Louisiana Voice

Developments in the bankruptcy case of the Archdiocese of New Orleans have taken a sudden, unexpected turn with the Abuse Survivors Committee’s formal objection to the most recent fee request of Jones Walker, the New Orleans law firm representing he archdiocese.

The objection appears to be hinting at a heretofore undisclosed conflict of interest of one or more Jones Walker attorneys and even throws out the word “disqualification” for Jones Walker’s failure to make proper disclosures of prohibited connections or “personal interest adverse to the estate (archdiocese).”

This new twist could conceivably throw a major obstacle into the path of ongoing settlement negotiations for more than 500 claimants of sexual abuse by priests.

The objection notes that the Bankruptcy Code requires that a professional – in this case, the Jones Walker law firm – retained by a debtor not “hold or represent an interest adverse to the estate” and that the professional be “disinterested.”

It also noted that the standards for determining a conflict are “strict” and that “attorneys engaged in the conduct of a bankruptcy case ‘should be free of the slightest personal interest which might be reflected in their decisions concerning matters of the debtor’s estate or which might impair the high degree of impartiality and detached judgment expect of them during the course of administration.’”

The committee’s objection points out that the Bankruptcy Code’s ethical standards mandate that “all known connections of the applicant with the debtor, creditor or any other party in interest” should be revealed to the court.

It further notes that disclosure requirements “are broader than the rules governing disqualifications, and an applicant (attorney or any employee of the law firm) must disclose all connections regardless of whether they are sufficient to rise to the level of a disqualifying interest…”

It says that courts may deny all compensation to professionals who fail to make adequate disclosure, and “counsel who fail to disclose timely and completely their connections proceed at their own risk because failure to disclose is sufficient grounds to revoke an employment order and deny compensation.”

While the committee’s objections were non-specific as to what conflict might exist, LouisianaVoice has written extensively about potential CONFLICTS, including the fact that current archdiocese general counsel Susan Zeringue is the wife of Jones Walker partner Wayne Zeringue.

The archdiocese has already paid out more than $41 million in professional fees, much of that to Jones Walker.

First of all, we haven’t forgotten to keep track of the number of days that Sen. John Kennedy has refused to hold a town hall meeting. It’s just that we’ve had a rather busy April thus far with no signs of a letup.

First of all, there’s the legislative session which kicks off on the 14th and already there is a cluster of bills that have been filed that we’re trying to keep up with.

Then there is the April fundraiser which we have not pushed that hard and which we will dwell on today.

News moves fast and it taxes my 81-year-old bones to move with it. But I’m trying my best and I will continue to try my best until I drop over and some preacher is lying about what an exemplary life I led.

But I need your help to do so. It costs money to chase down many of these stories. The clerks of court charge a buck a page for documents and some of those can run into the hundreds of pages. Other records cost, as does gasoline and those quarter-pounders I wolf down on the road.

Our April fundraiser runs through the end of the month and the largest individual contribution will win a first-edition copy of Huey Long’s autobiography, Every Man a King. All contributions of $50 or more will get a signed copy of my latest book, 101 Wrongful Convictions in Louisiana. A recent book-signing resulted in my having to order more copies, so there may be a wait of about a week for your book, but you’ll get it.

You may contribut by credit card by clicking on the YELLOW BUTTON to the right of this column and following the directions, or by mailing a check to: Tom Aswell, 107 North College West, Denham Springs, Louisiana 70726.

Whichever method you chose and whatever the amount you can contribute is deeply appreciated. Thank you for the past 13 years and, hopefully, for more to come.

As if the Catholic Church did not have enough of an image problem with the ongoing litigation in the Archdiocese of New Orleans over long-running, rampant sex abuse, now comes news that the longtime refugee resettlement program may be coming to an end, along with hints that the program may have been unknowingly abetting human trafficking.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced on Monday that it is terminating its half-century partnership with the federal government to serve refugees and children because of the Trump administration’s sudden ending of funding for the program.

Adding to the disappointment of seeing the program terminated was the banner headline by the Gateway Pundit that accused the program of trafficking “hundreds of thousands” of victims, including children.

THE GATEWAY PUNDIT, launched in 2004, is the fifth-largest conservative news website in the U.S. and is known for publishing falsehoods, hoaxes and conspiracy theories. It also settled a defamation lawsuit with two Georgia election workers. It attempted to unsuccessfully in 2020 to declare bankruptcy but a federal judge said the company was acting in “bad faith” and was attempting to abuse bankruptcy protections in order to evade potentially huge legal bills from the defamation lawsuits.

Still, with the New Orleans lawsuits against the archdiocese demanding front pate coverage, and with the clutter of other lawsuit against various archdioceses across the map, the inference by The Gateway Pundit has to be given some consideration even if its claim isn’t exactly original.

Trafficking is an admitted problem in society and it’s getting worse. The big surprise is in learning that most human trafficking is not sex trafficking, but labor. Victims’ passports (if they even have passports – many don’t) are often seized by the traffickers, leaving them trapped with no place to run or hide. Thus, they are forced into arduous, never-ending labor. Many of those forced into labor are children.

Last August, a REPORT by the inspector general for Homeland Security conceded that the agency could not account for more than 320,000 unaccompanied migrant children who it considered to be at “higher risk for trafficking, exploitation or forced labor.”

The USCCB and Catholic Charities reaped billions of dollars from the U.S. government in resettling illegal and undocumented persons in recent years – $1.4 billion in 2024 alone.

“As a national effort, we simply cannot sustain the work on our own at current levels or in current form,” conference President Archbishop Timothy Broglio, said in a statement. “We will work to identify alternative means of support for the people the federal government has already admitted to these programs.”

The program is projected to shut down by the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 30)

There is one individual who could end the tariff madness today if he only had the cajones to stand up and do the right thing.

This individual, however, would never qualify as an entry to JFK’s 1956 best-seller Profiles in Courage because he has signaled to the world that he does not possess an ounce of genuine courage – despite being a U.S. Marine veteran.

His name is Mike Johnson. He is the Speaker of the House and sorry to say, is from Louisiana.

All he has to do is give a thumbs-up to a measure that reasserts Congress’s AUTHORITY  OVER TARIFFS.

Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution says, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises…[and] to regulate commerce with foreign nations.”

Some 50 years ago, however, Congress effectively delegated all responsibilities on tariffs to the executive branch.

Going all the way back to 1934, Congress passed the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act which gave President Franklin Roosevelt the authority to vary tariffs by 50 percent and to negotiate trade agreements without having to obtain additional approval from Congress. The president has generally controlled tariff policies since that time.

But Congress can, at any time it chooses, RESCIND THAT AUTHORITY to the President but to do so, Republicans – including especially House Speaker Johnson – would have to put loyalty to the country and the economy above loyalty to Donald Trump.

That would require a show of courage that Republicans as a group simply do not possess.

That may also be why Johnson instructed his fellow Republicans to refrain from holding any town hall meetings back home. After all, some smart-ass constitutional scholar might ask an embarrassing question.

The economic turmoil the U.S. and the world markets are experiencing right now doesn’t have to be. Your 401(K) doesn’t have to take the hit it’s taking right now.

You don’t have to pay an additional $6,000 or so if you want to purchase a new vehicle.

You don’t have to shell an sudden additional $7500 to the cost of a family for basic necessities over the next year.

You don’t have to pay more for imported lumber, agricultural products, coffee, steel or electronic products.

All it takes is a little show of courage to make a bully back down from his incessant intimidation.

But don’t expect it to happen. Cowards just won’t fight back.