Louisiana Voice

A society, any society, needs a well-trained police force to keep the peace lest anarchy prevail.

Law enforcement is essential to bring rapists, murderers, thieves, con men and even politicians to justice when they commit wrongdoing against law abiding citizens. No one denies that.

But there has to be some balance between police being the protectors rather than the offenders which, unfortunately, is becoming the case more and more often.

Protests have erupted recently over the deaths of GEORGE FLOYD in Minneapolis, DANIEL PRUDE in Rochester, BREONNA TAYLOR in Louisville, Elijah McClain of Aurora, Colorado and now the shootings of JACOB BLAKE of Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot seven times in the back, and a 13-year-old autistic child named LINDEN CAMERON of Salt Lake City, who was handcuffed when shot multiple times by police.

In Louisiana, there’s the unbelievable case of VICTOR WHITE III, managed to fatally shoot himself, while in the custody of Iberia Parish sheriff’s deputies. Unbelievable because according to deputies – upheld by the parish coroner – White allegedly shot himself in the chest while his hands were cuffed – behind his back.

In 2019, Ronald Greene died at the hands of Louisiana State Police and a Union Parish sheriff’s deputy after a chase from Ouachita Parish into Union Parish, details of which are conflicting, depending on whom you talk to – state police or doctors.

And then there’s the brutal beating of KENTDRICK RATIFF by Hammond police back in 2017.

There are three primary culprits that have led to widespread abuses of American citizens by violating their rights under the 4^th and 14^th Amendments. You can refresh yourself on the rights guaranteed by those amendments HERE but basically, the 4^th Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures of their homes, papers and personal effects.

Section 1 of the 14^th Amendment says, in part: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The “no-knock” law, passed in 1970 during Richard Nixon’s term over the determined but in vain opposition of Sen. Sam Ervin (D-N.C.), who spoke against the bill for 4 ½ hours on the floor of the Senate, was the first major erosion of individual rights.

The second was the omnibus crime bill of 1984, passed during the Ronald Reagan administration, that created the ASSET FORFEITURE PROGRAM, aka Policing for Profit, under which if someone in your home or car possesses a small quantity of marijuana unbeknownst to you, you can still lost your home or car. Any cash found in your home or car also is forfeited and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.

If the feds (DEA, ATF, FBI, etc.) are involved, they get a cut of the cash or whatever money the sale of your property brings while the local law enforcement agencies – municipal, parish or state police, get up to 80 percent. You can read about selected cases of this legalized theft HERE.

Finally, the third major contributor to growing incidents of police lawlessness is the rapid growth of a program that allows local police departments to obtain grants to purchase MILITARY HARDWARE from the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security.

Some handy law enforcement aids procured through program for local agencies include tanks, helicopters, 50-caliber machine guns, urban assault vehicles, tanks, airplanes, grenade launchers and even a submarine.

Of the three, the no-knock raid has probably done the most harm. Besides giving armor-suited robo cops an aura of invincibility, one of the biggest drawbacks of the no-knock raids is the incredible numbers of wrong address raids in which the homes of innocent people are often awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of their front doors being smashed in and the profanity-laced shouting of macho-cops shoving bewildered family members, guns held to the heads of children (one child, a 13-year-old, had his head blown off when the officer’s gun accidentally discharged) while dogs – family pets – are routinely shot and killed with no provocation..

Lest you think these are the hysterical rantings of some conspiracy nut, they’re not. You can read the stories for yourself in Radley Balko’s unsettling book RISE of the WARRIOR COP: THE MILITIRIZATION of AMERICA’S POLICE FORCES. This book will alternately jolt you to spasms of rage, depression, helplessness, and alarming concern over just who poses the bigger threat – criminals with no moral compass or cops with no moral compass but who do have a badge and a gun which gives them the misconception of power and control.

What’s even worse, for the most part in cases of wrong address no-knock raids and even accidental shootings of innocent people or deliberate shootings of household pets, the cops are protected from  legal liability by something called QUALIFIED IMMUNITY.

But repeatedly shooting a 13-year-old autistic child who was running from officers has to be beyond the pale.

Wrong address raids, abuses of asset forfeiture, and shooing innocent victims have gone from isolated incidents to a disturbing trend, a trend that must be stopped.

A society needs a well-trained police force that doesn’t take an “us against them” position but rather becomes a part of that society.

LouisianaVoice holds only two fundraisers a year – April and September – and we did not hold the April one this year because of the coronavirus. And while we are still seeing the effects of the virus, I am asking those who can do so, to please help us reach our goal of $5,000.

Everyone who gives $100 or more will receive a signed copy of my latest book, Louisiana’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption.

LouisianaVoice is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so your gift is completely tax-deductible.

You can give by credit card by clicking on the yellow DONATE button in the column to the right of this post. It looks like this: .

Or, if you prefer, you can send a check to:

LouisianaVoice

P.O. Box 922

Denham Springs, Louisiana 70727

As always, my sincerest appreciation for your continued support of investigative journalism.

Tom Aswell

“You see the boaters out. There are thousands and thousands of boats every weekend, and we appreciate it, but nobody has seen anything like it, ever.”

“Did you know there has NEVER been a Biden boat parade? How sad! There is no enthusiasm for Sleepy Joe.”

“NO BOAT PARADES: ENTHUSIASM FOR JOE BIDEN IS SINKING.” 

—Donald Trump, gloating about boat parades held in his honor across the U.S. [Uh, Donald, too bad you are unable to participate in those parades because you were forced to sell your $29 million yacht, the Trump Princess in 1991 because you were so overloaded with some $900 million in debt, debt you subsequently defaulted on. There must be some karma at play when all those boats keep sinking during those parades in your honor.] https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/09/boats-keep-sinking-and-capsizing-at-the-trump-boat-parades.html

“We are in the midst of the fastest economic recovery in US history.”

—Trump, in a White House Labor Day pep rally disguised as a press conference. [No mention by Trump that nearly half the jobs lost in the pandemic have not returned, of the more than 100,000 small businesses that have closed or of the expired unemployment benefits for millions of American workers.]

“We are an absolute leader, in every way.”

—Trump, in that same “press conference.” [If you count the fact that America has the highest caseload and the highest death toll from the coronavirus, well then, yes.]

“It undermines science…”

—Trump, criticizing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for their skepticism that a coronavirus vaccine will be ready by October. [Wow! Trump accusing someone, anyone, of “undermining science. I’m speechless, speechless, I tell you.]

“Rochester N.Y., Brooklyn N.Y., Portland – All had bad nights, all weakly run by Radical Left Democrat Governors and Mayors! Get the picture?” 

—Donald Trump tweet on Monday. [Yo, Donald: maybe those people in dark uniforms spotted on that airplane were the white supremacists headed to Portland. Nothing like stoking the flames to obtain a peaceful solution to the tensions brought about by the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police.]

I hope everyone had a happy Labor Day – although I know those who have lost their jobs, their health insurance, their businesses and who are facing eviction from their homes, thanks to the failure of the Trump administration to properly and adequately address the coronavirus, may not have had a very pleasant holiday.

But I hope everyone understands why we have a Labor Day observance. It’s to recognize the laborers of America and their respective organizations that are responsible for many perks enjoyed by those to do still have jobs.

Thanks to organized labor, we have a five-day, 40-hour work week as opposed to six- and seven-day, 60-hour (and more) work weeks. Because of organized labor child labor has been abolished as have the sweat shops were women and children once worked in inhuman conditions. You can thank labor for sick leave, paid vacations, medical and retirement benefits. Thanks to organized labor (and some early 20th century news reporters and Republican President Teddy Roosevelt), we have pure food, more sanitary meat processing plants and improved worker safety. And it is organized labor which is largely responsible for the minimum wage – which the Republicans at both the state and national level are doing their best to keep at an inadequate, unlivable $7.25 per hour.

I hope that those who are still working and who have the financial resources will also remember the efforts of LouisianaVoice to bring independent (as in no advertising other than what Word Press sneaks onto my blog without my consent or knowledge) journalism to you.

It takes time and money to investigate some of the stories I cover. I’m in the process of writing a couple of stories as you read this, but again, it takes money to travel, pay for public records and in some cases, sue the custodians of records for some records they don’t want to surrender.

I humbly ask that you help

LouisianaVoice is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit entity now, so your contributions is fully tax-deductible.

You may contribute by credit card by clicking on the yellow DONATE button in the column to the right of this post. You may need to scroll up to find it. It looks like this but as always, DO NOT click here because this one doesn’t work. Go to column on the right and click on that one.

If the yellow button doesn’t work or if you wish to pay by mail, make your check payable to LouisianaVoice and address it to:

LouisianaVoice

P.O. Box 922

Denham Springs, Louisiana 70727

Those giving $100 or more will get a signed copy of my latest book Louisiana’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption.

As always, thank you for your support of LouisianaVoice for 10 years.

There’s a STORY in today’s Washington Post that has an eerily familiar ring to me personally from my days as a reporter for the Baton Rouge-State Times.

For those of you who don’t remember, The State-Times was the sister publication of The Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (now just The Advocate) and which previously served as the official journal for the State of Louisiana. A victim of the general demise of afternoon newspapers, it ceased publication after 78 years of operation in 1991.

Both newspapers were under the Manship corporate umbrella, along with radio stations WFMF (I was told the inside joke was that it stood for the “Whole F*****g Manship Family), WJBO (an outstanding news station in the day) and television station WBRZ, and a couple of properties in other states.

I first came on board in 1973 as labor reporter for The State-Times, a publication that was decidedly anti-labor. I made a lot of mistakes along the way and pretty much refused to act my age (barely 30 at the time, but really more like a 19-year-old – an immature 19-year-old, at that). I was eventually allowed to do a little investigative reporting and wrote a couple of series on nursing home abuse and on questionable practices in the Baton Rouge building inspection department.

But two of my potentially more explosive stories never saw the light day. More about those later but first, back to The Washington Post story about Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

DeJoy, according to at least five former employees at DeJoy’s old company, New Breed Logistics in North Carolina., have indicated that he may have violated federal campaign finance laws by establishing “straw donors” in an effort to funnel more than $1 million to Republican candidates.

This was accomplished, the five employees have asserted, by pressuring employees to make campaign contributions in their individual names and that they would be reimbursed by New Breed Logistics in the form of bonuses.

In 2014, New Breed was acquired by Connecticut-based XPO. In 2015 New Breed employees who had stayed on after the XPO acquisition were giving “significantly smaller” political contributions, with many ceasing making political contributions altogether, according to federal campaign finance records.

Plant managers for New Breed claimed that they received “strongly-worded admonitions from their superiors that they should give money whenever DeJoy was holding fundraisers – as he often did for Republican candidates. One manager said when he received his first company bonus, he was advised by a company vice-president that he should purchase a ticket to DeJoy’s next fundraiser. You can read that entire story, also published by The Washington Post on Sunday HERE. (The Washington Post has a paywall, so if you are not a subscriber, you will not be able to open either of these stories so, you may wish to read the Newsweek story by going HERE.

Which brings me to those two stories that got spiked.

One was the story about New Bethany Home for Girls in the north Louisiana town of Arcadia, in Bienville Parish, not far from where outlaws Bonnie and Clyde met their demise at the hands of Texas Ranger Frank Hamer.

I was assigned the story and had uncovered widespread abuse at the home, including some allegations of sexual abuse by its director, the late Rev. Mack Ford, as well as stories of beatings and of girls being handcuffed to their beds and not allowed bathroom breaks as punishment for various transgressions.

But just as I was completing the first story, the newsroom received a visit from Ford, his attorney (a Baton Rouge lawyer whose name I can’t recall for certain, though I know who I think it was) and three or four of the teenage female residents). We were all crammed into a tiny room just off the main newsroom. When the reverend launched into a full-blown, full-gospel prayer, Editor Jim Hughes, not a particularly religious man, to understate the case, shot me a look that indicated, without a shred of doubt in my mind, that he was not happy that I had this brought this miniature prayer meeting into his newsroom.

For whatever the reason, a few days later, I got the word that the story had been killed. I was never told why.

Earlier, while working on my nursing home series (sometime during 1974), I thought it might be a good idea to check campaign contributions to various politicians by nursing home owners to see which politicians were protecting them.

In checking the contributions to then-Sen. Russell Long, one of the most powerful men in Congress, I found no nursing home contributions but I did notice several contributions by individuals who each contributed $250. Each one gave his or her address as St. Louis and their employer as Monsanto Corp., also of St. Louis.

That caught my eye as I wondered why Monsanto employees from St. Louis would be interested in the campaign of a senator from Louisiana. I began flipping through the pages (there were no digital reports back then and no one in the newsroom had a word processor – we typed our stories on manual Royal typewriters. The pages began to mount up as I went deeper into Long’s campaign finance report. By the time I was finished, there were several hundred St. Louis residents, Monsanto employees one and all, who had given $250 each to Long.

realizing I had stumbled into a pretty good story, considering it was immediately after Watergate and the Nixon resignation, I had copies made of all the pages and set off to meet with Hughes.

As he looked at page after page, it quickly became obvious he agreed with me that this was a major story. “Let me show these to Doug,” he said, referring to then-publisher Doug Manship, Sr.

I wasn’t too concerned because Manship had also reviewed earlier stories in the nursing home series and had given his stamp of approval. I expected nothing less than that on this story.

But a couple of days later, Hughes walked up to my desk and said in a quiet voice, “Doug says forget you ever saw those reports.”

My jaw dropped as I looked at Hughes incredulously. “What?!!” I exclaimed.

“Doug says Russell is a friend of his he doesn’t want to embarrass him, so, forget about this story.”

“But Jim,” I protested, “this is a helluva story!”

Hughes stiffened visibly and said, “Aswell (well, actually, his pet name for me was a little less complimentary “A**h***”), do you like your job or not?

That was the end of it. Hughes kept the photocopies of the report I had given him and nothing else was ever said about the Russell Long-Monsanto story even though straw donors had been made illegal with passage of the FEDERAL ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN ACT in 1971, three years before the Monsanto employees’ contributions.

In 2014, political commentator, author and film-maker Dinesh D’Souza was convicted of reimbursing others $20,000 for donating to New York Republican Senate candidate Wendy Long and two years later, Jeffrey Thompson was convicted for funding the campaigns of several political candidates, including Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential nomination bid, through straw donors.

I suppose we will see if the William Barr justice department will pursue charges against DeJoy but I’m going with the smart money that says he won’t