Recent editorials from Louisiana newspapers:
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March 10
The Advocate on a harassment complaint against an aide in the Louisiana attorney general’s office:
Now we know what Attorney General Jeff Landry was trying to hide when his office lied about a sexual harassment complaint against a key aide, and then sued the reporter trying to get hold of it.
The complaint was released Monday by state District Judge Tim Kelley of Baton Rouge, who ruled correctly Friday in throwing out Landry’s legal assault against reporter Andrea Gallo of The Advocate and The Times-Picayune. Kelley also ordered Landry to pay Gallo’s legal fees.
The harassment complaint was made against Pat Magee, head of the criminal division in the attorney general’s office.
Gallo filed a public records request on Dec. 14, taking advantage of a right every Louisianan has under the state constitution. The appropriate response would have been for Landry to release the requested records and omit the names of the complainant and any victims identified in the document.
Landry’s office lied about what was in the complaint, saying that redacting the names and other identifying details would result in so many erasures that the document that would be meaningless.
He went to war against Gallo, filing suit against her and asking a judge to rule the complaint was secret, and make Gallo pay court costs.
Kelley was wise to all that, and he took it upon himself to make the appropriate redactions and turn the complaint over to Gallo. And he acted quickly.
The result was about three dozen small erasures from a complaint that stretches across four pages.
What Kelley left in the complaint explains why Landry fought so hard to keep it under wraps.
The complaint, filed Nov. 20, says that Magee wanted one woman attorney to be assigned to a trial because “male jurors would want to have sex with her.”
Another attorney, he said, was “not currently as pretty as she was in law school at age 20.”
The complainant also said Magee declined to promote a female attorney, and “he would later express concern to me privately that he would not be able to control himself sexually if she worked that closely with him.”
Landry’s office, in a statement, said it “concluded that his conduct did not rise to the level of sexual harassment.”
But the attorney general decided Magee must have done something wrong, because he was suspended for 38 days and docked $20,000 in pay.
Landry portrays himself as the state’s top lawman, and voters can decide for themselves what to make of the fact that all of this bad behavior occurred right under his nose, and of his conclusion that none of it amounts to sexual harassment.
For our part, we can promise that our quest to get to the bottom of the case isn’t over. Gallo has a pending request for documents that will show how the complaint was investigated.
If Landry wants to sue her for filing that request, bring it on.
Online: https://www.theadvocate.com
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March 9
The Advocate on the arrest of four State Police troopers accused of using force:
The new superintendent of Louisiana State Police, Lamar Davis, didn’t make a big splash when he was appointed. He didn’t make grand statements. He didn’t make promises about pursuing justice, or defending all of his troops. When he was appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards as an “exemplary” leader - the governor’s word - Davis said he would be dedicated to what’s best for the people of Louisiana and that he would carefully consider the challenges and controversies facing the agency.
State Police have faced questions involving several controversial and questionable incidents, including the 2019 death of Ronald Greene, a Black man who died in State Police custody after a police chase near Monroe. The death outraged Greene’s family and the public because there were conflicting accounts. The investigation lost credibility as it went on because State Police accounts didn’t sync with photo and other evidence, and State Police refused to share body camera video. The family got to see it, and it was reported to be quite disturbing.
Last month, Davis announced that four of his officers had been arrested after a “criminal investigation into use of force encounters” into the Monroe-based Troop F. The initial announcement was in an email to troopers. A public announcement followed. Based on what has been reported about these arrests, it seems there may have been a pattern of roughing up Black people, though the statement issued does not identify alleged victims.
State Police troopers arrested were Jacob Brown, 30; Randall Dickerson, 34; Dakota DeMoss, 28; and George Harper, 26. Brown was previously arrested based on a number of incidents.
There wasn’t a lot of information released, but what State Police did release is disturbing. One occurrence happened in July 2019 when troopers found drugs in a vehicle during a traffic stop in Ouachita Parish. Officials said Brown and Dickerson disabled their body cameras, roughed up the handcuffed driver and then lied about the incident, saying they had encountered resistance. The troopers were arrested on simple battery and malfeasance in office. Another incident, in May 2020, involved a Franklin Parish car chase. Troopers used spike strips to stop the vehicle; the driver was on the ground when DeMoss, Harper and Brown deactivated body cameras and used excessive force. A subsequent report was falsified.
With many questioning whether State Police leadership would be capable of investigating their own, the arrests show a willingness to conduct a thorough investigation and let the facts determine the next steps. The investigation and resulting arrests suggest Davis is sincere about seeking a balance, holding his own officers accountable while expecting each one to follow the agency mission to “ensure the safety and security of the people in the state through enforcement, education, and providing of other essential public safety services.”
Online: https://www.theadvocate.com
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