Louisiana Voice

Donald Trump wants poll watchers.

On Sept. 29, during that frenzied first debate with Joe Biden, he told the PROUD BOYS to “stand back and stand by,” interpreted by the organization as a go-ahead to stake out the polls on election day to ensure “voting integrity.”

Just yesterday, it was revealed that his campaign was working with a POLICE UNION in Minnesota to recruit retired cops as “poll challengers” to patrol voting precincts in “rough neighborhoods.”

He’s already gone through the courts in efforts to forbid counting mail-in votes that arrive past the deadline for voting – no matter is they’re postmarked on time – and he hinted that he just may NOT ACCEPT the results because of what he – and apparently only he and Bill Barr – perceive as widespread voter fraud.

And a new report has indicated that five states, including several that are considered battleground states, are at HIGH RISK for activity by armed groups of civilians on election day.

Even concerns about post-election riots have Washington, D.C., businesses BOARDING UP windows and doors in anticipation of possible rioting over election results.

All of which bodes high anxiety, distrust and cries of fraud and voter suppression in the final four days leading up to Tuesday’s election, considered one of if not the most important in the nation’s history.

Voter suppression already has reared its ugly head in other states, namely Georgia, Florida, and Texas, but what about Louisiana? What is the likelihood that roving vigilantes, armed with assault weapons, will be staking out polling places here?

Thankfully, slim.

LouisianaVoice recently interviewed an election commission who will be working Tuesday’s election. For obvious reasons, we’re keeping that person’s identity – even his/her gender and location – confidential. We’re even giving our source the gender-neutral name of Pat.

Pat, along with other commissioners, recently attended a special class for commissioners that was attended by a considerably larger number of persons than previous classes. “There are normally 30 attendees but for our class there were more than 100. We reviewed procedures, opened and closed the voting machines to learn how they work. Special emphasis was placed on election monitors.”

The commissioner in charge will have the final say on any issues and if any problems should occur, the parish clerk of court will be called. Two important issues were raised in the class: electioneering and voting deadlines.

“Voting begins at 7 a.m. and ends at 8 p.m. but everyone who is in line at the time of cutoff, gets to vote, no matter how long the line may be. They wanted to make certain we knew that.”

There are restrictions on electioneering, however. Those restrictions have been copied and pasted below. I have taken the liberty of boldfacing certain passages for special emphasis:

The Legislature of Louisiana recognizes that the right to vote is a right that is essential to the effective operation of a democratic government. Due to a past, longstanding history of election problems, such as multiple voting, votes being recorded for persons who did not vote, votes being recorded for deceased persons, voting by non-residents, vote buying, and voter intimidation, the legislature finds that the state has a compelling interest in securing a person’s right to vote in an environment which is free from intimidation, harassment, confusion, obstruction, and undue influence. The legislature, therefore, enacts this Subsection to provide for a six-hundred-foot campaign-free zone around polling places to provide to each voter such an environment in which to exercise his right to vote. Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, it shall be unlawful for any person, between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., to perform or cause to be performed any of the following acts within any polling place being used in an election on election day or within any place wherein early voting is being conducted, or within a radius of six hundred feet of the entrance to any polling place being used in an election on election day or any place wherein early voting is being conducted:

(1) To solicit in any manner or by any means whatsoever any other person to vote for or against any candidate or proposition being voted on in such election.

(2) To remain within any such polling place or place wherein early voting is being conducted or within a radius of six hundred feet of the entrance of any such polling place, except when exercising the right to vote, after having been directed by an election commissioner or law enforcement officer to leave the premises or area of a polling place or after having been directed by a registrar or deputy registrar to leave the place wherein early voting is being conducted.

(3) To hand out, place, or display campaign cards, pictures, or other campaign literature of any kind or description whatsoever.

(4) To place or display political signs, pictures, or other forms of political advertising.

(5) To circulate a recall petition or seek handwritten signatures to a recall petition.

B. The provisions hereof shall not apply to the placing and displaying, either by the owner, lessee, or lawful occupant thereof, or with the consent of such owner, lessee or occupant, of political signs or pictures on private property which is not being used as a polling place.

C. The provisions of this Section shall not be construed as prohibiting any appointed election commissioner or any official watcher from remaining in and about the polling place in which he was selected to serve.

D. No election official shall wear any badge, button, pin, or other insignia identifying him with any political candidate or faction.

E. No election official shall in any manner attempt to influence any voter to vote for or against any candidate or proposition being voted on in the election being held in that polling place.

F. The duly constituted law enforcement officers of the political subdivision in which any such election is being held shall enforce the provisions of this Section when requested to do so by a registrar, deputy registrar, commissioner-in-charge or commissioner. The registrar, deputy registrars, commissioners-in-charge and commissioners likewise shall enforce the provisions of this Section at the polling places. The law enforcement officers, commissioners-in-charge, commissioners, deputy registrars and registrar are authorized to seize, remove, and destroy any political cards, signs, pictures, or literature being used or displayed in violation of any of the provisions hereof.

G. Whoever violates any provision of this Section shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than six months, or both. On a second offense or any succeeding offense, the penalty shall be a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.

This agency is in the process of giving up on protecting people. It’s much more interested, at least the leadership is, in protecting the regulated community.”

—Christopher Sellers, professor of environmental history at Stonybrook University, on the Trump administration’s dismantling of environmental protections.

I feel like I’m living in a reality TV show. Trump, he’s a clown.”

—Trisha Amato, an Ohio laid-off General Motors worker and 2016 Trump supporter who has lost both her job and health insurance, on her disappointment at Trump’s failure to keep her GM plant open despite the plant’s receiving $50 million in subsidies (talk about welfare cheats) for its promise to remain open until 2027.

Why isn’t (sic) the media covering Biden’s corruption? It’s the biggest and most credible story anywhere in the world.”

—Donald Trump, in one of dozens of email pitches received daily from him, his family, and other Republicans by yours truly [Perhaps it’s because the media are (and media is plural, you bonehead) too damned busy covering the most corrupt president in history.]

That’s the whole point of Q. It puts concepts out there, but it’s also about ‘do your own research ’cause I’m too lazy to tell you what to think.’ Though they pretend to care about children, in reality, QAnon doesn’t. They just care about portraying a specific group as part of this child-trafficking ring.”

—Marc-André Argentino, who has studied QAnon extensively, speaking of QAnon’s vase unfounded conspiracy theories, including one that says Democrats eat babies.

Actual quote from Trump in Wisconsin: ‘If Joe Biden gets in the radical left will shut down Wisconsin timber production forever. You know, they don’t want to let you touch a tree. If you happen to touch a tree, they want to put you in jail for the rest of your life.’”

—Tweet by Daniel Dale. [Anyone know what Trump was talking about? Anyone?]

NOT A TRUMP QUOTE, but it should be (with apologies to Cavin & Hobbes):

“They say winning isn’t everything, and I’ve decided to take their word for it.”

An open letter to Members of The Congressional Black Caucus and other Members troubled by the lack of transparency and justice by grand juries examining the abuse of power and excessive use of force by police:

While at Georgetown Law School (1969-1971) I worked for Congressman Allard Lowenstein (D-NY, 1969-1971) to organize Congressional hearings on the excessive use of force by police and the National Guard; I was a U.S. Capitol Hill Policeman for a few weeks before clerking at DOJ in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division investigating the excessive use of force.

As Alabama’s Attorney General (1987-1991), I advocated for victims’ families to have the right to be present or have a lawyer present in a grand jury.

Use of excessive force by police resulting in death of black citizens is not unusual, yet holding police accountable is.

How to ensure a measure of justice for families of victims of the excessive use of force by police? The answer is simple and so is the solution.

Police and prosecutors too often view themselves as wearing the same jersey-playing on the same team. Prosecutors protect police. Because of a Supreme Court decision in 1976 (Imbler v Pachman) and the Federal Tort Claims Act provided by Congress, prosecutors have ABSOLUTE immunity from civil liability, so they can act with impunity. Prosecutors can present false evidence or withhold exculpatory evidence from grand juries in order to get an indictment…or not.

Grand juries are a secret proceeding so prosecutors have free reign. There’s no judge or lawyer for the victim’s family present. 

So, how best to ensure justice in a grand jury?

First, allow the victim’s family to have a lawyer present in the grand jury as a check on truth. We know Prosecutors only tell the grand jurors what the prosecutors want them to hear.

Secondly, to voir dire (to question) the jurors. Currently no one ensures racially balanced, neutral jurors in a grand jury setting. (For all we know, some of Breonna Taylor’s grand jurors might have had relatives in law enforcement or members of the KKK.)

Third, the “victim’s” lawyer would ensure that all evidence is presented. They could object to evidence or testimony proposed by the government and offer evidence or testimony for the victim. Such issues would be decided by a judge, the same as in a civil deposition. If this “due process” safeguard is important where monetary damages are at stake in a civil proceeding, surely this due process safeguard should be in place where someone’s life is at issue.  

Finally, while not identifying members of the grand jury, the family member’s lawyer would make a public report of what transpired. A well-informed public, strengthens public faith in our justice system and in our democracy. 

Holding police accountable will not only provide a measure of justice, it will also help curtail the excessive use of force.

Respectfully submitted.

Don Siegelman

Governor of Alabama, 1999-2003

Lt. Governor, 1995-1999

Attorney General, 1987-1991

Secretary of State, 1979-1987

(Editor’s note: Don Siegelman wrote the letter above from his personal experience with the judicial system as it can be manipulated when someone like Karl Rove is pulling the strings. The the efforts of Rove, a judge who later was forced to resign after beating his wife, and a Republican U.S. Attorney set Siegelman up as he was preparing to run again for the office of Alabama governor. He was convicted on a single count in a trial that violated all the norms of a fair and just system and served his sentence at the federal facility in Oakdale, Louisiana. For further information, read Siegelman’s BOOK, Stealing Our Democracy: How the Political Assassination of a Governor Threatens Our Nation.)

Over the past four years, President Trump’s policies and investments in science and technology ensure America stands ready to solve today’s most pressing challenges and that our workforce is prepared for tomorrow’s innovations. For years to come, these achievements will guarantee the United States remains the world’s leader in research, discovery and the advancement of industries that will shape our future.”

—Ivanka Trump, writing in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Report, which listed Trump’s accomplishments, including “ending the Covid-19 pandemic.” [Oh, well then…]

It is part of the price of leadership of this great and free nation to be the target of clever satirists. You have given the gift of laughter to our people. May we never grow so somber or self-important that we fail to appreciate the humor in our lives.”

—Lyndon Johnson, in a letter to the Smothers Brothers after being parodied by them on numerous occasions. [Say what you want about LBJ – he was crude, his Vietnam War was a disaster – he showed more class with that one quote than Trump could ever hope to show in a lifetime.]

The reason we were able to do what we did in 2016, 2018 and 2020 is because we had the majority.”

—Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. [And yet, that same majority was unable – or unwilling – to provide relief to those who have lost jobs because of the coronavirus. Says something about you, Mitch.]

The Republican majority is lighting its credibility on fire. … The next time the American people give Democrats a majority in this chamber, you will have forfeited the right to tell us how to run that majority.”

—Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, on how the worm can turn should the Democrats gain control of the Senate next week. [Republicans have demonstrated that when they are the majority, they forget the meaning of compromise.]

In a significant shift since 2000, the GOP has taken to demonizing and encouraging violence against its opponents, adopting attitudes and tactics comparable to ruling nationalist parties in Hungary, India, Poland and Turkey.”

—Conclusion of a new study conducted by the V-Dem Institute of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, as reported in The Guardian.

We fear that Attorney General Barr intends to use the DOJ’s vast law enforcement powers to undermine our most fundamental democratic value: free and fair elections. Given Attorney General Barr’s demonstrated willingness to use the Department to help President Trump politically, the media and the public should view any election-related activity by the DOJ—including any announcement or findings related to the Durham investigation—with appropriate skepticism.”

—Letter signed by more than 1,000 former Justice Department employees worried about possible election day interference by the Trump administration.

NOT A TRUMP QUOTE, but it should be (with apologies to Cavin & Hobbes):

“This one’s tricky. You have to use imaginary numbers, like eleventeen …”

Judge Randall Bethancourt just can’t seem to help popping up in news reports on the 32^nd Judicial District Court in Terrebonne Parish. And that’s not necessarily good.

First, there was that embarrassing STORY  three years ago when Bethancourt signed an illegal search warrant over a blog post critical of then-Sheriff Jerry Larpenter in which the blogger’s home was raided by the sheriff’s department and all the computers in the household – including those of the blogger’s children – were confiscated.

It took a federal judge about a nanosecond to dress Bethancourt and Larpenter down and to give them a verbal lesson on the First Amendment that guarantees freedom of speech. The blogger’s resulting lawsuit cost Larpenter’s office about a quarter of a million dollars to settle.

Now, a Terrebonne Parish attorney who is challenging Bethancourt’s reelection bid in next Tuesday’s election is claiming that Parish President Gordon Dove and others are paying voters up to $150 to vote for Bethancourt, up substantially from the $5 fee paid voters back in the days of Earl Long.

Dove, of course, denies the allegations and defies the alligators but the one-time chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment has had his own problems with the law in the past. His Dual Trucking Co. was CITED  by the Montana Department of Environmental Equality for dumping oilfield radioactive waste from the nearby Bakken Oilfield back in 2014. (You may have seen the irony of the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment being cited for dumping radioactive waste.)

That wasn’t the only incident, though. Vacco Marine, Inc., a company owned by Dove, was the subject of several investigations, negative reports, citations, and compliance orders by and from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) over a period of several years, records show.

Also in 2014, while presiding over a meeting of the Natural Resources Committee, he joined 12 other members in passing an amendment to SB 469 that made the prohibition against suing oil companies for damages to the state’s wetlands and marshes retroactive.

So much for looking out for the environment.

But back to Bethancourt.

His honor has found himself embroiled in a couple of volatile controversies – besides the vote-buying claim – heading into next Tuesday’s election. Neither has any direct link to the election but either or both could figure in the outcome.

One is a bitter dispute between grandparents and son over the grandparents’ visitation rights to their grandson, a dispute that has gone into litigation in which resulting legal fees and fines have reportedly bankrupted the child’s parents. Caught in the middle is a seven-year-old child who has been the victim of this tug of war for four years now with no end in sight.

The other involves accusations that Bethancourt falsified court records in a separate case to show that a defendant was brought before a magistrate after his arrest when he was not.

Without more intimate familiarization with the details of the cases and charges of vote-buying, it’s impossible to provide a full-blown, detailed account of events in the 32^nd JDC. But knowing what we do know about Larpenter, Gordon Dove, and Bethancourt’s willingness to sign that illegal search warrant back in 2017 (and the resultant settlement by Larpenter with the subject of that raid), suffice it to say Terrebonne Parish is a unique parish, politically speaking, where elected officials have long operated as a law unto themselves and where just about anything goes.

Like storms out on the Gulf, corrupt politicians were accepted as a fact of life in Louisiana 75 years ago and little has changed in Terrebonne in the ensuing decades.

And people generally deserve the kind of government they elect.