Resistance: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. .." Hosea 4:6
Resist the injustice. Get Informed.
**Injustice Resistance Movement of Louisiana**
Some things are just meant to happen the way they do. However, the day to day horrors of society, tend to wear away at the heart of things.
Who say's nobody cares? When Chris Nevils said, he wanted to see a fair jury - he knew what he was talking about. Now it must be seen if the prosecutor, will appeal the verdict on the very grounds, that he laid.
Today, October 29th 2010; Scott Nugent was found not guilty in the death of Baron "Scooter" Pikes. What's strange though, in Shreveport another officer was laid to rest, killed on duty.
The tasing-death of Pikes occurred on Martin Luther King Day -weekend. And in this cruelest climate, Nugent's actions were vindicated on Halloween weekend. Both, incidents happened on a Friday. What will be, in the final analysis the understanding of what has, now become history. It is a familiar history.
A history, our children should not have to live in the twenty-first century. Well, we were already escalating our efforts to secure a brighter future for a tomorrow, which may never come. But we must "occupy until he comes." An awakening, will occur. All were so caught up in two senate candidates, slinging vulgar mud. The tea partiers, and the such like. Musing about a South Mississippi Democrat divulging he didn't vote for the POTUS, but for McCain.
We, who live in Dixie, call them dixiecrats. Whose so surprised. Maybe the non-know-it-alls of the varied "punditates". But we know! If we wake up one morning and can't recognize the state of affairs.
We Shouldn't be shocked surprised or dismayed. We Should realize that time has caught up with us. America -the south, all of America has got to come to grips with itself. Fast! Well. Deliver us, from this task master. How is it so insisted upon, that we must accept, less than what is normal. Just because the powerful and the rich, exact prowess over the poor and impoverished; a reckoning day is coming. And who will be surprise, shocked or dismayed at its outcome.
Us people are destroyed, from a lack of Knowledge. And collusions with the very people, who destroy us. We, ain't gwine whistle dixie no mo'. Go 'head though "Whistle It" 'cause its yo' dixie too!
Former police officer found not guilty in Taser death trial in Winnfield
By Bret H. McCormick • bmccormick@thetowntalk.com • October 30, 2010
WINNFIELD -- Scott Nugent waited nearly three years for his manslaughter trial to begin.
Then, he waited about three weeks from the trial's start until closing arguments on Friday.
So, what were an additional three hours?
One of Nugent's attorneys, George
Higgins of Pineville, said the three-hour wait Friday afternoon while the jury deliberated was "gut-wrenching," but the jury returned with the two words Nugent wanted to hear: not guilty.
Nugent was a 21-year-old officer with the Winnfield Police Department on Jan. 17, 2008, when he arrested 21-year-old Barron "Scooter" Pikes (also known in Winnfield as Barron Collins Jr.). Pikes died in police custody, and Nugent was accused of causing the death by using excessive force -- specifically a Taser eight or nine times.
The incident between Nugent, who is white, and Pikes, who was black, caused racial tensions in the town of approximately 5,700 people, and those tensions were evident following Friday's verdict.
Several audible gasps were heard from friends and family members of Pikes' when the verdict was read, while Nugent began crying and shaking his head in relief.
Pikes' family members said the verdict would not be received well by members of Winnfield's black community.
"When it all boils down to it, the whole community is going to be outraged," said Nicole Collins, Pikes' cousin.
"The community is not going to be pleased by this verdict," Pikes' stepmother, Kayshon Collins, added.
Nugent and his team, however, were ecstatic at the news.
Nugent's family was released from the courtroom before anyone else and was unavailable for comment. However, Higgins couldn't hide his joy.
"We're thrilled that Scott was found not guilty," said Higgins, one of Nugent's three attorneys. "We're thrilled because we always thought Scott wasn't guilty."
Higgins said he also was happy for one of his fellow Pineville attorneys, Phillip Terrell, who also worked to defend Nugent.
"I know that this victory was especially meaningful for Phillip Terrell," Higgins said. "There is no bigger supporter of the police."
Terrell and Jerry Glas, a New Orleans attorney who specializes in Taser cases, both were unavailable for comment following the verdict.
*lesieur
Members of Barron “Scooter” Pikes’s family, including his stepmother Kayshon Collins (front center) and sister Lashanta Jackson (far right), exit the Winn Parish Courthouse Friday afternoon following the not guilty verdict in the manslaughter trial of former Winnfield cop Scott Nugent. Nugent was accused of using a Taser on Pikes on Jan. 17, 2008, and causing his death.(Bret H. McCormick)
Louisiana is this your KINGDOM COME!! The second moral virtue that comes from grace, as the fruit out of the tree, and ripens in the sunshine of confirmation is justice. Justice is a virtue that will give to everyone what belongs to him.
The court respects the rights of all before God
"Enlightened by prudence, justice supernatural foremost respects the rights of God. Indefeasible owner of everything, God has the right to any and everything, hence the cult inside and outside of man and society. Here, Justice is manifested by the virtue of religion, which includes worship, prayer, sacrifice, hope and the faithful fulfillment of precepts relating to the direct worship of the Creator ."
It respects the rights of the next
"It respects the rights of the neighbor, rich or poor, weak or strong, lower or higher.
To her the world must end the exploitation of man by man, the murder of children, slavery, despotism brutal, which weighed on all peoples before the redemption, and which still hangs over all foreign nations the benefits of the Gospel.
It teaches man to respect himself, his soul and his rights, his body and his family, his life, his death and to his grave.
She tells him, finally, to respect the creatures in the governing justly, that is to say according to their end, In a spirit of dependence, as a property of others with fear, as to account for the use he has made.
Imagine what would happen to the world under the dominion of supernatural justice!
Apoplectic & Apocalyptic Coastal tent cities are about to rise to house the workers and contractors minimizing the damage, while barge-like floating hotels for a total of about 800 workers are being readied at three locations off Louisiana. Sand banks and barriers are being built. But the consensus around the Gulf Coast is turning more apoplectic and apocalyptic. This is, people are starting to say, a generational event -- tragic to this generation, potentially crippling to the next. On Thursday June 3rd Louisiana's Legislature offered HCR 214 directed to Ken Salazar the Secretary of the Interior. Rep. Ernest Wooton took to the podium on the floor of the Louisiana House & assailed the Obama Administration. How dreadful.!. Wooton said two years ago he [President Obama] could do anything. There is a lot of hate fomenting in state legislatures. A very heated debate ensued in Senate Committee Judiciary C, on HB617-Requiring at least twenty percent of recipients of cash [welfare] assistance to be drug tested prior to receiving benefits.
But Louisiana, still doesn't get it! Wooton even said the President should stay up in D.C.!! So, an oil man from Texas allowed the regulations on oil production to become lax. And now, a Hawaiian is saying, stop all drilling until we fix the regulating arm of gov't, stopping all drilling. While Pelicans are drenched in blood, I mean oil. Or, bloody looking oil. This is the link of Wooton going off. His comment's are behind Rep. Dove's explanation of the Resolution.
This is the kind of rhetoric that is fueling the "militia militancy" against Obama. An oil-producer, in a mad-rush for profit, split the earth, changed drill bits; disregarded a blowout preventer and charged straight ahead into the abyss.
?What is the correlation to this drilling & the recent earthquakes in the Caribbean & Central/South American Region?
Is any one realizing this is a green President. And this type of fiasco is this man's worse nightmare. Imagine that, toxic oil pollution in an endangered ecological wetland. And now, it's hurricane season. Yet still, who are they fooling. Haiti proved the WORLD let lone the USA are ill-prepared for catastrophe. It is especially so, one behind the other!! '09 Financial debacle. '10 Haiti Earthquake April 2010 Oilwell Blowout.
Come on People. Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi & all total 13 states had filed suit against Healthcare. Somebody's sure 'nough gonna need it now!!
USF researchers find new underwater plume from gulf oil spill
The sight of an oil slick spreading across the surface of the Gulf of Mexico is bad enough. But now scientists from the University of South Florida have found signs that a 6-mile-wide plume of invisible oil is snaking beneath the surface, in the deepest recesses of the gulf.
The thickest concentration, they found, was more than 2 miles beneath the surface — a mile deeper than where the Deepwater Horizon well has been spewing oil for the past month — and about 20 miles northeast of the collapsed rig.
The plume of dissolved oil stretched 6 miles down, said David Hollander, a USF chemical oceanographer and lead investigator for the project. This is the second oil plume to be discovered by scientists, and it marks the first time such plumes have been detected after a spill, Hollander said. He compared them to streams of lava flowing out of an undersea volcano.
While the fudgelike goo coating Louisiana's marshes is getting lots of television coverage, the two undersea plumes show damage is also occurring where no one can see it: deep in the gulf, miles from land, where marine life has always been abundant and yet largely unobserved.
The USF research vessel Weatherbird II was dispatched Saturday to take samples in the DeSoto Canyon, a deep valley that cuts through the continental shelf south of the Florida Panhandle. In the canyon, an upwelling of nutrient-rich water means far more fish and other species swim there.
The scientists' big concern, Hollander said, is whether the oil they found is concentrated enough to be toxic to marine life. It could affect the whole food chain, he said.
The canyon area is a popular destination for local fishing boats, said Bob Spaeth, owner of Madeira Beach Seafood, the area's largest seafood house and home dock for many longline boats, because "it is pristine. It has great habitat.''
The fishermen are willing to make the day-and-a-half journey because they know they will catch bluefin tuna, swordfish, king mackerel and grouper, Spaeth said. If toxic levels of oil have contaminated the fish there, Spaeth said, "that's a disaster.''
The fish are not the only potential deep-sea victims of the spill. It could affect everything from the 10-foot-long giant tube worms rooted to the floor of the gulf to the sea turtles, sharks, whales and dolphins that spend their lives far from shore, say the experts.
"I would be worried about every marine species that swam through that plume," said John Williams, executive director of the Southern Shrimp Alliance, based in Tarpon Springs.
Currently federal officials have closed about 22 percent of the gulf to both commercial and recreational fishing. USF College of Marine Sciences Dean William Hogarth promised that if the area where the plume was found wasn't already covered by that ban, it will be by today.
A big question is where the plume will go next. It could continue spreading until it gets onto the continental shelf and is pushed close to shore. Another USF oceanographer, Robert Weisberg, warned congressional representatives this week that if subsurface oil gets lifted onto the shelf it could reach west Florida's wetlands and beaches, which he called "a very serious concern."
There is no ongoing government monitoring program for what's going on in the gulf, Weisberg said. The USF voyage cost $850,000 — funded by the state — and at this point there is no money for a follow-up trip.
The USF ship, scheduled to return today, went out after scientists from several universities working aboard the research vessel Pelican told the New York Times of finding plumes of oil 3 miles wide and 10 miles long beneath the gulf's surface. That plume was spreading southwest of the rig.
Computer models run by Weisberg had predicted the location of the southwestern plume found by the Pelican, Hollander said. Weisberg's model also suggested there could be a similar plume headed northeast, he said, so that's where the USF ship went.
The scientists aboard the ship — some from USF, some from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg — discovered the plume on Tuesday. What's not known is the role that chemical dispersants play in the plume. BP has been spraying the dispersants both on the surface slick and directly on the gushing wellhead in the deep ocean, something never before attempted. The dispersants, being used in unprecedented quantities, are supposed to spread the oil so it will evaporate and degrade more quickly. That could be what has created the plumes, Hollander said.
The concern is that the dispersants are simply holding the oil below the surface, where it is harder to clean. So far, tests by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have found no signs that the dispersants are harmful to sea life, but the EPA has ordered BP to look for a less toxic version.
Once the Weatherbird II returns to port, scientists will conduct further tests to determine whether the plume is made of weathered oil droplets or oil linked to dispersants, Hollander said.
The one piece of good news: Tests conducted by the Weatherbird II between the loop current and the Florida coast showed clean water, no weathered oil on the surface and no sign of oil beneath the waves. But that doesn't mean it will stay that way.
Rowan Gould, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has predicted the spill "will affect fish and wildlife resources … for years to come, if not decades."
Times staff writers Stephen Nohlgren and Alex Leary contributed to this report.
NEW ORLEANS -- Marine scientists have discovered a massive new plume of what they believe to be oil deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico, stretching 22 miles from the leaking wellhead northeast toward Mobile Bay, Alabama.
The discovery by researchers on the University of South Florida College of Marine Science's Weatherbird II vessel is the second significant undersea plume recorded since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20.
The thick plume was detected just beneath the surface down to about 3,300 feet, and is more than 6 miles wide, said David Hollander, associate professor of chemical oceanography at the school.
While the researchers used Mobile Bay as a reference point, the area they are exploring is the DeSoto Canyon, which one researcher described as an "abyss" that falls off from the Florida shelf due south of the Florida-Alabama state line.
The canyon begins more than 100 miles off the Alabama coast with depths of more than 5,000 feet.
Hollander said the team detected the thickest amount of hydrocarbons, likely from the oil spewing from the blown out well, at about 1,300 feet in the same spot on two separate days this week.
The discovery was important, he said, because it confirmed that the substance found in the water was not naturally occurring and that the plume was at its highest concentration in deeper waters. The researchers will use further testing to determine whether the hydrocarbons they found are the result of dispersants or the emulsification of oil as it traveled away from the well.
The first such plume detected by scientists stretched from the well southwest toward the open sea, but this new undersea oil cloud is headed miles inland into shallower waters where many fish and other species reproduce.
The researchers say they are worried these undersea plumes may are the result of the unprecedented use of chemical dispersants to break up the oil a mile undersea at the site of the leak.
Hollander said the oil they detected has dissolved into the water, and is no longer visible, leading to fears from researchers that the toxicity from the oil and dispersants could pose a big danger to fish larvae and filter feeders such as sperm whales.
"There are two elements to it," Hollander said. "The plume reaching waters on the continental shelf could have a toxic effect on fish larvae, and we also may see a long-term response as it cascades up the food web."
(Associated Press Writers Jason Dearen and Matthew Brown authored this report, which was clarified by the Press-Register at 12:47 to better state the location of the undersea oil.)
The indigent defense system is steadily falling apart & the Louisiana Legislature has still failed to launch, an initial action to revamp the judicial process in the state of Louisiana. In particular Louisiana's 4th Judicial District has indigent defense attorneys, who are typically lax in their representation of impoverished defendants.
Public Defender Office-La. 4th JDC is currently covering a case involving three defendants, one of which has federal charges. Already, two of the defendants are lanquishing in the system, because of maneuvering by the federal defendant.
In New Orleans public defenders are to the point of possibly not taking on any new cases.
Should this not be the final signal, of the impending doom of the collapsing judicial process in Louisiana.
North Carolina has a commission in force that looks in to criminal convictions for possible mistakes even after all post-conviction remedies are exhausted! The Commission, considers claims of innocence from convicts or anyone else with pertinent information. It has reviewed hundreds of claims by prisoners and brought only three to a hearing.
If the commission agrees that a claim has merit, it refers cases to a three-judge panel, which has happened only once except for a recent case, [Gregory Taylor] and the argument in the other case was rejected.
Robert L. Stevens is the 10th person charged in the continuing federal investigation of corruption in Baton Rouge city and state district courts.
Each of the prior nine defendants has pleaded guilty to one or more felony counts. To date, none has been scheduled for sentencing.
Stevens, 61, of Baton Rouge, was charged Tuesday with conspiracy in aid of racketeering. That charge was filed in a bill of information by Assistant U.S. Attorneys M. Patricia Jones and Corey R. Amundson after Stevens waived his right to have the case sent to a grand jury.
“We’re not aware of any job that Stevens has right now or what (type of work) he did in the past,” U.S. Attorney David R. Dugas said.
Stevens is accused of soliciting and obtaining “cash and other things of value from individuals with criminal and traffic matters pending” in Baton Rouge City Court, the bill of information states.
In return for those bribes, the bill of information alleges, defendants were promised their charges “would be dismissed, reduced, or otherwise ‘fixed.’ ”
Stevens participated in the conspiracy in 2008 and for at least the first nine months of 2009, prosecutors said in their charge.
In April and May 2009, Stevens is alleged to have had multiple telephone conversations with Flitcher Bell, who was at that time a senior city prosecutor.
Bell pleaded guilty in the case late last year after prosecutors announced the continuing investigation, dubbed Operation Illegal Motion.
Thus far, the investigation also has produced convictions against two former Baton Rouge police officers, the former chief investigator for the local public defender’s office, several people outside the court system, and several former state and city court employees.
The charge against Stevens carries a possible five-year prison term and fine of $250,000.
Woman from Pointe Coupee Parish not guilty on first DWI
By Chris Nakamoto Source: WBRZ Updated: February 3, 2010 5:47 PM
Woman from Pointe Coupee Parish not guilty on first DWI By Chris Nakamoto Source: WBRZWAFB
Officials postpone deadly crash grand jury trial
Feb 11, 2010
It took ten minutes for Judge Alex Wall to find 23-year-old Victoria Gosserand "not guilty" of first offense DWI in Baton Rouge.
In a separate case of DWI in Pointe Coupee Parish, Gosserand faces more serious charges. Investigators say she was three times over the legal limit when she caused a crash that killed 23-year-old Terri Parker and injured vehicle's driver.
Even though the first case doesn't involve Parker's family, they were in court to seek justice.
"If the courts would have taken care of the first DWI, she wouldn't have gotten the second DWI," Parker's mother, Debra Cushionberry said.
In court, the Baton Rouge police officer who pulled her over told a packed courtroom that after he arrested her, the smell of alcohol was so strong he had to crack a window in his police unit.
The executive director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving told News 2 she was concerned there wasn't enough evidence to convict Gosserand.
"We're not always winners," Donna Tate said. "The details of every case are different. In this case, there was not an opportunity to have a field sobriety test done because of the defendant's refusal and no blood alcohol test."
A grand jury in Pointe Coupee Parish will decide next week whether to formally charge Gosserand for the crash in New Roads.
Officials postpone deadly crash grand jury trial
Posted: Feb 11, 2010 6:12 PM CST Updated: Feb 12, 2010 5:36 PM CST
NEW ROADS, LA (WAFB) - A grand jury trial in New Roads scheduled for Friday was postponed after two judges have openly recused themselves from the case of a deadly crash involving a woman who failed a field sobriety test.
District Attorney Ricky Ward said Judge James Best and William DuPont have recused themselves. According to a source, DuPont said he has already been assigned a civil lawsuit in the matter. Best admitted he recused himself.
"It is much too personal to me to preside over this case, as my son was a classmate of both Victoria Gosserand and Kyle Riviere," Best said. "It would put me in an awkward position."
Ward said the case will be reassigned to either Judge Robin Free or Alvin Batiste. He expects the grand jury to hear evidence either next week or the following week.
Teri Parker's father says he is upset about the delay.
"I'm frustrated because my daughter has been taken from me and it's made me feel like nothing has been done about it," said John Parker.
Two days before Christmas, Teri Parker, 23, was killed as she drove home from work. Police have charged Tori Gosserand, 23, in the case. Records show Gosserand had a .30 blood alcohol level at the time of the accident. In Louisiana, the legal limit is .08. Kyle Riviere was riding with Teri Parker. He survived the crash. Story-wafb.com
Officers cleared in Monroe shooting
MICHELLE BATES, Editor
February 11, 2010 Officers cleared in Monroe shooting MICHELLE BATES, Editor
The two officers involved in the shooting death of Bernard Monroe Sr. have been cleared.
Late Thursday afternoon, the Claiborne Parish Grand Jury handed down a no true bill, which means no criminal charges will be filed against former Homer Police Officers Tim Cox and Joseph Henry, in a case that turned the community of Homer upside down.
When the results were handed down, the only officer that might have faced criminal charges was Cox. According to the report filed with the Claiborne Parish Clerk of Court, Cox could have faced a charge of first degree murder, second degree murder, manslaughter or negligent homicide.
According to Assistant Attorney General John Sinquefield, the grand jury met two full days and worked overtime on the case. The 12 member jury heard 21 witnesses, including 12 civilians, meaning non law enforcement witnesses. They reviewed dozens of items of evidence and returned the no true bill, he said.
“I think they did a very thorough, very complete investigation involving the death of Mr. Monroe,” Sinquefield said. “They did a very good job in reviewing the evidence. All the witnesses, all the police personnel, and all the governmental officials in Homer cooperated 100 percent with us in our investigation, and on behalf of the attorney general’s office, we’d like to thank all these people.”
He extended his thanks to Second Judicial District Judge Jenifer Clason, Claiborne Parish Sheriff Ken Bailey, Homer Police Chief Russell Mills and all the police jury personnel for their full cooperation and accommodations during the grand jury proceedings – held at the Claiborne Parish Police Jury Complex in Homer.
“Judge Clason was very helpful and available, and took our report and showed us every courtesy of the court, and we’d like to thank her,” he said.
Rob Moore, of the Moore Law Firm in Arcadia, the attorney representing Henry, said his client is glad it’s over.
“We’re just relieved that it’s over,” Moore said. “Joey loves this town and wishes the best for Homer.”
Henry declined comment on the matter at this time, as did Homer Police Chief Russell Mills. Mills declined comment under the advisement of Town Attorney Jim Colvin, pending a civil suit.
Attorney Morris Dees, of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama, representing the Monroe family, said they are disappointed in the outcome of this incident.
“They are extremely disappointed that no indictment was returned,” he said, “and they intend to file a civil lawsuit in the near future with the opportunity for a jury to hear the factual determination in the death of Mr. Monroe – something that did not take place with the grand jury.”
Dees indicated that a suit will be filed within the next 10 days as of Friday, February 5.
Bernard Monroe Sr., 73, was shot and killed by Cox on Friday, February 20, 2009, at his home. He was transported to Homer Memorial Hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. He later passed away at the hospital.
According to police, they were pursuing Monroe’s son, Shawn, on foot, and the chase ended at his residence where Monroe allegedly engaged the two officers with a loaded handgun. Witnesses at the scene say he did not have a gun, but rather a sports drink bottle.
The Rev. Willie Young, president of the Claiborne Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said the members of his organization were disappointed in the outcome.
“We’re disappointed, and we have to accept the results whether I like them or not,” he said. “You live in the real world and there’s two sides to every story.”
He said they prepared themselves for the outcome either way, and it was time to move forward.
“The grand jury has spoken and we move on from here,” Young said.
The tragedy has spurred unrest and many questions by members of the community from all sides. The U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the ACLU and the Louisiana State Police have investigated the case from several different aspects, including any possible civil rights violations as well as the investigation into the incident itself.
The Rev. Al Sharpton was in Homer last year saying that he would not rest until justice was done for Monroe. The NAACP also conducted its own investigation just weeks after the incident.
Ex-officer's attorneys: Taser not cause of death
Robert Morgan • rmorgan@thetowntalk.com • February 11, 2010
Defense attorneys for former Winnfield Police Officer Scott Nugent said they plan to contest claims that a Taser stun-gun caused the death of Baron "Scooter" Pikes in 2008.
Nugent had been set for trial on a manslaughter charge Feb. 9, but the date was postponed until June 14 by state Judge John Joyce.
Nugent is accused of causing Pike's death while he was in Winnfield police custody by shocking him nine times with a Taser.
Pineville attorneys George Higgins and Phillip Terrell said the defense will challenge the science the prosecution intends to introduce.
Despite a finding by Winn Parish Coroner Randolph Williams that Pikes died as a result of the Taser shocks, Higgins said, "We contend that a Taser cannot cause the death of a human being."
"The Taser is a non-lethal weapon. That's precisely why it's used," he said.
Terrell said a report from forensic pathologist Joel Carney of Lafayette declares that the cause of death is "inconclusive."
Carney, who examined the body the day after Pikes died, issued a report saying Pikes had sickle cell anemia and an enlarged heart, either or both of which could have contributed to his death, according to portions cited by Terrell.
The report does not cite the Taser incident as a cause of death, he said.
Taser darts only go under the skin and cannot impact internal organs, the attorneys said.
"As we've contended from the beginning, Scott Nugent did not cause the death of the deceased," Higgins said.
The disarray of justice in Louisiana, has now manifested itself in a physical form. Its affects have in effect placed the judicial process in further jeopardy. Not only has Jelpi Picou, formerly with the Capital Appeals Project; siphoned at least $100k from a state-funded program, the Legislature has still not convened any committee(s); joint or sub, to research or gain needed information on the current debacling circumstances.
To begin with, increasing the public's confidence in the system; which, in turn would aid in decreasing the 2009 spike in crime in some areas. Recent events of youth violence is approaching epidemic. Citizens in one NE La. Legislative district are preparing a citizen optioned covert operated response to end the spike.
All the while, in federal court a state legislator's brother began trial on Hobbs Act violations. Although, no one has been nominated yet, the US Atty for the same district has tendered his resignation,effective on MLK day. A US Supreme Court decision is holding back a trial of the same individual on other charges in which a DA is also involved.
Not to mention, the state AG has taken on a 2009 police killing in Claiborne parish, for which no dates have been set. A Jan 2009 taser-death "stun-drive" case is scheduled to begin February 9th 2010 in a rural parish. In July '09 a Colfax man was killed by police. And the Calcasieu parish public defender system is back in court for a repeat. But now with, the recent upheavels in the 19th JDC-PDO and the recent revelations of case fixings for pay, it should be evident the system needs a thorough going over. Does any body really care. The current United States Attorney General was involved in a wrongful conviction case at the time he was nominated by the POTUS. That case, subsequently settled with the exoneree receiving millions. But there are others, who are trapped in this jurisprudence gone awry. Beyond the personal objectives and agendas, there is still opportunity to begin the real work of evolving into a better position. There is no giving up in this fight. All the signs are there to let the sighted know, what must be done. As citizens. May the parties in position respond to this appeal.
In a 2008 resolution, the Louisiana Legislature's LLBC was requested to convene hearings on the justice apparatus in the state. The then chairman of the LLBC agreed. A house concurrent study resolution was authorized, and nothing has come to fruition. 2010 is here. Yet it is not too late, to do the right thing. Although, there is a new chairwoman, who will take this endeavor on?
Someone has to make a move! It has to happen, now. Are you the one?
Intel. Report: Iran Will Use Latin America to Attack US, Israel | by Malkah Fleisher
Intel. Report: Iran Will Use Latin America to Attack US, Israel
by Malkah Fleisher
Nisan 28, 5769 / April 22, '09 | Published: 04/20/09, 2:06 PM
(IsraelNN.com) Just two days after US President Barack Hussein Obama shared a controversial and landmark handshake with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez at the Summit of the Americas, the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center has released a study analyzing the flowering alliance between the increasingly anti-Western Latin America and the virulently anti-Israel Iran.
The study was conducted at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC), a non-governmental organization dedicated to Israeli intelligence and terrorism issues.
According to the study, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is using anti-Western Hugo Chavez as a springboard into several Latin American countries, such as Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Ecuador, where he intends to establish a religious, terrorist, political and economic foothold in South America. Iran has already made major inroads in its relationship with Venezuela and Bolivia, largely based on shared anti-American sentiments.
Iran will utilize this developing relationship to challenge the United States, parts of Asia, and Africa, said the study.
The Islamic Republic will also leverage petrodollars and Muslim operatives positioned throughout key Latin American countries to implement a radical anti-Western agenda, fight America's anti-nuclear policy, and to slash international economic sanctions according to the IICC.
In addition, the report warns that Iran may launch anti-American and anti-Israel terror attacks through intelligence and terror networks in South American countries.
Ahmadinejad, who hosted a "World Without Zionism" conference in 2005, promoting his goal to "wipe Israel off the map", has already succeeded in wounding Israeli diplomatic relations in the region, with Israel's diplomatic core being forced out of Chavez's Venezuela and Bolivia during the anti-terror Operation Cast Lead in January 2009.
Khomeini-inspired Shi'ite Islamic and Iranian revolutionary propaganda is being exported by Iran into non-Muslim and Muslim communities in Latin America, in large part through its terror proxy, Hizbullah, which is raising funds for operation by uniting with South American drug and crime cartels.
The IICC report cites several U.S. intelligence and military officials expressing concern over rising Iranian activity in Latin America, and increasing numbers of converts in the region to Islam.
Chavez and Obama exchanged a warm greeting on Friday, and again on Saturday, at which time Chavez presented Obama with a book on American and European imperialism in South America.
Chavez, who said being in Iran's capital city of Tehran made him feel "like arriving at one's own home", told reporters he shared a good moment with Obama, who he called "intelligent." The Venezuelan dictator once referred to former US President George W. Bush as "the devil" at a meeting of the United Nations.
Venezuela and Israel enjoyed a strong relationship in the past, with Venezuela voting in favor of Jewish statehood at the United Nations on November 27, 1947.
When Abner Mikva entered the lobby of his lakeside apartment building to vote on Tuesday morning, he wasn't surprised by the long voting line stretching down the hallway.
In the 2004 elections, there was no line at all.
"People are excited," Mikva told The Jerusalem Post as he stood in line to vote. "This election has people more involved."
Born in Wisconsin, Mikva went to the University of Chicago's Law School and served in the Illinois House of Representatives and in the US Congress from 1969 until 1979. He resigning his seat when president Jimmy Carter appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, where he served until 1994. He then was White House counsel under president Bill Clinton until 1995.
Mikva was something of a mentor to Obama as the Illinois state senator made his first move into national politics in 2000 in a failed bid for Congress. They became close friends several years earlier when they met on the University of Chicago campus where they were both teaching at the law school.
Regarding concern in Israel about an Obama presidency, Mikva said that "Barack will be the first Jewish president in the US."
"He has a yiddeshe nishama," Mikva said. "He is committed to Israel and its security concerns and understands that democratization does not happen by force but by example, and there is no better example in the Middle East than Israel."
On Tuesday, Hyde Park was buzzing with activity. Police were blocking off streets and were deployed on every corner and alleyway around the Obama home, which is located right across the street from the KAM Isaiah Israel Temple, the oldest synagogue in the Windy City. Unusually long voting lines were recorded across Chicago.
"After meeting him for the first time, I was immediately impressed by how smart and thoughtful Barack was," Mikva said.
The two grew closer in 2000 when Mikva campaigned on Obama's behalf throughout Chicago. Obama failed to make it into Congress and Mikva said that one reason was that Obama didn't know how to speak to black audiences on the South Side.
"He got clobbered in the black areas since he came across as a Harvard Law professor," he recalled, noting that by Obama's senate bid four years later, the state senator had come a long way as an orator. "When he spoke to black audiences in 2004 he had the rhythm and knew how to speak. He could have taught a thing or two to Dr. [Martin Luther] King."
Mikva stayed in touch with Obama after he entered the Senate, serving as an informal adviser on his 2008 presidential campaign as well as on its finance committee.
"As an older mentor to Obama, I always tried to transmit to him not to change his message and to be consistent," Mikva said. "Obama has stuck to this and is always consistent."
Abner Mikva
yiddishe neshima
Obama-"Quiet Riots" |June 2007|Hampton University Ministers' Conference
News & Notes , January 5, 2009 · On today's bloggers' roundtable: Mychal Bell, one of the teenagers involved in Louisiana's Jena 6 case, reportedly shot himself in the chest, in a suicide attempt. Plus, a conservative satirist is under a cloud of controversy for lyrics he wrote about President-elect Obama. And a new report finds the murder rate among black male teenagers on the rise. Farai Chideya moderates today's roundtable with Jasmyne Cannick; Shaun King of Shaun in the City; and Eric Brown of the Detroit News.
ms moon (msmoon) wrote: Shuan is right on in his defense of Mr. Bell. I guess I don't get Ms. Cannick's and Mr. Brown's flippant response to Bell's attempt to kill himself. Instead of questioning what would draw this young man to the point where he decided to take his life, the response seems to be that he somehow owed "The Black Community" for sticking up for him and the other Jena men. And that "right is right and wrong is wrong" -- is she implying that suicide is wrong, as in Bell is wrong for feeling the way he did at that moment? Way to show empathy. I know it's cliche but hardly anything in life is ever black and white, period. Without addressing underlying issues, those grey areas, we're not helping anyone. Tuesday, January 06, 2009 2:27:22 PM
Unfinished Business (Unbu) wrote: Mychal's story is very complicated. As it was said by him concerning media glare; he was referring to the glare that would come because of his recent arrest.As for support systems, it was a feeding frenzie at the height of the jena phenomenon. This isn't complete yet, because others are still in "trial limbo". Capitalizing took place, then; and has taken place now. The same local station in Monroe, La., that aired a news report the LaSalle DA's office had an offer on the table, that would of garnered Mychal only 6 months June of 07; aired on their local evening news, the Monday of the shooting incident that he had been arrested Dec 24th at Dillard's.It was that Media Attention that Mychal referred to. Remember, on Sept 20th Mychal was in custody. He was present for a news conference on his release Sept. 27th. He was present the same day at a family residence in Jena, as media was there, including a crew from Dr. Phil. His attorney's by court order allowed no interviews. CNN performed a interview with Mychal in Monroe, at Carroll High School Stadium in early 2008. CNN held & aired that interview a few days, before the LHSA made the decision, he would not play football. The courts, had him in a state program then. Monday, January 05, 2009 5:31:40 PM
Melissa Bell: POLITICAL PRISONER - Finish the Business in JENA!-Released $30k Bond Dec 4-08
'Jena Six' mother accused of hitting women with shovel By Bill Sumrall • bsumrall@thetowntalk.com • October 18, 2008
Melissa Bell, who was charged with contempt of Court the week of the Homer March, has since been released after an amount was paid. The fact is Jena's citizenry are experiencing racial profiling in a grand sweep. Tina Jones, mother of Jena Six Bryant Purvis, was pulled over the same week Melissa Bell was arrested. A sheriff deputy pulled Purvis' Mom over, asked where did she work & after being told she worked at the local healthcare facility; the deputy alledgedly commented, I'd better let you go, you may have to take care of me one day. Tina Jones was traveling in a vehicle the officer [evidently] thought she shouldn't be able to afford.
Mychal's Dad was stopped & arrested the weekend of the Homer March. He has since been released, after paying an amount.
Rev. Sharpton was on a local broadcast[via telephone] in Alexandria last week and aided in Mychal's Mom's situation. On Friday the 17th of April, Sharpton Talk hosted Melissa Bell, a local Louisiana broadcaster & an attorney who was involved in Mychal's plea deal.
It is rumored that the jena justice system has offered Melissa fifteen years in a plea deal for the shovel incident.
It is also known the other 5 of the Jena Six, are being offered 18 months & an amount to be paid.
The mother of the most well-known member of the "Jena Six" has been arrested and is facing two charges of aggravated second-degree battery, officials said Friday.
Melissa S. Bell, 38, of Jena -- the mother of Mychal Bell -- was arrested Oct. 11, said Darryl Husbands of the LaSalle Parish Sheriff's Office. She is being held in the LaSalle Parish Jail, with bond set at $100,000. Melissa Bell was charged with the battery of two women who claim she hit them with a shovel, Sheriff Scott Franklin said. The women told deputies that they dropped their children off at Bell's home but returned when they received a call from someone saying a drug sale had just occurred at Bell's home while their children were there, Franklin said. The women went to retrieve the children when the altercation occurred. "Obviously, they were very upset," Franklin said. Deputies were notified and went to the scene. The two women went to the Sheriff's Office that same day and filed affidavits against Melissa Bell, who surrendered without incident, Franklin said. Also arrested Saturday in connection with the incident was Pamela S. Simmons, 31, of Jena, who was charged with simple criminal damage to property; Carlisha M. Bell, 17, of Jena, charged with battery; and Perry E. Bell, Jr., 36, of Jena, charged with simple battery domestic abuse, authorities reported.
Hundreds gather to replant lawn marked with hate symbols - July 4, 2008
Exceeding organizers' expectations, 200 to 300 people gathered this morning around the northeast Metairie home of Travis and Kiyanna Smith to denounce vandals that chemically burned hate symbols into the African-American couple's lawn and to take turns digging up and resodding the defaced patches of grass. Click here to listen to today's comments from Rabbi Loewy and the Smiths. Dubbed "Uproot Hate," the Independence Day event was organized by a coalition of churches, synagogues and mosques. "History teaches us that silence is rarely an effective response to bigotry," said Rabbi Robert Loewy of Congregation Gates of Prayer in Metairie as he delivered the statement of purpose for the interfaith ceremony staged on the Smiths' lawn at the corner of Homestead Avenue and Live Oak Street. "We gather to affirm the American values enshrined in that Declaration of Independence." "We denounce the cowardly and hateful action that took place some two months ago," said Archbishop Alfred Hughes of the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. "We renounce all unjust discrimination." The Smiths, who found the letters KKK and three crosses burned into their lawn shortly after they moved into their home almost two months ago, thanked the attendees. "We appreciate you welcoming us into your neighborhood," Travis Smith told the crowd. Later he said he was overwhelmed by the turnout. "A month or so ago, I didn't think no one cared," Kiyanna Smith said, explaining that only a handful of neighbors responded initially to the racist symbols. "For me, I needed more people. And I see I got more people."....... Mark Waller may be reached at mwaller@timespicayune.com or (504) 883-7056.
Regional news: Claiborne's all-black school targeted for closureLouisiana Gannett News LISBON — Many parents of Pineview High students believe for too long their children at the all-black school for prekindergarteners through 12th-graders have been treated like stepchildren. The white students, and some black, who live in the attendance zone slowly have been allowed to transfer to other Claiborne public schools, helping push neighboring Summerfield School to a 70 percent white student population.
Pineview High's dwindling enrollment meant advanced academic courses were not made available to its students. Sports programs that once included baseball, track and basketball are now down to a single offering — basketball. Music and industrial arts also have been deleted from the Lisbon school's schedule.Even the food trays and utensils in the cafeteria this year have been replaced with paper plates and plastic forks and spoons.The ultimate punch came last week when Pineview High students learned the Claiborne School Board voted to close the school at the end of this academic year if the decision is approved by a federal judge overseeing the school system's long-standing desegregation order.However, Pineview High parents are not ready to concede defeat."We do have a plan in motion. I can't say what it is yet," said parent Vevelyn Johnson, of Lisbon. "But we're not going to sit here and let them close our school without a fight. If we go down, it will be with a fight."School Board member Tommy Davidson, of Athens, who offered the motion to close Pineview High, said several factors entered the decision but at the top was the decline in student population. In 1970-71, the student count was about 382; now, it's 117.Concerning community members, though, is the lack of adequate communication about other options. Closing Pineview High was Plan A. School Board members made references to other plans being considered, but none was made public during last week's meeting."My interpretation is the School Board is suggesting, at the expense of the Justice Department, to close Pineview to save money," said David Aubrey, first vice president of the Claiborne chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "But the Justice Department says they did not close Pineview; they only recommended desegregation of schools in Claiborne Parish."Why don't we shut all the small schools down and just have two schools in Claiborne Parish, in Homer and Haynesville, and you could save money?," said Aubrey, who was invited by a Justice Department attorney to sit in on community meetings this week. "They did not give the people in the community the option. Why did they start with Pineview?"Racially identifiable schoolsClaiborne, like many school systems in Louisiana, is under a 1970 court order that mandates the elimination of racially identifiable schools. For decades, Pineview High has held the distinction of being the parish's predominantly black school, serving the rural area in the Lisbon community east of Homer.But its continued status of being one race and the amount of attention it gets from the School Board has kept Claiborne on the Justice Department's radar.A complaint lodged in 2004 that the school system was not meeting its desegregation obligations almost mirrors those aired by concerned parents in recent days. Then, the School Board had to provide a volume of information to the Justice Department and implement some policy changes, including requiring address verification of all student transfers.Justice Department officials again late last year put school officials on notice that its policies and practices still were not measuring up. And if changes were not implemented by August, the department promised to put its own plan into action.Justice Department attorney Iris Goldschmidt and paralegal Ani Shahinyan visited Claiborne schools this week. They've also met privately with parents and school staffers and in large meetings with community members.Complaints have centered on every school in the parish and include such allegations as racial isolation in classroom assignments and disparity in discipline among white and black students.The decision to shutter Pineview High has not been "taken lightly" by any board member, Davidson said. One only has to look at the student numbers and the finances.Educational costs at Pineview High, because of its lower enrollment, average about $9,000 per student, compared to about $6,000 in the other schools, Davidson said.The inability to lure enough certified teachers means some lower elementary classes are combined. Other classes have teacher-pupil ratios much lower than the parish average of 15 to 1."And we lose money every year on our lunch program there," Davidson said.School officials estimate the district will save $400,000 to $500,000 by closing Pineview High.Attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday to interview Claiborne schools Superintendent Wayne King were unsuccessful. King, who assumed the leadership role last year, would not make himself available for an interview. He and School Board attorney Bob Hammonds, of the law firm of Hammonds and Sills in Baton Rouge, have shadowed Goldsmith and Shahinyan on their school visits.Calls to a half-dozen other School Board members' residences were unanswered Thursday, as were multiple calls to Hammonds.Davidson said Hammonds will submit the Pineview High closure plan to the federal court for review. The goal is to have an answer by the end of the school year so students and teachers will know where they will go this fall.About half of the Pineview High students would go to Summerfield, about 10 miles in one direction. The others would go to Homer, about 12 miles in the other direction. Teachers and support staff members would be absorbed into existing schools."No one will lose their jobs. But we believe through attrition we will lose some employees and these will take their places," Davidson said.Attendance zones ignoredPark on Hebron Road near Pineview High and watch the daily migration of cars that zoom past en route to Summerfield, challenged nearby resident Stanley Johnson. The Pineview High graduate with two small children attending the school recognizes vehicles of Lisbon area residents who bypass Pineview High to take their children to and from Summerfield.Ignoring the attendance zones has long contributed to the decline at Pineview High, Johnson said. He and sister-in-law Vevelyn Johnson agree the School Board has "allowed" Pineview High's demise to take place by not enforcing attendance zones for each school."They're trying to say it's our enrollment. But they have helped our enrollment to go down by allowing kids to go to Summerfield, Claiborne Academy and others. "» Why let them leave?" Vevelyn Johnson said.She also notes a number of the parish's students even cross state lines and attend school in Junction City, Ark.Closing Pineview High will settle the desegregation order but it will not create harmony as some wish, Vevelyn Johnson said.Unlike Bossier and Claiborne public schools, Caddo can close schools and redraw attendance zone lines without the government's approval, said Caddo School Board attorney Reginald Abrams.But Caddo still is under orders to comply with minority-to-majority transfers, where students can transfer to a school that is predominantly of the opposite race of the transferring student; create enhancement programs for all schools and ensure schools' administration isn't racially identifiable, Abrams said.Vevelyn Johnson, Stanley Johnson, grandparent Lanie Ford and Gloria Pitts, a Pineview High tutor with grandchildren in the Lisbon school, wondered why the Claiborne School Board did not consider realigning the Pineview High and Summerfield attendance zones, with one serving as an elementary school and the other a high school. And they asked why Summerfield was not closed and merged with Pineview High."Because it's all racial," Ford said.Said Vevelyn Johnson: "We feel like we are being made to adjust to what everyone else wants. Why not adapt to us or meet us halfway?"Pineview senior Kashara Cooper and juniors Jessica Johnson and Lachristie Brown already have heard rumors of incidents between the black and white students at Summerfield."They don't want us there," Jessica Johnson said of the predominantly white school. She and Brown, members of Pineview High's nine-person junior class, would attend Summerfield under the School Board's plan."I feel like it's not going to be a better situation for me and my classmates to have to attend another school" Jessica Johnson said. "We're all going to be separated. "» We'll be uncomfortable in that setting."Cooper, one of six Pineview High seniors, said she was unable to qualify for a Tuition Opportunity Program for Students scholarship because Pineview High lacks the advanced academic courses she needed. Students also have been unable to participate in extracurricular events such as Future Business Leaders of America competitions because of a lack of money. And social studies and science fairs were called off this year."We have to raise money on our own if we want to go to a state competition," Cooper said.The Lisbon community, black and white, is like a big family, Stanley Johnson said. That's why he's perplexed it's not reflected in the student population."When I went to school here, there were white kids. And there would be more now if they were going to the schools they're supposed to be going to."School officials, he said, have not provided adequate information as to the correct breakdown of students who actually live in the district versus those attending school there.The whole ordeal is touching everyone in the community, Stanley Johnson said. The school is the heart of Lisbon."Most of the faculty (are) graduates here, and the kids are children and grandchildren of graduates," said Pitts, who retires in May after almost 25 years as a tutor."It's just like death," she said of the prospect of losing the school.
Yeager rules to recuse ‘Jena Six’ judge August 1, 2008
In a ruling signed Thursday afternoon, 9th District Court Judge Thomas Yeager ordered that Judge J.P. Mauffray be recused as the presiding judge in the remaining five cases of the defendants who have become known as the “Jena Six.”
Each of the remaining defendants – Robert Bailey Jr., Jesse Ray Beard, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw – have been charged with aggravated second-degree battery and all separately filed motions to have Mauffray recused. The defendants are accused of attacking a fellow student at Jena High School in 2006.
The case has brought national attention to the rural LaSalle Parish community of Jena.Yeager heard the consolidated motions May 30.
“The Court finds that there is an ‘appearance of impropriety’ when a reasonable person with knowledge of all the facts would conclude that the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” Yeager wrote in his “Written reasons for the motion.”
“It is no consequence that the judge is not actually biased because our law and our Judicial Cannons are not only concerned about fairness to individual litigants, but, are equally concerned with public confidence in the judiciary which confidence may be irreparably harmed if a case is allowed to proceed before a judge who appears to be tainted.
”Yeager heard testimony in May from the defendants' attorneys and from Mauffray, who sits on the 28th Judicial District Court in LaSalle Parish. The attorneys claimed Mauffray had made several statements to a number of people indicating that he has prejudged the defendants' guilt and sentence.When Mauffray testified, he didn't deny the majority of the attorneys' claims."I might have said that," Mauffray initially said when asked whether he had used such terms as "ringleader" or "brains behind the operation" to describe Bailey.
In later testimony, Mauffray denied using the term "ringleader" but said it reflected his "impression of Bailey" from testimony he'd heard during the trial of the sixth defendant, Mychal Bell, who pleaded guilty in December to juvenile charges of second-degree battery.Beard's attorney, David Utter, testified to several statements he heard Mauffray make about Beard and the other defendants. Those statements included terms such as "troublemakers," "violent bunch" and "runs wild." * * * * * * * * * 'Jena Six' defendant Jesse Ray Beard removed from house arrest, will be allowed to leave the state By Abbey Brown • abrown@thetowntalk.com • July 9, 2008
JENA – A judge today removed “Jena Six” defendant Jesse Ray Beard from house arrest and ruled he could leave the state.
Ninth District Judge Tom Yeager made the ruling today after Beard's attorney, David Utter, said Beard would be leaving with a family in the state of New York and taking an English correspondence course required to enter the 11th grade.
Utter argued that Beard needed more supervision and support, which is why the New York placement would be the best thing for him.Yeager said Beard would need to be back by Aug. 11 in order to be ready start at Jena High School on Aug. 14, but Utter hopes Beard will be allowed to attend an out-of-state school.LaSalle Parish Assistant District Attorney Steven Kendrick argued that allowing Beard to leave would be like giving him a vacation he doesn't deserve.Jena High School Principal Glen Joiner testified that Beard had received 13 different disciplinary actions in the last school year and was recommended for expulsion, which was later overturned.
Yeager said Beard needs both a good environment and a desire to "make this happen." The only way to see if that desire is there is to let Beard go and try.In addition to the return date, Yeager is also requiring Beard to take the English course, to not have a cell phone and to have behavior and educational reports forwarded to the court and the juvenile probation officer.
Beard is the youngest of the "Jena Six" defendants, who have drawn national attention in a case in which they are accused of beating a fellow student at Jena High School in December 2006.
Coin Coin=Ko Kwe **Cane River & Melrose"the People"**
Metoyer, Marie-Therese Also known as: Coincoin Born: 1742 Died: 1816 Marie-Therese Metoyer was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in colonial America. As a planter and landowner, she founded a prosperous community of free blacks and Creoles (American-born people, often of mixed race) in the Louisiana Province. Historian Francois Mignon wrote that she "was endowed with unusual energy and intelligence." She was born in Natchitoches in the French colony of Louisiana in 1742 and baptized Marie-Therese, but was called Coincoin (Ko Kwe in the Glidzi dialect), a name traditionally given to the second-born daughter in a family born to the Ewe people of Togo in western Africa, her parents' homeland. Because Louisiana was governed by French law, slaves were allowed to legally marry, as her parents, Francois and Francoise, did. Her family was owned by a French military officer, Louis Juchereau de Saint-Denis. After his death, Coincoin was given first to his widow, then his son. She was then sent to live with Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer, a merchant living in the Red River Valley. The two apparently fell in love and Coincoin gave birth to 10 of his children. In the French colony, mixed-race relationships were not uncommon, and most French colonists did not share the prejudice toward Africans that prevailed among other white European settlers during that era. Metoyer purchased Coincoin from her mistress and granted her freedom when she was pregnant with their fifth child, so that the remaining children were born free...... =======================
"The People"
Creoles are generally known as a people of mixed French, African, Spanish, and Native American ancestry, most of who reside in or have familial ties to Louisiana. Research has shown many other ethnicities have contributed to this culture including, but not limited to, Chinese, Russian, German, and Italian. This culture began as an offspring of the Old World and the New when this country was still being colonized. Creoles are not one thing or the other, and have lived their lives being misunderstood, misrepresented, and misinterpreted. In the past, under White government, Creoles were not allowed to be an equal part of society. Blacks, free and slaves, did not feel Creoles were part of their world either. Because of this rejection, Creoles had a strong bond with one another and had to create their own world and culture. They were self-sufficient and relied on each other. Creoles were landowners, artists, teachers, and business people. Even today this bond among Creoles nationwide is strong. There is tremendous pride in knowing where they come from. The Creole Heritage Center is committed to the challenge of correcting the wrongs and misconceptions associated with this culture and will represent the Creoles in a true light. Their culture and heritage, rarely acknowledged in spite of its uniqueness, is worthy and deserving of attention and preservation; without it an important part of the American experience could be lost.
Our Uncle, born in Natchitiches Parish use to tell of "the Peoples". He said they ran things in Cane River, even in the times of my life. They were respected. And all the folks in the communities got along. Our family house "was" on what they called "the hill" in the town of Natchitoches. The Metoyers had a business next to the family house. My mother was born & raised on Melrose in 1923. My daddy was a Black Creole. He acted like it!
One of three plaintiffs’ attorneys in the Tangipahoa Parish public school desegregation case is seeking to withdraw from the case, citing “irreconcilable issues,” court records say.
Gideon T. Carter III, a Baton Rouge lawyer, has asked U.S. District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle to withdraw him from the case.
He was enrolled in it June 29, 2007, records say.
Filed Tuesday, Carter’s motion does not describe what those issues are but he wrote that they have created a conflict with his continued representation of the plaintiffs. He did not return a message left at his office Wednesday.
The move comes as the Tangipahoa Parish School Board submitted a proposed school desegregation plan that calls for $187.4 million in school construction and improvement and about $12 million a year in operational spending on a series of new magnet schools.
Lemelle has given the plaintiff’s attorneys in Joyce Marie Moore, et al., v. Tangipahoa Parish School Board, et al., until May 18 to respond to the plan.
Lead attorney Nelson Taylor said Wednesday that Carter was brought in to try to negotiate something with the School Board and that has come to an impasse.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys have to litigate the board plan, which will call on other types of expertise, Taylor said.
He also said plaintiffs’ attorneys have not been paid yet, and Carter has a large private practice to maintain.
The lawyers are having to litigate because the board has proposed “a desegregation plan that does not desegregate the schools” and has taken a “hardline position” on some matters, Taylor said.
In a motion filed last week, school attorneys argued court precedent does not mandate that all schools be desegregated.
On an aggregate basis, a little more than 56 percent of the 39 schools that would exist in the parish after the multimillion-dollar desegregation plan is in place would remain segregated. The system has 36 schools.
But school attorneys noted in court records that 17 schools would be desegregated, 11 more than are currently, and additional schools would be very close.
The plan also avoids the risk of white flight through voluntary steps such as magnet schools and adds educational resources to schools that now can be racially identified as black, school attorneys wrote.
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