An FBI agent who took part in the raid four years ago described Mr. Jefferson's response after he was shown a videotape of himself taking the briefcase of money from the government's informant.
Mr. Jefferson, he said, "looked very dejected, sunk back into the couch and started saying, "What a waste. What a waste."
Indeed: a waste of intellect, a waste of his position and a waste of the public's trust.
UPDATE: Jeffrey notes that Dollar Bill was acquitted of the charge directly related to the freezer cash. Interesting ...
What we knew all along is now official ... former Congressman Bill Jefferson is a crook. The jury in his federal corruption case voted to find him guilty of 11 of the 16 counts of public corruption that the U.S. Attorney charged him with.
Sentencing is not until October 30th, but Dollar Bill is looking at a minimum of 20 years in prison.
It's sad to see a public official that was entrusted with the people's business to succumb to the temptations of power. Hopefully, this conviction will serve as a warning to the rest of our elected officials.
On Friday, Congress took up the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which seeks to ensure that women have a remedy when their right to equal pay for equal work has been denied by their employer. Seems fair, no?
Well, the Supreme Court, in Ledbetter v. Goodyear, applied a strict constructionist view of the statutes governing pay in the workplace, and denied women the right to sue their employer over sex discrimination in pay if they didn't bring such a suit within 180 days of a corporation deciding to discriminate against the worker. What the Supreme Court majority failed to understand in this case was that most businesses do not publish their pay scale for all workers to see, so it is not likely that anyone will know that they are being paid less than their colleague within a 180 day period.
According to the entire Republican delegation representing Louisiana in Congress, it is not fair to make businesses that pay women who perform the same work as their male counterparts accountable to the legal system unless such a suit is brought with 6 months of receiving less pay as their male counterpart for the same work. In fact, to the Louisiana Republican delegation - Steve Scalise, Joseph Cao, John Fleming, Rodney Alexander, Bill Cassidy and Charles Boustany - it is downright discriminatory to those businesses, who ought to be able to discriminate against women in the workplace at will, and never face repercussions for doing so.
As Jeffrey at Library Chronicles notes, the vote made by Congressman Gao is not one that Congressman Jefferson would have made. I would add that Congressman Cazayoux would have voted differently than Congressman Cassidy as well.
I should note that the bill passed overwhelmingly, thanks to the new Democratic majority in the U.S. House, 247 to 171, with 15 Members not voting.
With 492 precincts in this district, we'll likely not be done anytime soon. The New Orleans precincts that Jefferson will be counting on to push him over the top will likely not come in until 10 PM CST.
With all 492 in:
Candidate
Votes
% of Vote
Joseph Cao (R)
33,122
50%
Bill Jefferson (D)
31,296
47%
Malik Rahim (G)
1,880
3%
There are still 101 precincts to come in from New Orleans itself. The newspapers and CNN are calling it for Cao. Holy crap, a wingnut Republican just won in a majority black district. We're gonna have no Democratic representation in the House, save for Charlie Melancon.
And for the Third District State Senate seat, there are 87 precincts to report. With 78 of 106 in:
Happy Election Day New Orleans ... this morning, y'all have the opportunity to vote in one of the last federal elections of this incredible 2008, as well as a Senate District 3 election featuring an outsider and a son of a New Orleans political dynasty.
The Congressional race is between Dollar Bill Jefferson and his dishonest Republican opponent, Joe Cao. Adrastos makes a good point that both our fathers taught us ... if someone spends time telling you that they are honest, they're usually lying. By the way, you're gonna wanna click on the link to Adrastos ... he's some nice pictures of the mailers that the Republicans are putting out there for Cao.
For instance, Cao was on Jeff Crouere's radio show yesterday, and another NOLA Blogger, Daniel Z., called in to ask Cao about the Family Research Council endorsement he received. (For those of you who don't know the FRC, it was started by James Dobson, and the Louisiana chapter is run by Tony Perkins ... who is considering a 2010 primary challenge against Vitter). Here's Daniel Z's account of the exchange:
So when I had the opportunity to ask him three questions I asked him:
A) Did you actively seek the endorsement of the FRC?
B) Do you accept the endorsement of the FRC?
C) Do you agree with the ideals of the FRC?
He answered the first answer truthfully. However, on the other two questions, he danced around the answer by saying how he does support the family and many people in this area support families. Well, that argument is like saying "I am a patriot so of course I support the Patriot Act". And because he answered like a typical politician, and did not reject the extremist conservative ideals of the FRC.
I have a hard time believing that a Republican candidate running for office in Louisiana doesn't have an idea who the FRC is. For some reason, Oyster thinks Cao is a "babe in the woods." You don't get into bed with the LA GOP and not know who the FRC is, Oyster. Sorry.
Dollar Bill is crooked. Everyone knows that. But he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. While his lawyers are playing the delay game by asking the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear his appeal of the trial court's refusal to dismiss the case en banc, and then will likely appeal that to the Supreme Court, I am confident that at some point next year, Bill Jefferson will be convicted.
But that does not mean I want a Family Research Council supported candidate representing New Orleans for the next two years, regardless of what he claims is a progressive agenda. He will not be voting in favor of EFCA. Dollar Bill, if still in office, will.
On the State Senate race, J.P. Morrell is the son of former State Senator Arthur Morrell, who now serves as the Criminal Court Clerk and City Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell. Shawn Barney is a financial consultant who grew up in New Orleans. His father was the head of the New Orleans chapter of the Urban League.
This is a Democratic district, so both candidates will be good on the issues. I get the feeling that J.P. Morrell is facing the heat of a well-run Barney campaign, as his campaign is likely the culprit behind the rumor that "Jefferson convinced Barney to run to boost turnout in the black precincts of New Orleans." The rumor troubled the Barney campaign enough to blast out a press release disputing the allegations:
At a time when his district lies devastated and our economy is in shambles, J.P. Morrell is smearing Shawn Barney to distract the voters from the fact that Morrell represents more of the same. It is an absolute lie that Congressman Jefferson convinced Shawn Barney to stay in the race for State Senate District 3 despite Morrell's endorsements by the old political establishment.
Mr. Morrell is scared because despite the fact that the status quo is supporting him, his increasingly desperate campaign to protect his family's dynasty is not resonating with voters.
Morrell is out of touch, therefore he is resorting to dirty tricks to hide from the voters of District 3 the fact that his only accomplishment while in office was his vote to give himself a 200% pay raise. Shawn Barney is a fresh face with new ideas who has brought millions of dollars in private redevelopment to District 3, while creating over 100 jobs in the metro area. J.P. Morrell may be a self described avid video game player, but he is not a serious candidate for public office.
Ouch ... Morrell voted to give himself a raise during the first go-round by the legislators in the legislative pay raise debacle? Talk about being short-sighted.
I'll be live-blogging the results this evening. Check back here at 8 PM CST.
I don't think you'll be seeing Jefferson on the air at all until the final days of this race, when he'll put up some generic ad just to remind folks he's running. You will see signs and billboards all over town, saying Re-Elect Congressman Jefferson.
I have not been impressed at all with the Moreno campaign. About the only smart thing she's done is focusing on rebuilding after Katrina, which is an important issue, but that's about it. She has not highlighted the failures of anyone in the lack of rebuilding; and she's taken money from known Republicans, like W's Louisiana Finance Chair. She's even raided Sinator Vitter's staff for staffers. The last two are not actions of a Democrat, and the first one is not the action of someone who is ready to stand up and fight for this district.
Jefferson will win this thing. It may be closer than his win over State Rep. Karen Carter-Peterson in 2006, but a win is a win. Expect to be back at the polls by late spring in this district, after Jefferson's trial ends.
Dollar Bill should be renamed Teflon Bill. He always finds a way to survive to fight another day. He'll face Helena Moreno in the run-off on November 4th.
A tax break for rum produced in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands may trigger a hangover for proponents of Congress' huge bailout bill after the U.S. Senate tacked on tax reductions for the islands' liquor.
In its current form, the estimated cost of the U.S. Caribbean rum tax proposal, which provides payment to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for rum imported into the mainland, is US$192 million over 10 years.
Normally, this tax break would be extended with little fanfare, but the Senate screwed the pooch on this one, y'all. Something tells me that we're going to be revisiting this mess under the next Administration come January.
Anyhow, here's the breakdown of the Louisiana delegation in the House vote:
Ayes:
LA-03: Charlie Melancon (D)
LA-04: Jim McCrery (R)
LA-05: Rodney Alexander (R)
LA-07: Charles Boustany (R)
Nays:
LA-01: Steve Scalise (R)
LA-02: Bill Jefferson (D)
LA-06: Don Cazayoux (D)
Steve's in the fight of his life in LA-01; and so is Bill over in LA-02; and Don is facing a tough re-election battle against Bill Cassidy. Still, Don sent out this statement about his vote: (emphasis added)
""Today, I cast my vote against Senate version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. This was decidedly one of the toughest votes I have taken during my career in elected office, but I am confident that I cast the right vote. It is my firm belief that giving Wall Street $700 billion in taxpayer money is not the right way to solve the fundamental challenges facing our economy and financial markets. I was hopeful that the new compromise bill would have a smaller pricetag with less taxpayer liability, but it did not."
There are 5 days before the primary in LA-02 and LA-04, which were delayed thanks to Hurricane Gustav. There are 6 candidates vying to knock off "Dollar Bill" Jefferson ... in alphabetical order, y'all ... James Carter, Troy "C" Carter, Byron Lee, Helena Moreno, Cedric Richmond, and Kenya Smith.
I'm not as familiar with this race, as I am with others, mainly due to the lack of coverage, and the lack of response by the campaigns to my emails for more information. Here's what I gather so far ...
As much as I want to see Jefferson go down in the primary, I don't see it happening. I think one of the run-off spots goes to him because I think he will be successful in getting his core supporters - older voters - out to vote.
Byron Lee, Kenyatta Smith and Troy "C" Carter are not in this thing. They'll get their single digit support, but they're not moving on to the Battle Royale on Election Day.
That leaves James Carter, Helena Moreno, and Cedric Richmond vying for that final spot in the run-off. Many folks are assuming that Helena Moreno wins by default because she's white.
James Carter ... I like what I hear about him, and I know and respect the field people working for him. I don't like some of the people backing him, mainly because I had the opportunity to work with them on elections pre-K, and I know which campaigns they backed post-K. Their track record ain't one to brag about, even though they see it as a badge of honor to lose so many times. For the record, I'm not talking about Deborah Langhoff ... I adore her, and respect her grassroots acumen.
Cedric Richmond has secured the endorsements of both the Gambit Weekly and the Times-Picayune, which is impressive. I met him the other night, and I entered into a conversation with him and one of his supporters about education and the prison reforms underway in Louisiana. His easy grasp of the issues speaks to his experience in the Legislature, and if he were to represent LA-02 in Congress, we would have an excellent advocate fighting for us.
Like I said, there are 5 DAYS left. Go VOTE. Go VOLUNTEER. You can find out where by clicking on the links for the candidates under LA-02 in the middle column near the bottom.
"Congress needs to understand the people of St. Bernard lost everything, including loved ones, due to the negligence and lack of responsiveness by the federal government and Army Corps of Engineers in the maintenance of that structure," Taffaro said.
But the port has an ally in U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans. In a statement issued last week, Jefferson signaled his support for keeping MR-GO open until the locks are completed.
"I will continue working with the Port of New Orleans and other interested parties so that New Orleans does not lose valuable business at the port," the statement said.
Pray tell, Congressman, whose business are you so worried about? Might it be Bollinger Gulf Repair, one of Bollinger Shipyards' many subsidiarys:
If the MR-GO closes without an alternative route opening first, Bollinger Vice President Robert Socha said the repair dock's 300 jobs could go, too.
"If one or the other isn't met, Bollinger Gulf Repair would probably cease to exist," he said.
The folks that qualified yesterday are in green text, unless they have are a Democrat AND have a website that I can find. If they are Repewblicans, then they have no linky to their site. This is a progressive website, and there is no need to link to those we are trying to defeat. The folks that qualified today are in black. So, without further adieu:
Senator Landrieu plans to qualify on Friday morning, after which she will kick off her "Winning for Louisiana" tour with stops in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, Lake Charles and New Orleans over the weekend.
John Neely Kennedy kicked off his "Nonsense on a Bus" tour through the state, and will apparently qualify tomorrow.
LA-01
Jim Harlan, Democrat
Steve Scalise, Republican
M.V. "Vinny" Mendoza, Democrat
James Carter, Democrat Troy "C" Carter, Democrat
William Jefferson, Democrat
Byron L. Lee, Democrat
Helena Moreno, Democrat Cedric Richmond, Democrat
Malik Rahim, Green Party
Kenya J.H. Smith, Democrat
"Jerry" Jacobs, No Party
Kenya Smith's filing leaves State Senator Cheryl Gray as the lone Democrat still considering the race. The two Republicans I mentioned yesterday, attorney Joe Lavigne, who finished 4th in the 2006 jungle primary, and Dillard University professor Gary Clark, are still considering it.
So far, no one else has qualified. It'll be interesting to see if any Republicans bother to throw their hat in the ring, considering that Charlie will be seeking his 3rd term this fall, and he won his re-election campaign quite convincingly over former State Senator Craig Romero, 55-40 in 2006.
John Fleming, Republican
Chris Gorman, Republican
Jeff Thompson, Republican
Chester T. "Catfish" Kelley, No Party
Mr. Kelly ran back in '06, and garnered some 2% of the vote as a Republican. My guess is he'll garner about the same as that, or even less than that in a competitive open seat election.
LA-05
Rodney Alexander, Republican
A Republican has stepped forward to take on the traitor ... his name is:
So here's the list of folks who qualified to run for the eight federal offices up for election in Louisiana this year, with a note as to when various folks are planning to qualify:(if there is no link to a website, it's because the candidate is a Republican, or they don't have one)
LA-Sen
None today.
Senator Landrieu plans to qualify on Friday morning, after which she will kick off her "Winning for Louisiana" tour with stops in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, Lake Charles and New Orleans over the weekend.
John Neely Kennedy kicked off his "Nonsense on a Bus" tour through the state, and will supposedly qualify at some point during the tour.
I believe these two are the only ones planning on running from either party ... there may be some minor candidates that come out of the woodwork between now and Friday, but this will be main event here in LA-01.
LA-02
James Carter, Democrat Troy "C" Carter, Democrat
William Jefferson, Democrat
Byron L. Lee, Democrat
Helena Moreno, Democrat Cedric Richmond, Democrat
Malik Rahim, Green Party
Apparently, Karen Carter-Peterson is not running. There are still others considering it, including Nagin aide Kenya Smith, State Senator Cheryl Gray, both of whom are Democrats. There are two Republicans considering making the race, attorney Joe Lavigne, who finished 4th in the 2006 jungle primary, and Dillard University professor Gary Clark.
So far, no one else has qualified. It'll be interesting to see if any Republicans bother to throw their hat in the ring, considering that Charlie will be seeking his 3rd term this fall, and he won his re-election campaign quite convincingly over former State Senator Craig Romero, 55-40 in 2006.
John Fleming, Republican
Chris Gorman, Republican
Jeff Thompson, Republican
Mr. Banks and Mr. Milkovich are first-time candidates for this seat, I believe. Dr. Cash ran back in '06, and split the Democratic vote with Patti Cox 17% and 13%, respectively, with little or no Louisiana Democratic Party backing. This time, Mr. Carmouche is considered the heavy front-runner for the Democrats, thanks to his long service as the Caddo Parish District Attorney.
On the Republican side, outgoing Congressman Jim McCrery has been instrumental to Jeff Thompson, going so far to endorse him, and secure the endorsements of House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, Republican Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia, Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan and Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas. Needless to say, the Republicans back home aren't sitting on their hands ... they're challenging McCrery's pick.
LA-05
Rodney Alexander, Republican
So far, no one has stepped forward to take on the traitor. Hopefully, someone will, but it will be an uphill fight, as it is late in the game to start the fundraising.
Don Cravins, Jr., Democrat
Charles Boustany, Republican
Peter Vidrine, Other
Boustany has been an absolute disappointment as a Representative for Southwest Louisiana, refusing to earmark any money for this district, which is struggling to rebuild after Hurricane Rita washed ashore in 2005. Mr. Cravins offers an attractive alternative for voters ... and will give Boustany a run for his money.
Today is the start of qualifying for all federal elections being held this fall. To date, I have received emails informing me when the following folks are qualifying for office:
Today, Wednesday, July 9th
John Kennedy, Republican, LA-Sen
Jim Harlan, Democrat, LA-01
Don Cravins, Jr., Democrat, LA-07, 3 PM
Thursday, July 10th
TBA
Friday, July 11th
Mary Landrieu, Democrat, LA-Senate, 9 AM
I assume that Congressmen Alexander (R, LA-05), Boustany (R, LA-07), Cazayoux (D, LA-06), Jefferson (D, LA-02), Melancon (D, LA-03), and Scalise (R, LA-01) will be qualifying on Friday as well, since the act of qualifying is usually good for some press attention, and the House of Representatives is currently in session.
I also believe that the following people will be qualifying at some point in the next few days:
Cedric Richmond, Democrat, LA-02
Karen Carter-Peterson, Democrat, LA-02
Helena Moreno, Democrat, LA-02
Paul Carmouche, Democrat, LA-04
Bill Cassidy, Republican, LA-06
Michael Jackson, Independent, LA-06
The Republicans have caught a HUGE break with Woody Jenkins' announcement that he will not seek the GOP nomination for LA-06 this fall. What does that mean? Don Cazayoux better start moving back to the Democratic Party. If he continues to tack to the center, he's going to face a helluva fight this fall. He'll have the coattails of Obama in the black community here in the Baton Rouge area, but he can't win with the black community alone. And any advantage he will have will be sorely tested by the potential entry into the race by State Rep. Michael Jackson as an Independent, which will catapult him directly into the general election. I hope it doesn't come to pass, but I fear that Don is now facing a perfect storm of his own, a mere two months after the GOP faced their own perfect storm of circumstances in the special election.
Congressman William Jefferson's (D) hopes for re-election were dealt a major, if not fatal, blow on Wednesday by the news that one of his sisters, Brenda Jefferson, has pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony. What that means is that she will likely be sentenced to probation, and definitely testify against her siblings and/or niece in cases that have been filed against them.
The court documents filed Wednesday make clear that Brenda Jefferson can help prosecutors make their case against her sister, 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson, who is also the congressman's sister; their brother, political strategist Mose Jefferson; and Coleman, their niece. The trio is charged with plundering more than $600,000 from three charities they controlled.
A summary of the government's case lays out specific allegations of how Brenda Jefferson and other family members skimmed money from charities:
Coleman and Betty Jefferson made out a series of checks to Brenda Jefferson without her knowledge. They then forged her name on the backs of the checks and deposited the money in their own accounts.
At Betty Jefferson's direction, Brenda Jefferson sent a phony report to the state claiming that a certain individual had provided tutors for 25 pregnant teenagers in 2005. The person did not work for the charity, and the teens were never tutored.
Also at Betty Jefferson's direction, Brenda Jefferson directed an accountant to write checks from the nonprofit group's account to people who she knew did not work for the charity.
Again at Betty Jefferson's direction, Brenda Jefferson forged the name of an unnamed person on grant applications. The person was the purported director of the charity; in fact, she did not work there.
At Mose Jefferson's direction, Brenda Jefferson opened a bank account that was a repository for state grant money. She disbursed the money at Mose Jefferson's direction.
"My family and I have sworn a great oath to trust God and to fight on to vindicate ourselves and our good name. This we will do. And, in none of it, will I or they sacrifice our continued strong commitment and effective delivery of the things our people need to recover from the storm and from a bad economy."
Congressman Jefferson's quest also faces the obstacle of a intra-party primary for the first time in his career. Expected challengers include:
Byron Lee
Helena Moreno
Karen Carter-Peterson Cedric Richmond
Once I find websites for the other candidates for this year's race, I will update that. If you know of their websites for this year's race, please let me know! Qualifying takes place July 9th to July 11th, so we'll know what's what in less than 3 weeks.
How this will play out is anyone's guess. It remains to be seen if Brenda Jefferson has any information about William's legal troubles, which deal with bribery and foreign nationals.
State Rep. Cedric Richmond will be announcing his candidacy tomorrow morning in Jackson Square in New Orleans at 10:30 AM. The location is intended to be a visceral reminder of the Bush Administration's failure to live up to the promise President Bush made 3 years ago on national television from Jackson Square. State Rep. Jackson just sent out a press release announcing that the announcement will come at 6:30 at the Basin Street Station at 501 Basin Street in New Orleans due to "events beyond their control."
Mr. Richmond is expected to make the following comments:
"This is where President Bush stood after Katrina and promised to rebuild this region. That hasn't happened.
I'm coming to Jackson Square to tell the people of New Orleans -- and all of the Second District -- that I'm running for Congress to deliver real recovery."
There's more you can read on Mr. Richmond here, and on the LA-02 race here.
With six weeks remaining before the qualifying period begins - July 9th - 11th - the race to vanquish Congressman William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson has started to heat up quite a bit. Let's take a look at all the candidates ... starting with those that have moved beyond the "I'm looking at my options stage":
Bill Jefferson (D): Regardless of his indictment for corruption, the man is in the race at press time. Whether any of the candidates I discuss below will hinge, I believe, on whether any of them would be willing to hit him harder than his opponents did back in '06. Hell, where to start? How about starting with the late great Ashley Morris' post entitled, "How to Defeat Bill Jefferson." Ashley hit the nail on the head ... if you want to win, you're going to have to point out all those things about Mr. Jefferson. I think the strongest point of attack would be to hit the fact that Jefferson no longer has a committee vote, nor does he sit on the Ways and Means committee any longer, which means he can no longer bring home the bacon that New Orleans so desperately needs. Hell, even the non-voting D.C. Rep, Eleanor Norton, has a committee vote! It's sad, really ... could you imagine the money a tag-team of Jefferson and Landrieu working their respective chambers could have brought home?
Karen Carter-Peterson (D): Ms. Carter-Peterson is currently the Speaker Pro Tempore in the House, and she represents HD 93, which covers parts of the Garden District, St. Thomas, Central City, Mid-City, CBD, Treme, the Fairgrounds, and the 7th Ward. She lost the run-off to Jefferson back in 2006, presumably because she got stuck with the "white" candidate label in the run-off, despite the fact that she is a black woman. For more on this, head on over to the Yellow Man's blog.
Helena Moreno (D): She is the former WDSU-TV morning anchor ... she apparently has a campaign team in place, according to the Gambit Weekly's Scuttlebutt. I don't know enough about those folks to evaluate whether they're good or not, I just know they are on the ground working.
Byron L. Lee (D): You just knew that there were going to be a West Banker in this thing ... and this time, it's Mr. Lee, who is currently a Councilman for District 3 in Jefferson Parish, which, from the map provided by the Jefferson Parish Council, includes Terrytown, Gretna, Marrero, Harvey, Westwego and Kenner. The question here is whether the West Bank will vote for one of their own, rather than anyone else running, which is another reason why Jefferson was able to slip into a run-off last time, if I recall correctly.
Cedric Richmond (D): He's a State Legislator representing HD 101, which is New Orleans East. He's done some good, some questionable, and has a campaign manager. He's in his final term in the State House.
Now for those looking at it ...
Juan LaFonta (D): He was recently elected to his first full term in the State House, after having been elected to fill out someone else's term in 2005. He represents HD 96. If anyone knows whose term he filled out, please let me know. Lafonta is currently the Chair of the Black Legislative Caucus in the House.
And finally, those definitely NOT running:
Derrick Shepherd (D): This is no suprise, considering that he has been indicted by the US Attorney's office for helping a convicted felon launder money. He did finish 3rd in the jungle primary back in 2006.
Tooling around the internets, or the tubes, this morning, I came across a valuable resource, GovTrack, which tracks all of the happenings and going-ons in the United States Congress. Currently, it is missing the votes and names of Scalise and Cazayoux, along with a picture of Boustany, which I've emailed to the creator and operator of the site. Hopefully, that will be rectified shortly.
I've set up a tracking page for all of the votes in both the House and the Senate, so we can keep track of what our Representatives are doing in our name. You can check it out on the far right near the bottom, where it says GovTrack.us.
I've also set up an Events Calendar on the far right at the top, where folks can add events happening in their area. While this is a Democratic leaning site, I'm cool with linking to the events held by the elected officials of the Republican Party. They are our representatives, too, and need to be held accountable as well. I will likely be tinkering with it a bit, so it may not look the same in the coming days.
UPDATE: You might need to sign up at GovTrack.us to view the entire Louisiana delegation. When I'm not signed in, all I see are our Senators. When I am signed in, I see the entire delegation, save Cazayoux and Scalise.
(Promoted because it talks about the Innocence Project ... an organization that is doing very important work here in Louisiana and across the nation. - promoted by ryan)
Under both federal and Louisiana state law, prosecutors are given wide ranging immunity for their actions. Louisiana in particular has been a domicile for some of the most troubling examples of blatant prosecutor misconduct. Up until now, there was little recourse for an aggrieved defendant. But all that might change in the coming weeks as the US Supreme Court considers the ramifications of a prosecutor who goes too far.
The Supreme Court has ruled in the past that "absolute immunity" shields prosecutors from being sued by persons who were wrongly convicted, even when there was exculpatory evidence kept from the accused that might have helped his or her case. But a California decision recently accepted for review by the Supreme Court puts the whole immunity issue back on the front burner.
Cross posted with dKos
I am Gilda Reed and I am running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Louisiana’s 1st District to give my people the representation they deserve. All of us are Katrina survivors. We must have a Democrat who feels the pulse of the people. Republicans have held the seat for 30 years and it is time for a change. Government is supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people—not a government created by the rich to protect their own interests. Over 90% of our Congress members are millionaires. I have no ill will for rich folks and can properly represent them. However, I do not know too many who have walked a mile in the shoes of my constituents. How can a person empathize when he/she is so far removed from our wants, needs and desires? A few courtesy visits, handshakes and empty rhetoric are not what we need. My people need me, one of their own, to fight for them.
