Louisiana

Bills targeting Louisiana’s public records law draw criticism

Published

3 weeks ago

April 15, 2024

Bills targeting Louisiana’s public records law draw criticism

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Like the federal government, Louisiana allows the public to request and gain access to certain government records. But bills in the state legislature would water down Louisiana’s public records law, drawing condemnation from people who favor transparency.

A portion of Senate Bill 482, by Sen. Heather Cloud (R-Turkey Creek), would block access to any records “reflecting advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations,” that are part of a process by which governmental decisions and policies are made.

“We find that very problematic,” said attorney Melia Cerrato, a Sunshine Legal Fellow at Tulane’s First Amendment Law Clinic.

Cerrato says reducing access to public records undermines public trust.

“Limiting public records like this lets the government operate in secret. And it erodes that public trust,” she said. “This bill creates a huge carve-out to our state public records law.

“This bill would essentially exempt all government records at all levels of government — from your city, your town, your parish to your state. So, this isn’t just to the governor. This is for every elected official and public agency that we have elected and our taxpayers fund.”

Dillard University political analyst Dr. Robert Collins said he thinks such a law, if passed, would prompt lawsuits.

“It’s bad from a public policy standpoint and a transparency standpoint,” Collins said. “And also, this law would — if passed — almost certainly automatically be challenged on First Amendment grounds.”

Another piece of legislation — HB 461 by Rep. Steven Jackson (D-Shreveport) — recently won approval in the House. It would allow confidentiality of certain information related to active economic development negotiations involving local governments.

“This will add local and parish governments to that statute,” Jackson said. “This is an already existing statute. LED (local economic development) already is exempt under this statute, as well as ports,” Jackson said just before the House voted.

But Jackson’s legislation faced opposition in the House Governmental Affairs Committee from an attorney representing the Louisiana Press Association.

“The local governments, they’re not the economic development districts,” attorney Scott Sternberg told the committee. “They’re not the ports and it’s not LED. They are the folks that are signing the bus contracts and making sure that people have appropriate housing and things of that nature. And those are the kind of records that people should be able to check up on their government for.”

Cerrato says that bill would deprive the public of valuable information.

“This bill definitely shrouds local governments in secrecy, and not only hides records of how public funds and how public lands are potentially used, but more broadly, it’s how public business is being conducted,” she said.

SB 423 by Sen. Jay Morris (R-West Monroe) would allow only Louisiana citizens to request public records. And SB 502 by Sen. Blake Miguez (R-New Iberia) would require people who want to inspect, copy or reproduce public records to provide “sufficient” information to verify their age and identification.

Collins said he believes that, collectively, the bills are intended to target news media. But he said, “I’m guessing anybody — not just in the media, but anybody that cares about transparency and the First Amendment — is going to be opposed to these laws.”

Cerrato said limiting access to public records to Louisiana citizens will hurt students attending Louisiana colleges and universities who come from outside the state or country.

“We have a case in which a father of a man was murdered in Louisiana, and he sought access to those public records about the death of his son,” she said. “Under these two bills, that man — who is a Missouri resident just looking for answers about (the) handling of his child’s death — this bill would tell that grieving father he has no right to see those investigative records.”

Fox 8 requested comment from the governor and the lawmakers sponsoring the four bills, but did not receive responses.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Subscribe to the Fox 8 YouTube channel.

Source link

Click to comment

Louisiana

Louisiana storm relief organization Cajun Navy Ground Force responds to SE Texas flooding disaster

Published

3 hours ago

May 8, 2024

Press Room

Louisiana storm relief organization Cajun Navy Ground Force responds to SE Texas flooding disaster

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Cajun Navy Ground Force has been on the ground in southeast Texas, helping people recover from last week’s severe flooding.

The rescue and relief organization is based in Lafayette, and ground force president Rob Gaudet said deploying to Houston was a no-brainer, especially considering the proximity.

The floodwaters have receded in several areas, but this week, Gaudet said his team was able to help deliver insulin to a man in a neighborhood that was still cut off by high water.

Gaudet also stressed the importance of documenting the damage from a flood as early as possible. From there, people need to prepare for a long cleanup journey.

“It takes years to recover, and it’s so important for people to know that and the need for assistance is tremendous,” he said.

The Cajun Navy Ground Force will stay in southeast Texas as long as there’s a need and they have the resources necessary to meet it.

For updates on this story, follow Briana Conner on Facebook, X and Instagram.

Source link

Louisiana

Louisiana ranked worst state as pollution, poverty, violence among factors in U.S. News report

Published

10 hours ago

May 8, 2024

Press Room

Louisiana ranked worst state as pollution, poverty, violence among factors in U.S. News report

Louisiana is ranked last – again – in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2024 Best States report, which for the second consecutive year cited an atmosphere of violent crime, poisonous industrial pollution, poverty and a dwindling population among the state’s hardships.

Utah was ranked as the top state. Texas was No. 29 as Louisiana’s highest-ranking contiguous neighbor, while Mississippi ranked No. 48 and Arkansas No. 47.

The U.S. News report ranked Louisiana in the following categories: crime/corrections, 50; economy, 49; education, 47; fiscal stability, 41; healthcare, 46; infrastructure, 49; natural environment, 49; and opportunity, 44.

Among the most alarming statistics:

∎ Residents suffer 629 violent crimes per 100,000 people, 65% higher than the national average.

∎ Louisiana has a net migration of negative 0.6%, while the average state is attracting 0.3% more population.

∎ Preventable hospital admissions are 27% higher in Louisiana than the national average, while nearly half of the population – 40% – is obese.

∎ Nearly one-third of Louisiana’s roads – 29% – are in poor condition compared to 18% nationwide. The state is 49th in Internet access.

∎ Louisiana factories release 3,134 pounds of industrial toxins per square mile compared to a national average of 937.

It’s the latest in a series of studies listing Louisiana as the worst or among the worst states in key quality of life areas.

About one in five Louisianians live in poverty.

Louisiana women in particular face bleak circumstances on nearly every front, from poverty to life expectancy to education, according to a study released earlier this year.

The WalletHub study ranked Louisiana 50th among states and the District of Columbia as best places for women, ahead of only Oklahoma.

Last spring a WalletHub study ranked Louisiana as the worst state in America for working mothers, with data showing moms here are shortchanged on everything from pay to childcare.

And last year’s Kids Count report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation ranked Louisiana 49th for child well-being.

More: Louisiana rejects rape, incest abortion exceptions for pregnant children, keeps strict ban

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

Source link

Louisiana

Federal judges give Louisiana lawmakers until June 3 to create suitable new congressional map

Published

17 hours ago

May 8, 2024

Press Room

Federal judges give Louisiana lawmakers until June 3 to create suitable new congressional map

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Louisiana lawmakers have less than a month to come up with a new congressional map or a panel of judges will draw it for them.

That mandate comes from a three-person panel of federal appellate judges who threw out the legislature’s newest map just last week.

Time is short because district lines need to be set in time for fall congressional elections.

The panel of judges gave state lawmakers until June 3 to present an acceptable congressional map, or have one imposed on them instead.

The panel last week rejected a map passed during a January special legislative session, which would have created Louisiana’s second Black-majority district. The panel found by a 2-1 vote that race was the predominant factor in that map’s boundaries, which the judges said violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Meanwhile, the judges will be making their own remedial plan, in case the lawmakers fail to act in time.

A spokesperson for Secretary of State Nancy Landry, however, said the June 3 deadline is too lax. The office said May 15 is its hard deadline to implement a map for the November election ballots.

Attorney General Liz Murrill said the state is appealing to the US Supreme Court to have the rejected map reinstated.

“Today, three federal judges who never spent a day running an election have ignored uncontradicted testimony that we need a map by May 15, and once again turned Louisiana’s congressional elections upside down,” Murrill said in a statement released Tuesday. “That’s on the tails of another federal judge, the 5th Circuit, and the Supreme Court doing it in the last round of congressional elections.

“At a time when concerns about election integrity are higher than ever, this ruling threatens the ability of the Secretary of State to conduct a stable and fair election in a presidential election year in Louisiana. We will be heading this week to the US Supreme Court.”

Davante Lewis, the Public Service Commissioner for the 3rd district of Louisiana, said Murrill’s statement is nonsensical and accused the AG of using bombastic language.

Lewis said the court gave the secretary of state and the state an opportunity Monday night to file briefs explaining their concerns about moving the deadline past the original date of May 15. However, he said the judges felt their testimony was not compelling, because both had mentioned in other cases they could have a map as late as May or early June.

Lewis said Louisiana will have a map in place before November. But what that map looks like is still up in the air.

“Everyone wants a map that is fair and just to the people of Louisiana, that adequately represents the population and gives every Louisianan the opportunity to have a member of congress of their choosing,” Lewis said.

“How you get there varies. There are multiple ways you can get there. I think what we have to do at this moment is keep our eyes on the prize that a fair map is needed. And, whatever the courts do, that they ensure that all Louisianans are fairly represented and that this legal strategy and legal confusion does not end in another election of people not having their voices adequately represented in Washington DC.”

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Subscribe to the Fox 8 YouTube channel.

Source link