Before the current Lousiana Ethics Board is a case # BD 2007-527. Sixteen-year Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre is the subject of the investigation. Webre, who also is head of the National Sheriff's Association, allegedly engaged in repeat violations of the Board's 2002 prohibitions concerning his state-wide business empire, Smart Start of Louisiana. Smart Start markets court-related punitive devices, that is ignition interlock devices and ankle monitoring bracelets.
The Ethics Board's 2002 ruling held that Webre's private Smart Start enterprise was not to transact business with any individuals who were being prosecuted in OR resided within his home parish of Lafourche.
The evidence thus far suggests that Webre defied the order for the past five years, engaging in hundreds of such transactions. The current law provides that Webre will be fined $10,000 a transaction, a hefty penalty to say the least. But enough of a penalty to make a dent in this Louisiana law-enforcement official who now owns a monopoly across the state in the sales and leases of this law-enforcement related equipment ?
Governor Jindal wants to make ethics law changes with an impact ? A code revision is needed to cover INTENTIONAL and BRAZEN REPEAT OFFENDERS . In such instances the code should mandate that the Board report the malfeasance to the AG’s Criminal Division.
Governor, you need to make another code change. And the Webre case again shows why.
The new Code needs to address elected officials who aid and abet in its violation .
In 2005 Webre attempted to evade the language of the board’s 2002 ruling. He got together with Houma Senator Reggie Dupre who helped draft Senate Bill No. 72. The Bill was passed and the code of criminal procedure now has a provision which makes mandatory the installation of interlock devices as A CONDITION OF BAIL. That's right, prior to arraignment, trial and conviction. A punitive sentencing device as a condition of pre-trial prison release ? We are in south Louisiana, land of the unreal. " Sentence first, then the verdict " says the Queen in Alice in Wonderland.
Webre now is telling those in Lafourche, who more and more are beginning to discern his corruption sophistiquée , that he really hasn’t violated the board’s decision since 2006 when Reggie’s ignition interlock / bail bond scheme became law. Why sheriff ?
Because he will tell you that the language of the Board’s 2002 ruling stated Smart Start couldn’t deal with people who were being PROSECUTED in Lafourche Parish. But these new mandatory ignition interlock devices that Lafourche citizens are being forced to install just to to get out of jail are different. They are being installed as a BOND CONDITION. The bail bond process, he says, is PRIOR TO PROSECUTION !
So alas, he claims, he is an honest man who has not technically violated the words of the 2002 ruling, not at least within the past 2 years. What ? Yes, folks, he and his high-paid parish (county) lawyer say this with a straight face. ( While simultaneously ignoring the other half of the board’s prohibition on his commercial dealings with his constituents, that his Smart Start customers not even live in Lafourche Parish ! )
So why was a Louisiana Senator, Reggie Dupree, involved in Craig Webre and Smart Start's crazy little word game to suppoedly bypass the Ethics Board’s 2002 rule with a slick new bail bond / interlock law ? Dupre and Webre both are licensed attorneys, both know the bail bond / interlock law likely will not pass Constitutional muster once inevitably challenged.
Webre subsequently got together in 2007 with Ernie Wooten and did a lobbying stunt in B.R. ( dressed in his sheriff's uniform, no less ) on another new interlock law he helped draft. Even first offender DWI’s should be made to have ignition interlock devices installed on their vehicles for at least a year, Webre proclaimed. For the public good !
Webre has 12 Smart Start franchises located across the state of Louisiana . How much profit will he reap from this additional mandatory 1-3 years of interlock installations and rentals which he and Wooten got passed as new law ? Using the alcoholism council’s own statements, that’s 12 to 15 MILLION$ per year.
Should there be an ethics code provision which would have placed severe sanctions on Dupree for what he did ? ABSOLUTELY ! Why not ? When you get right down to it, wasn't Dupree actively and directly involved in another Louisiana elected official's scheme to evade the both the letter and the spirit of the ethics board's exisiting 2002 ruling ?
Mr. Jindal, the Code needs to punish those who would help others seeking to undermine its provisions and rulings.
Monday, February 18, 2008
EXTENDING THE ETHICS CODE TO JUDICIAL OFFICIALS
An earlier post talks of Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre's brazen disregard of a 2002 Ethics Board board. His violations point to another much needed change in the code. Webre's code violations occuurred because of his private business's, Smart Start's, marketing of interlock ignition devices to his Lafourche parish citizens. The Board had instructed Webre that such Lafourche parish installations constituted a definite conflict of interest.
The Administrative regulations which govern interlock ignition devices are found under Title 55 of the Louisiana Administrative Code. For example, once a court orders the installation of an interlock ignition device as a condition of probation, the installer company must furnish calibration reports to the court every 40 days during the time the device remains on the vehicle. LOUISIANA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE TITLE 55 SECTION 615.
That has not been the practice with Smart Start's installation of interlock devices on those being prosecuted in Lafourche Parish. The clerk's records in Lafourche Parish ( Louisiana 17th Judicial District Court ) reflect that the judges of the 17th JDC chose during the past five years to ignore Section 615 in their ordering of the installation of interlock devices. Calibration reports were not compelled or received by any of the sections of the court. It is not difficult to see why. Sheriff Craig Webre's Smart Start company was the company installing the majority of interlock ignition devices in the parish.
If 17th JDC judges had enforced Section 615, both Webre and the court had a major legal problem. The problem for Webre was another paper trail : the filing every 40 days of a record of his Smart Start company's transacting of court-ordered business with his own Lafourche Parish citizens. And as the Ethics board had told him five years ago, DON'T DO IT. Adhering to Section 615 exposed the district court to an appearances of its own misconduct : judges in Lafourche Parish were permitting the sheriff to install the interlock devices which they were ordering on Lafourche parish citizens when the Board's 2002 ruling expressly prohibited it.
Webre saw Section 615 as an obvious hole, a hole in his ability to conceal his violation of the board's 2002 prohibition on Smart Start's business dealings in Lafourche Parish. The only way to plug that hole ? Get 5 judges to disregard the mandatory court-reporting requirement of Section 615.
Should those 17th JDC judges be subject to sanctions for what they did, for tacitly assisting Webre in concealing his masse of ethics violations ? Yes. Why not ? But currently judicial officials are excluded from coverage under the code. That needs to change. When judges aid an elected official, whether actively or passively, in concealing his violation of the ethics code, they have totally undermined its integrity and enforcement.
The Administrative regulations which govern interlock ignition devices are found under Title 55 of the Louisiana Administrative Code. For example, once a court orders the installation of an interlock ignition device as a condition of probation, the installer company must furnish calibration reports to the court every 40 days during the time the device remains on the vehicle. LOUISIANA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE TITLE 55 SECTION 615.
That has not been the practice with Smart Start's installation of interlock devices on those being prosecuted in Lafourche Parish. The clerk's records in Lafourche Parish ( Louisiana 17th Judicial District Court ) reflect that the judges of the 17th JDC chose during the past five years to ignore Section 615 in their ordering of the installation of interlock devices. Calibration reports were not compelled or received by any of the sections of the court. It is not difficult to see why. Sheriff Craig Webre's Smart Start company was the company installing the majority of interlock ignition devices in the parish.
If 17th JDC judges had enforced Section 615, both Webre and the court had a major legal problem. The problem for Webre was another paper trail : the filing every 40 days of a record of his Smart Start company's transacting of court-ordered business with his own Lafourche Parish citizens. And as the Ethics board had told him five years ago, DON'T DO IT. Adhering to Section 615 exposed the district court to an appearances of its own misconduct : judges in Lafourche Parish were permitting the sheriff to install the interlock devices which they were ordering on Lafourche parish citizens when the Board's 2002 ruling expressly prohibited it.
Webre saw Section 615 as an obvious hole, a hole in his ability to conceal his violation of the board's 2002 prohibition on Smart Start's business dealings in Lafourche Parish. The only way to plug that hole ? Get 5 judges to disregard the mandatory court-reporting requirement of Section 615.
Should those 17th JDC judges be subject to sanctions for what they did, for tacitly assisting Webre in concealing his masse of ethics violations ? Yes. Why not ? But currently judicial officials are excluded from coverage under the code. That needs to change. When judges aid an elected official, whether actively or passively, in concealing his violation of the ethics code, they have totally undermined its integrity and enforcement.
WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION
No state can expect its citizens to report violations of its laws by public officials unless there is protection from retaliation . The new Louisiana Ethics Code needs to include sections for dealing with both physical and economic reprisals from the reported officials.
Again it is the current ethics probe of Craig Webre which gives us information on the very real need for whistle blower protections.
In the summer of 2007 Webre discovered the name of the citizen who filed the initial complaint over his alleged violations. What did Webre do in response ? He got his office staff to profile the man through the L.P.S.O.'s huge government and financial database software, THINKSTREAM. ( By law THINKSTREAM is reserved for use against criminal suspects, many of the data bases accessible only with court-authority ; see the October 17, 2007 suit in the United States District Court in New Orleans by the C.L.A.W. organization addressing Webre's violation of federal electronic wiretapping laws against his constituents.
Apparently the sheriff sees citizens who would dare report his alleged ethics misconduct as enemy combatants. The Thibodaux resident who submitted the complaint against Webre to the Ethics Board became the L.P.S.O.'s prime target. His confidential social security, government benefits, educational, passport, travel, prior litigation, medical and banking records became Webre's guides for a retaliatory attack. Seems that the man suffered from an earlier job-related medical condition.
What did the Webre retaliation crew do with their information on this man ? They registered as commentators on the THIBODAUX DAILY COMET on-line newspaper forums.
For months this man. the ethics board's main informant on Webre, became Webre's press target. He was psychologically pounded, harassed, defamed, belittled, ridiculed, and ultimately physically threatened through the newspaper forums by Webre's people. Ten thousand plus readers of the Daily Comet forums were told that the man was a perpetrator of federal fraud and perjury. There was no foundation for the charge. Webre knew the accusation was false. Webre and his hit team had one thing in mind : subject the man to such incredibly deep stress and pressure that his medical condtion would re-surface. It did.
GET BACK TIME was Webre's rule for dealing with a citizen who had the courage to come forth about the sheriff's alleged repeated code violations. The ethics law needs a drastic change to deal with this this type of brutal retaliation by an elected official against an everyday citizen.
The Ethics Board needs to be granted power to bring in the state police when the official it is investigating resorts to such reprisals; the board needs to be given the power to file criminal complaints of witness intimidation and duress with the AG's Office. The code's revisions need to extend witness protection and whistle blower restitution to the victim with costs imposed on the official who is accused of violating the code.
Again it is the current ethics probe of Craig Webre which gives us information on the very real need for whistle blower protections.
In the summer of 2007 Webre discovered the name of the citizen who filed the initial complaint over his alleged violations. What did Webre do in response ? He got his office staff to profile the man through the L.P.S.O.'s huge government and financial database software, THINKSTREAM. ( By law THINKSTREAM is reserved for use against criminal suspects, many of the data bases accessible only with court-authority ; see the October 17, 2007 suit in the United States District Court in New Orleans by the C.L.A.W. organization addressing Webre's violation of federal electronic wiretapping laws against his constituents.
Apparently the sheriff sees citizens who would dare report his alleged ethics misconduct as enemy combatants. The Thibodaux resident who submitted the complaint against Webre to the Ethics Board became the L.P.S.O.'s prime target. His confidential social security, government benefits, educational, passport, travel, prior litigation, medical and banking records became Webre's guides for a retaliatory attack. Seems that the man suffered from an earlier job-related medical condition.
What did the Webre retaliation crew do with their information on this man ? They registered as commentators on the THIBODAUX DAILY COMET on-line newspaper forums.
For months this man. the ethics board's main informant on Webre, became Webre's press target. He was psychologically pounded, harassed, defamed, belittled, ridiculed, and ultimately physically threatened through the newspaper forums by Webre's people. Ten thousand plus readers of the Daily Comet forums were told that the man was a perpetrator of federal fraud and perjury. There was no foundation for the charge. Webre knew the accusation was false. Webre and his hit team had one thing in mind : subject the man to such incredibly deep stress and pressure that his medical condtion would re-surface. It did.
GET BACK TIME was Webre's rule for dealing with a citizen who had the courage to come forth about the sheriff's alleged repeated code violations. The ethics law needs a drastic change to deal with this this type of brutal retaliation by an elected official against an everyday citizen.
The Ethics Board needs to be granted power to bring in the state police when the official it is investigating resorts to such reprisals; the board needs to be given the power to file criminal complaints of witness intimidation and duress with the AG's Office. The code's revisions need to extend witness protection and whistle blower restitution to the victim with costs imposed on the official who is accused of violating the code.
BRAZEN VIOLATIONS POINT TO THE NEED FOR MAJOR CODE CHANGES
Webre apparently didn't care whether the Board ruled against his conflicting businesses or not. He was going to ignore the Board's ruling and sell ignition interlock devices to his own parish constituents even though the Board prohibited it.
Webre held the Board in such disdain that obtained the help of a state legislator in getting legislation passed which he believed circumvented the Board's authority and ruling.
Webre mercilessly retaliated against a citizen who reported his violations.
We see, we realize the breadth of the revisions to the code which are necessary. How ironic. We can see the changes which are needed in the Code through a 16 year incumbent Louisiana sheriff who broke it with impunity.
Webre held the Board in such disdain that obtained the help of a state legislator in getting legislation passed which he believed circumvented the Board's authority and ruling.
Webre mercilessly retaliated against a citizen who reported his violations.
We see, we realize the breadth of the revisions to the code which are necessary. How ironic. We can see the changes which are needed in the Code through a 16 year incumbent Louisiana sheriff who broke it with impunity.
WEBRE'S ATTEMPT TO UNDERMINE ETHICS POLICING THROUGH THE MASS MEDIA
Webre has used many ploys in trying to undermine the Ethics Board's authority. One of the most bizarre is a public relations stunt with FOX 8 CNN in New Orleans.
Most Lafourche Parish victims of Webre's ethics violations already are reluctant to come forward with information. This is a business owned by the sheriff.
Preying on that already prevalent fear, Webre arranged for New Orleans CNN FOX 8 reporter Rob Masson to do an news interview on Smart Start. Problem was, during the story Mr. Masson conveniently forgot to mention to viewers that Webre was the current target of an active Ethics Board investigation concerning his involvement with Smart Start ( BD 2007-527) . The investigation is not for a single violation but for Webre's ongoing five-year mass of violations of the Board's 2002 ruling.
Webre was going to do anything to undermine the Board's current investigation, even if it involved manipulating a normally responsible investigative reporter. We now have FOX 8 convincing citizens that mass ethics violator Webre is just an innocent entrepreneur who is trying to keep drunks off the road ? What a bizarre situation; a major news network helping an alleged mass ethics violator boost his image.
Sanctions need to be placed in the new code revisions for such brazen public dis-information campaigns during board investigation. All interference with a pending investigation, whether by hook or crook, needs to be punished. If state officials under investigation attempt to use the press and media to impede investigators, they should be subject to substantial and severe penalties.
Most Lafourche Parish victims of Webre's ethics violations already are reluctant to come forward with information. This is a business owned by the sheriff.
Preying on that already prevalent fear, Webre arranged for New Orleans CNN FOX 8 reporter Rob Masson to do an news interview on Smart Start. Problem was, during the story Mr. Masson conveniently forgot to mention to viewers that Webre was the current target of an active Ethics Board investigation concerning his involvement with Smart Start ( BD 2007-527) . The investigation is not for a single violation but for Webre's ongoing five-year mass of violations of the Board's 2002 ruling.
Webre was going to do anything to undermine the Board's current investigation, even if it involved manipulating a normally responsible investigative reporter. We now have FOX 8 convincing citizens that mass ethics violator Webre is just an innocent entrepreneur who is trying to keep drunks off the road ? What a bizarre situation; a major news network helping an alleged mass ethics violator boost his image.
Sanctions need to be placed in the new code revisions for such brazen public dis-information campaigns during board investigation. All interference with a pending investigation, whether by hook or crook, needs to be punished. If state officials under investigation attempt to use the press and media to impede investigators, they should be subject to substantial and severe penalties.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)