and collect data and information relative to the Family Court,” offered a somewhat different viewpoint in his 35-PAGE REPORT.

While acknowledging that family court was “strained, not broken,” he said judges are exercising proper discretion and that complaints belonged elsewhere.

For example, he said if a litigant believes a ruling is wrong, “the remedy is appeal.”

But Kuhn didn’t take into account that a “litigant” may have already spent his or her life savings in the lower court to no avail because of several factors listed in the foregoing bullet points and enumerated by Hughes.

STATE REP. KATHY EDMONSTON says to let in sunshine “or shut it down. She advocates installing cameras in family court, among other possible solutions.

LouisianaVoice got a dressing down of sorts from one attorney who defended Family Court and Judge Kuhn. But it turned out that attorney was the legal council for the State Supreme Court and was affiliated professionally with the Chief Justice, so we weren’t too bothered with that criticism.

Her admonishments notwithstanding, we’ve seen sufficient evidence to support claims of bias and heavy-handedness on the part of judges from Calcasieu to St. Tammany parishes.

There’s more than a little evidence that judges in family court cases have much to answer for—and it’s even more evident it’s not going happen without a lot of pressure from the public.

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I read an interesting quote that does more to define the futility of debating one who is so steeped in their unquestioning dedication to the MAGA myth as to render logic and the ability to think for oneself meaningless than anything else I’ve read or heard:

“It’s fun to talk, but without comprehension and compassion, it’s all just hot gas under a red cap.”

Donald Trump is notorious for letting his alligator mouth overload his jaybird ass and the list of his broken or ignored promises is both long and significant—significant only if you ever took him seriously in the first place.

For example, more than 50 times during the 2024 campaign, he said he would END THE WAR IN UKRAINE  “on day one.” Well, we can read every day how that promise has aged with time.

And who could forget his accusation that Kamala Harris would lead us into war but under his presidency, there would be “no new wars”?

Trump says it’s not a war, it’s a “military operation.” Oh, well then…

Here are a few of his other promises:

• Reduce the cost of gasoline below $2 a gallon;
• Cut the federal budget every year;
• Release Epstein files;
• Create a victim’s compensation fund of “migrant crime” from seized gang assets;
• Ban federal workers from taking jobs at companies they regulated;
• Create deregulated “freedom cities” on federal land;
• Award green cards to those on student visas who graduate from U.S. Colleges;
• Place a 10 percent cap on credit card interest rates;
• Require only paper ballots for elections;
• Cut energy costs by 40 percent in first year;
• Reduce prices for groceries, cars and other consumer items;
• Create “tent cities” to address homelessness;
• Count all votes by election night;
• Abolish the Education Department;
• Finish the border wall;
• End veteran homelessness;
• Leave Social Security and Medicare unchanged;
• Not support a federal abortion ban;
• Construct an Iron Dome-like missile defense system for the U.S.;
• Fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve “immediately”;
• Create a task force on chronic health problems such as autism, autoimmune disorders and obesity;
• Spare families from in vitro fertilization costs;
• Save TikTok;
• Make interest on car loans tax deductible;
• End taxation on tips;
• End taxation on overtime;
• End taxation on Social Security;
• Enact tax credit for family caregivers;
• Adopt four-year plan to phase out Chinese imports;
• Provide a middle-class, upper-class, lower-class, business-class big tax cut;
• Cut cost of prescription drugs by 1500 percent;
• Claimed and recanted claims about Iran and Strait of Hormuz too many times to count

Surely, with all the promises made, there are some he kept, right?

Right. Here are some of those:

• Release remaining classified and redacted files on JFK assassination;
• Declare national emergency to spur more drilling, pipelines, etc.;
• Signed sweeping pardons for participants in Jan. 6 insurrection of U.S. Capitol;
• Made tax cuts for the wealth permanent;
• Provide record military funding;
• Revoke federal initiatives on DEI;
• Carry out largest domestic deportation operation in U.S. history;
• Halt Chinese purchase of U.S. land;
• Ban trans women from participating in women’s sports;
• Revoke temporary legal status of Haitians;
• Construct National Garden of American Heroes;
• Restore, expand travel ban;
• Empower president to remove federal workers through Schedule F;
• Withdraw from WHO;
• Cut funding for NPR;
• Reinstate military’s transgender ban;
• Designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations;
• Commute sentence of “Silk Road” website operator Ross Ulbricht;
• Leave the Paris Climate Accord.

So, yes, Trump did keep some promises. But while he was issuing pardons to drug lords and rioters and firing federal workers, he was busy ignoring promises like reducing inflation, ending wars and cutting the federal budget.

While eying cuts to Social Security and Medicare, he was generously extending lucrative tax breaks to Billionaires.

And while he kept his promise to cut funding for NPR and to withdraw from the World Health Organization, he conveniently forgot his promise to cut prices of groceries, housing and gasoline.

Gasoline has not dropped below $3 a gallon as he promised, but not to fear; he increased military spending to record levels—all while banning transgenders in the military.

And I almost got through this entire recitation of broken promises without once mentioning the Reflecting Pool and the 250^th U.S. birthday National State Fair debacles or Trump’s profiteering off the presidency to the tune of $2.4 billion even as the rest of us—his detractors and supporters alike—struggled to make it from payday to payday.

Almost.

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