Political Illusions of the Cajun Mafia

5/A5
By Doris maricle
dmaricle@americanpress.com
JENNINGS — Jeff Davis business
and community leaders will have
the opportunity to hear issues facing
state lawmakers during the annual
Jeff Davis Chamber of Commerce
Legislative Forum breakfast.
The breakfast will be 7:30-9 a.m.
Tuesday, March 10, in the Welsh
Community Center, 101 Palmer St.
The event is free to chamber members.
“This is part of our effort to keep
our members informed and give our
local legislators a chance to discuss
what is coming up in the upcoming
legislative session, which begins
April 13, in an open forum with their
constituents,” chamber Executive
UPDATE
Continued from A1
a large number of resources
and to identify top choices.”
He said the proposed
textbooks and resources
have been on display at the
Central Office for public
review and comment since
the middle of February and
will remain through March
2. Campbell said many have
reviewed the books and
given feedback.
Campbell said next week,
phase two committees will
start to meet to take a more
From PAgE A1 l STATE
in-depth look at the proposed
books. He said committees
will also review public comments
and teacher survey
results before making final
recommendations.
He said committees will
vote on their final textbook
recommendations at various
times during the first half of
March, and the curriculum
committee will hear final
recommendations at its
meeting at the end of March.
Campbell said those
recommendations will then
go for final approval at the
School Board’s regularly
scheduled meeting in April.
Director Cynthia Hoffpauir said.
Education, health care and Common
Care are expected to be among
the issues, Hoffpauir said. “Those affect
a lot of our members,” she said.
Legislators expected include state
Sen. Dan “Blade” Morrish and state
Rep. Johnny Guinn. District 42 Rep.
Jack Montoucet of Acadia Parish
has also been invited to attend.
Each legislator will give an opening
statement and take questions
from the audience.
“We encourage those who attend
to think ahead about a question they
would like to ask because we have a
question-and-answer session,” Hoffpauir
said. “Last year we had some
real good discussions from those
questions.”
Hoffpauir said attendance is important
because the chamber is the
Friday, February 27, 2015 aMeriCaN PreSS A5
JD Chamber of Commerce Legislative Forum breakfast March 10
PUBLIC
Continued from A1
to use its fund balance to stay
afloat.
In 2012, public defenders
successfully lobbied for a $10
increase in their cut from
court costs, but that increase
has failed to prop up the district
offices.
Revenues in fiscal year 2013
were $26.8 million — $3.9 million
less than was expected.
The districts in 2014 got $25.8
million, which was $4.9 million
less than hoped. That $10
increase will roll back in 2016
unless the Legislature votes
otherwise.
Rep. James Armes, D-
Leesville, said it’s unlikely
the office will get any more
money and that the timing
— amid state money troubles
— couldn’t be worse. He said
the state is more concerned
with issues of health care and
higher education right now.
“They need to learn to
live within their budgets. All
of (the public agencies) do,”
Armes said. “I have to live
within mine, and you have to
live in yours.”
The public defender system
BRIEFLY
by The associated Press
Former cop arrested
on sex charge
ALEXANDRIA — A 38-yearold
former Alexandria police
officer has been arrested for
carnal knowledge of a juvenile.
The Rapides Parish Sheriff
’s Office says Deric Dionell
Reed is accused of having
inappropriate sexual relations
with a teenage girl. The Sheriff
’s Office has not released
the age of the girl.
murder suspect back
in police custody
OPELOUSAS — An escaped
attempted murder suspect
accused of shooting someone
in the head is back in custody
after he jumped out of the
back of a city marshal’s unit
more than two weeks ago.
KATC-TV reports authorities
in Evangeline Parish arrested
Theobegi Levier in Ville
Platte this week.
Eunice Police say Levier
shot a man in the head during
a drug deal gone bad. The victim
is expected to recover.
Prien Lake at Ernest (In Prien Lake Mall)
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00903483
is one of the few state agencies
that hasn’t had its state allocations
cut in recent years.
Dixon said the system is
“really a mess,” and he expects
2016 to be worse. He said districts
will likely be forced to
prioritize cases, meaning some
defendants will have to wait
longer for their day in court.
Louisiana public defenders
represented more than 85
percent of all criminal defendants,
or 247,828 cases in 2013.
If lawyers are appointed to
represent indigent defenders
on a pro-bono basis, Dixon
said, many attorneys will
likely become overburdened
with cases and may be tempted
to encourage more plea deals.
He said they will likely be unable
to represent their clients
to the best of their ability.
“We’re going to have to
draw a line in the sand and say
we can’t take any more cases
because that would mean we
couldn’t provide adequate
representation,” he said.
In smaller parishes like
Vernon all lawyers could be
subject to pro-bono appointment,
including those who
don’t practice criminal law.
“You can have a bankruptcy
lawyer representing someone
charged for a bank robbery,”
said George Steimel, a lobbyist
for the Louisiana Association
of Criminal Lawyers. “Those
lawyers won’t know what to
do.”
He said the restriction of
services poses serious potential
for litigation for the
state. He said lawyers who are
appointed could sue for being
forced to take on cases without
pay, defendants could sue for
lack of adequate representation
and even those found
guilty could argue that the
state didn’t honor their constitutional
right to a speedy trial.
Steimel said it could even
mean an eventual federal lawsuit
against Louisiana for its
failure to maintain its public
defender system.
Burkhart said it could behoove
the state, which boasts
the highest incarceration rate
in the world, to consider fines
instead of jail time for nonviolent
crimes. That would mean
less incarceration and less
pressure on the system.
“There are the three pillars
of justice: the courts, the
prosecution and the defense,”
Burkhart said. “If one of those
crumbles, the whole thing falls
down.”
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00902540
00896465
by The associated Press
BATON ROUGE — State
health secretary Kathy Kliebert’s
brother-in-law is facing
ethics charges for failure
to disclose his employment
by state Medicaid contractor,
Magellan Health Services Inc.
The Louisiana Board of
Ethics says Galen Schum
failed to file financial disclosure
statements required of
public servants and members
of their immediate family
who derive anything of economic
value, directly, through
any transaction involving the
agency of the public servant.
The Advocate reports the
board said Schum should
have reported his relationship
with Kliebert as well as the
$140,000 in income he made as
a Magellan employee.
Magellan got a lucrative
state contract to coordinate
services for poor residents
with mental health and addictive
disorder problems in
late 2011. It received $544.8
million through the multiyear
contract that began
March 1, 2012.
The Schum charges mark
the second time in as many
months a Department of
Health and Hospitals’ family
relationship has figured into
ethics charges involving
Magellan.
In January, the Ethics
Board filed conflict-of-interest
charges against a state
health agency employee
overseeing Magellan Health
Services’ state contract. The
board alleged that Michelle
Barnett violated state ethics
law by receiving a “thing of
economic value” by virtue
of her husband receiving
income from employment
by Magellan. The board also
charged her husband, Tom,
with failure to file required
reports disclosing his salary
from Magellan.
Kliebert did not respond
to a request for comment on
Schum’s charges.
But the department,
through spokeswoman Olivia
Watkins, issued the following
statement: “This is an important
reminder that Louisiana’s
ethics laws apply not
only to current state employees,
but to our family members
as well. The department
recently issued additional
guidance to our employees
“voice of business.”
“So this is their opportunity to
have a voice,” she said.
The chamber keeps members
informed on issues that will affect
businesses throughout the year.
Breakfast will be provided by
Cajun Tales.
To attend, call the chamber at 824-
0933 by Wednesday, March 4.
dHH secretary’s brother-in-law
facing ethics charges
Box includes:
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Temple Sinai, 713 Hodges, Lake Charles
and reminded our staff that
their families should be
aware of these requirements
too.”
Kliebert said last year that
the Magellan contract would
not be renewed. Instead,
private insurance companies
providing Medicaid health
coverage would take over
gradually this year.
Schum was hired by Magellan
in 2012 and resigned
Jan. 31, 2014. The board said
Schum should have filed disclosure
statements by May 1
deadlines in 2012 and 2013 revealing
his relationship with
Kliebert, his employment by
the firm and income received
from it.
The board said Schum
made $61,818 in 2012; $78,388
in 2013; and $6,078 in January
2014 before he left the firm.
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