Is Cam in a trick bag, or is it a catch 22?
It may be that the District Attorney of Lafourche Parish, no matter who he is, has a legislatively created no-win situation. On one hand, the law provides that every DA "shall have charge of every criminal prosecution by the state in his district." (See La. RS 16:1. B.)
On the other hand, the law specifically provides that "[i]n the parish of Lafourche, the district attorney shall ex officio and without extra compensation, general or special, be the regular attorney and counsel for the parish governing authority..." (See La. RS 16:2.E.) There are no other parishes set-out in this way in that provision of law.
Go ahead, read those laws for yourself. I made it easy for you. A link to Louisiana law is over to the right.
Has the Louisiana Legislature, by passing these two potentially conflicting laws, put our DA in a trick bag or created a catch 22 for him? Does his obligation to provide legal representation to the parish governing authority conflict with his obligation to prosecute crimes in this district, especially when he is also reliant upon that governing authority to provide workspace for himself and his staff and the present administration has shown a willingness to use strong-arm tactics to get its way and retaliate if it doesn't?
Is legislation necessary to correct this problem? Shouldn't the Council have legal authority to retain its own attorney? Wouldn't this relieve our DA's dilemna?
It may be that the District Attorney of Lafourche Parish, no matter who he is, has a legislatively created no-win situation. On one hand, the law provides that every DA "shall have charge of every criminal prosecution by the state in his district." (See La. RS 16:1. B.)
On the other hand, the law specifically provides that "[i]n the parish of Lafourche, the district attorney shall ex officio and without extra compensation, general or special, be the regular attorney and counsel for the parish governing authority..." (See La. RS 16:2.E.) There are no other parishes set-out in this way in that provision of law.
Go ahead, read those laws for yourself. I made it easy for you. A link to Louisiana law is over to the right.
Has the Louisiana Legislature, by passing these two potentially conflicting laws, put our DA in a trick bag or created a catch 22 for him? Does his obligation to provide legal representation to the parish governing authority conflict with his obligation to prosecute crimes in this district, especially when he is also reliant upon that governing authority to provide workspace for himself and his staff and the present administration has shown a willingness to use strong-arm tactics to get its way and retaliate if it doesn't?
Is legislation necessary to correct this problem? Shouldn't the Council have legal authority to retain its own attorney? Wouldn't this relieve our DA's dilemna?
posted by Carl A. Chauvin at 11:02 AM
1 Comments:
Do you really think the DA will do anything? He is about as good as the sad show of elected people we have here.
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