Uncategorized – Page 149 – Sound Off Louisiana

Gov. Edwards faces what’s likely the biggest decision of his political career: Signing or vetoing Sen. Talbot’s tort reform bill, and the stakes for everyone are huge.

Louisiana State Sen. Rick Ward, R – Port Allen, the lone Republican to fail to support Sen. Kirk Talbot’s tort reform measure in the 2020 Louisiana Legislative Session.

Minutes after Gov. John Bel Edwards declared, “How sweet it is,” on the evening of Saturday, November 16, 2019, as he celebrated winning a second term in as Louisiana Governor, Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns, frustrated beyond words at a second term being served by an individual with such an incredibly hostile approach toward private businesses, published this Facebook post. Since we know we have many subscribers who simply refuse to join the social media world, we’ll provide the Facebook post below:

During Gov. Edwards’ last appearance at the Baton Rouge Press Club (BRPC), Burns reminded Gov. Edwards of his stand on the $50,000 jury trial threshold, which is a major target of tort reform with Kirk Talbot’s SB-418 seeking to sharply reduce that threshold to $5,000. Let’s take just a moment to view Edwards’ reiteration of his support of that threshold which he uttered on March 2, 2020:

Appearing before the BRPC on March 2, 2020, Gov. John Bel Edwards reiterates his stand on the $50,000 jury trial threshold.

As everyone not living in a cave knows by now, Sen. Kirk Talbot’s bill passed the Senate with a seemingly-veto-proof majority of 29-8. Twenty-six votes would be required in the Senate to override a veto by Edwards. Likewise, the measure passed the House by a seemingly-veto-proof majority of 72-28; furthermore, that was with Rep. Valarie Hodges being unable to cast her vote. Had she been able to do so, that would have made it 73 votes in favor. Seventy votes would be required in the House to override an Edwards veto.

The bill was returned to the Senate for concurrence with some House amendments, and those amendments were overwhelmingly rejected, prompting the bill to be presented to a Conference Committee comprised of the following members:

House: Garofalo, Gregory Miller, and Magee.
Senate: Talbot, Peacock, and Ward.

As this feature is being produced, the measure is awaiting consideration in the full Senate regarding the final bill form as emerged from the Conference Committee outlined above.

Needless to say, the stakes are huge entailing the political careers of everyone serving in the Legislature as well as Gov. Edwards regarding this bill. There was a clear mandate sent across this state in last year’s Legislative races that citizens are fed up with the abusive tactics of “soft tissue trial lawyer exploitation,” and they’ve basically said, “Oppose this and you’re a dead duck in the next election.”

So far, the only Republican to oppose the tort reform measure is Sen. Rick Ward, R – Port Allen, and Ward is term-limited and ineligible to seek re-election in 2023 (though he can run for a House seat and attempt to move over to that Chamber). Accordingly, as we indicated that we would, we are issuing a public tentative apology to Rep. Paula Davis, whom we predicted would fail to support an override of a veto by Gov. Edwards. She has tentatively been removed from the preceding webpage (and has been replaced with Sen. Ward) which will highlight ALL Republicans who fail to support an Edwards veto override of Talbot’s bill should Edwards opt to veto the bill. If Edwards does veto the bill, that webpage will be updated with any Republican legislator who fails to support a veto override.

Make no mistake: The political stakes are huge for Edwards himself. He can sign the bill, but doing so will bestow upon him the wrath of the trial lawyer cabal who bankrolled both of his election victories. He can always say, “The handwriting was on the wall, and I couldn’t risk my entire second term being a lame duck, which is what would have happened to me had I not signed the bill and it became law anyway.”

Alternatively, he could veto the bill. That action would surely please his trial lawyer cabal; however, if a veto-override turns out to be unsuccessful, the wrath of a majority of Republicans will likely unite together to ensure that he gets absolutely noting of his own initiatives of his second term in office passed through the Legislature. For anyone old enough to remember the utter futility former Gov. Dave Treen endured from 1979 – 1983, to use some bad grammar, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” should a veto-override vote fail to win approval.

So, get ready folks, it’s about to get very interesting over at the State Capitol!

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Contractor Billy Broussard sounds off entailing AG Jeff Landry as he appeals ODC’s decision to drop complaint against attorney Robin Sylvester.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry

[Editor’s Note: As stated on the video below, Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns has a “soft spot” in his heart for Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry because of his determined resolve to block convicted felon Larry S. Bankston from obtaining state legal contracts. Nevertheless, consistent with his philosophy upon forming Sound Off Louisiana, Burns felt an obligation to provide contractor Billy Broussard with a forum in which to vent his long-simmering frustration entailing Landry, and that forum was provided via video interview of Tuesday, May 26, 2020, and is presented below.]

Broussard vents his long-simmering frustration regarding Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry entailing Landry’s legal representation and follow-up thereafter entailing a suit Broussard filed against Gravity District 8 of Ward 1 of Calcasieu Parish.

Support Documents:

1. ODC’s dismissal letter to Broussard dated April 30, 2020.

2. Broussard’s hand-delivered appeal of ODC’s dismissal.

3. Email from Landry’s Executive Assistant indicating Landry would provide an affidavit to Broussard (Landry later said it would be better to subpoena him and stated, according to Broussard, “I cannot lie under oath”).

4. Landry’s email and letter to 14th JDC Judge David Ritchie indicating Landry would be unable to attend court pursuant to his subpoena served by Broussard (Sylvester also indicated she could not attend either).

5. Broussard’s text message to Landry of November 13, 2018 as Broussard’s frustration with Landry began to reach a boiling point.

As we indicated in the video above, we are intentionally keeping the written portion of this post brief because the video speaks better than the written word; however, we do feel compelled to provide one segment below from Broussard’s appeal letter to the ODC:

Meanwhile, another attorney stated that I was likely “wasting my time” because he indicated that your office is literally flooded with complaints entailing attorneys who have abused drugs and/or absconded with client escrowed funds. If, in fact, your office is so inundated with complaints of drug-addicted attorneys and/or those who abscond with client escrowed funds, then that itself speaks volumes about the profession you are charged with policing as well as the incredible degree of latitude that attorneys not engaging in such behavior have to abuse the clients they represent with total immunity from negative consequences from your office. If it is the requirement of this office that only evidence of drug use and/or absconding with client escrow funds is going to be deemed “clear and convincing,” then I feel you should make that disclaimer to the public! I see no point to wasting a bunch of time and energy when any conduct falling short of those actions is going to be cavalierly dismissed in the manner you have done with my complaint after first taking 416 days to arrive at that conclusion.

In assessing Calcasieu Parish DA race to replace DeRosier, contractor Billy Broussard offers alternate take on Sen. Cortez’s emphasis on “innocent until proven guilty” entailing testimony of Shreveport dentist Ryan Haygood.

Contractor Billy Broussard who, on May 18, 2020, expressed an alternate take on Sen. President Page Cortez’s focus on “innocent until proven guilty” entailing testimony of Shreveport Dentist Ryan Haygood and former Sen. John Milkovich.

As we made clear in a follow-up feature entailing Shreveport dentist C. Ryan Haygood, our feature would not have been possible without the guidance of contractor Billy Broussard, on whom we’ve provided extensive coverage. As subscribers will recall, Haygood’s Federal civil litigation has been declared frivolous. Nevertheless, his State civil action is likely to cost Louisiana taxpayers upwards of $1 million to defend in State District Court.

We wrapped up the follow-up feature on Haygood by using it to emphasize the dire need for tort reform in Louisiana. Sen. Kirk Talbot’s bill that we referenced in that feature passed the Louisiana Senate moments ago by a vote of 29-8.

Our thoughts are, given that 29-8 tally is two votes more than is required to override a much-anticipated veto by Gov. Edwards, he (Edwards) cannot be feeling overly comfortable right now. A similar tally in the House should ensure tort reform becomes reality in the State of Louisiana, and it’s our belief that passage of the bill will provide a very much needed shot in the arm to existing businesses in this state as well as prospective businesses considering locating in Louisiana.

As Broussard viewed our features on Haygood, he informed us that he would like to appear on a Sound Off Louisiana feature to provide a different perspective to Sen. President Page Cortez’s focus on “innocence until proven guilty” regarding testimony of both Haygood and former Sen. John Milkovich.

In the feature, Broussard provides some interesting commentary about his own assertions of how “innocent until proven guilty” has impacted him regarding his dealings with the Gravity District 8 of Ward One of Calcasieu Parish.

Broussard provides commentary on the upcoming race to replace retiring Calcasieu Parish DA John DeRosier, and he also provides some interesting commentary on his original attorney in his own civil case, Attorney General Jeff Landry.

While residents of Calcasieu Parish may likely have the keenest interest in many of the matters Broussard discusses, we believe his commentary is also useful for other residents of Louisiana, so let’s present our interview with him of today (May 18, 2020):

Broussard provides alternate take on Sen. President Page Cortez’s focus on “innocent until proven guilty” regarding testimony of Shreveport Dentist C. Ryan Haygood and former Sen. John Milkovich. For the Legislative auditor meeting referenced in the feature, click here.

Regarding the above feature, here’s the feature on the DeRosier gift card program, and the commentary regarding DeRosier demanding $5,000 in gift cards be produced immediately follows:

The final straw for Odom came in October 2015. “I was at my desk and Mr. DeRosier came in and he says, ‘I need $5,000 in cards — in gift cards.’ He wanted them in $1,000 denominations. One of the other secretaries said, ‘Oh, okay, I’ll check and see if we have that much.’ But then he repeated it in this tone that was like, ‘I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.’ And then he walked out of the office. When he left, two secretaries were discussing whether they even had that much on hand — and what they should tell them if they didn’t.”
The whole scene made her uncomfortable. “If he got the $5,000, there would have been no accounting for any of it. Again you have to understand, there was no way of knowing how much money was coming in and going out on these cards. They weren’t logged. No one tallied them up at the end of the day. Did we take in $20,000 and spend $2,000? What happened to the money left over? No one knew.”