Sound Off Louisiana

The mother of a man who claimed her son was beaten to death by Baton Rouge Police Officers on Flag Street in Baton Rouge holds up a picture of her son as she makes inquires of United States Department of Justice officials at a Baton Rouge town hall held on the campus of Southern University on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

At a town hall meeting of the United State Department of Justice (DOJ) conducted on the campus of Southern University on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, one of the biggest concerns expressed by attendees was the lack of subpoena power of those conducting a “pattern and practices” investigation of Louisiana State Police (LSP).

Let’s watch some highlights from the town hall meeting:

Sound Off Louisiana’s founder, Robert Burns, inquires how the public can be dissuaded from perceiving DOJ as a “toothless tiger” given that those conducting the investigation lack subpoena power.

As Burns mentioned in the video above, he actually showed up and set up his unipod only to discover he’d left his camera at home.  That prompted a mad dash back to Burns’ home, retrieving the camera, and a mad dash back.  Luckily, community activist Belinda Parker-Brown, founder of Louisiana United International, used her cell phone to record the period during which Burns was absent.  As a result, we want to present prominent civil rights attorney Jill Craft having posed her questions of DOJ officials (to include whether they have subpoena power) so their original responses can be available:

After DOJ officials provide a brief overview of their roles in investigating LSP, Craft asks about limitations they may be under.

Here are other video highlights:

Burns inquires if DOJ will delve into the massive LSP cheating scandal as well as the horrendously bad promotional practices deployed by LSP over the last few years.

Belinda Parker-Brown inquires whether DOJ’s investigation will include, “the corruption on the Louisiana State Police Commission?”

Parker-Brown inquires about indictments being handed down for the Ronald Greene cover-up, “from the Governor’s Office on down.”

Sister Khadijah Rashad inquires about DOJ investigating circumstances surrounding alleged suicides at law-enforcement agencies such as that of her grandson days before he was scheduled to be released.

“Brother Jay,” who, along with community activist “Sister Khadijah Rashad,” host a weekly public broadcast on Wednesdays in Lafayette, Louisiana, inquires about having a public database to keep bad police officers from being transferred from one law-enforcement agency to another.

The mother of a man who claims her son was beaten to death on Flag Street in Baton Rouge by Baton Rouge Police Officers voices concerns about law enforcement officials as she holds up a picture of her son.

CLICK HERE for the town hall in its entirety.

Dinelle Hardin, Ronald Greene’s sister, expresses her opposition to a pay raise for Louisiana State Police troopers at the meeting of the Louisiana State Police Commission at its May 11, 2023 meeting.

On May 9, 2023, the Louisiana House Ways and Means Committee advanced a tax measure to raise $22 million to fund a pay raise for Louisiana State Police troopers.  The bill is sponsored by Rep. Paul Hollis (R-Covington).  If passed, the bill proposes an approximate six-fold increase on the taxes imposed on vaping and e-cigarettes.  The bill advanced out of Committee by a 14-0 vote despite experts in the industry who testified that, even at present, 70 – 80 percent of the market for these products is going untaxed.

Let’s take just a few minutes to take a look at some highlights from these opponents’ arguments against the bill:

Opponents to HB-635 testify to the failure to collect taxes on “70 – 80 percent” of the existing vape and e-cigarette market and to the fact that, upon passage of the proposed bill, the market would, “without a doubt increase the illicit trade that’s already a huge problem in this particular category.”

Even though it was a given to pass the Louisiana State Police Commission at its meeting of May 11, 2023, that didn’t stop Felicia Cooper and Dinelle Hardin, sister of Ronald Greene, from expressing their sentiments against the proposal.  Let’s take a look:

Felicia Cooper states her reasons for opposing the increase in LSP Trooper pay at the 5/11/23 LSPC meeting.

Dinelle Hardin, sister of Ronald Greene, states her reasons for opposing the increase in LSP Trooper pay at the 5/11/23 LSPC meeting.

 LSPC, led by member Jared Caruso-Riecke, who spearheaded the pay increase initiative, discuss the proposed LSP pay raise initiative at the 5/11/23 LSPC meeting.

In a separate matter, the LSPC discussed an initiative to provide whistleblower protection entailing reporting LSP Trooper wrongdoing and, upon its passage, Hardin openly inquires, “Is there any way you can now reinstate Carl Cavalier?”

We’ll update this feature as it makes its way through the remainder of the legislative process to include whatever tomorrow’s vote by the full House turns out to be.

Senate Commerce Committee agenda posted outside of the Committee room on Wednesday, May 17, 2023.

Ten days ago, we published this May 7, 2023 feature exposing the buffoonish presentations of HB-458 and HB-470 by Rep. Mary DuBuisson (R-Slidell).

We also readily exposed the fact that State Rep. Richard Nelson (R-Mandeville), who aspires to be Louisiana’s next Governor, got swept right into the obvious blackmail attempts of a “bone of deregulation” (reducing required hours of schooling to obtain a cosmetology license from 1,500 to 1,200) in exchange for a massive 60 percent increase on in-state cosmetology license fees.

That massive increase (in the form of HB-458), if passed, is anticipated to generate over $500,000 a year for the Cosmetology Board to continue and even increase its extensively well-documented anti-small-business practices.

On May 8, 2023, (the day after publication), we updated the feature with this paragraph in bold at the top:

UPDATE:  Monday, May 8, 2023 @ 8:00 p.m.

It appears that The Senate Commerce Committee Agenda for Wednesday, 5/10/23 actually won’t reflect deliberations of either HB-458 or HB-470.  Maybe, as the old saying goes, “the heat got too hot in the kitchen.”  If so, get ready for the butane tank to get cranked up a bunch more as more time passes!!

Today, we make note of the feature image for this post above as, we firmly believe, providing the equivalent of 1,000 words applicable for this feature.

We did contact the Senate Commerce Committee’s staff to see if any explanation for the sudden cancellation may apply.  We were told, “We’re sorry, but our instructions were to place notice of the cancellation and no further details were provided.”

Accordingly, we can only ask, “does anyone hear the sound of a butane tank being cranked up to full blast?”

Just in case the bills’ proponents have a major masochistic propensity, we’ll certainly be there if they reschedule the crawfish boil bill presentation on Wednesday, May 24!