DA Cannizzaro on truth serum

Via AZ

You definitely gotta check this out.

It's video of our District Attorney getting all candid in an official capacity. He calls out the NOPD and his own office, tells the truth about how effed up our criminal justice system is right now.

Laughter Obscures Need for Introspection

Everyone has just had a ball teeing off on the corrupt Rod Blagojevich and crooked state of Illinois over the last week or so. Intelligent bloggers and bombastic blowhards came together to share a laugh.

How could he be so stupid?
In this day and age?
Hasn't he ever seen a movie or television show before?
Which state is the most corrupt?

Hardee har har.

I enjoyed it too, but at this point, I'm totally over it.

And no, it's not because I think Louisiana isn't getting enough credit for it's foibles.

It's because I think there is some wisdom to take away from the situation that is obscured when we marginalize Blagojevich or Illinois as anomalies.

Blogojevich is a thug and he should be put away for a good long while but I think it's useful to actually think about the different ways pay-to-play works instead of just laughing at Legojevich.


Everyone was just so appalled, not so much by the corruption but by Blagojevich's stupidity in getting caught. One of the things that I noticed some cable talking heads doing when discussing the Blagojevich scandal was a sort of half-hearted line drawing when it came to what was crime and what was just plain old politics. Some amount of political horse-trading is normal and sometimes necessary even, whereas trading a political horse for a personal money cow is a crime, or so the talking heads said on Hardball or whatever show I was watching.

But perhaps it's worth parsing this out a little bit.

I've noticed a pattern about the way some crooked or ineffectual politicians ultimately get taken down by the FBI. Guys like Edwin Edwards in Louisiana, Kwame Kilpatrick in Detroit, Vince Fumo in Philadelphia, or Rod Blagojevich in Illinois don't just get caught up in corruption indictments out of the blue. Rather, these politicians develop grand reputations for thuggery and graft far in advance of any kind of criminal investigation. That reputation coincides with a certain celebrity-centered political lifestyle. Power provides, reputation develops, power erodes and then lifestyle become unsustainable. This leads to increasingly desperate and risky shake-downs that often occur in earshot of federal investigators that have by this time found an actionable complaint from someone no longer intimidated or dependent upon the boss' political power.

This helps explain why politicians that develop vast public reputations for crookedness, even if they never end up getting accused of anything by a prosecutor become so defensive or walled off as time elapses. Ray Nagin might be demonstrating this kind of bunker mentality. Other good examples are former Mayor John Street in Philadelphia or, I dunno, President Bush and all of his lackeys. They exercise their right to remain silent, taking that route over the desperate 0-60 cliff dive demonstrated by Governor Blagojevich, or by former State Senator Shepherd, who had his own unique style.

Allegedly, one of things Blagojevich tried to do by leveraging this Senate appointment was to obtain a plum foundation board salary for he or his wife.

The governor, already dogged by allegations of crookedness and low approval ratings, was likely becoming quite concerned with his prospects for income after his term. Forget his delusions about running for President in 2016, I think the desperation for six figure cash is a way more telling indicator of where he really knew he stood deep down.

This allegation was for some reason treated as among the most shocking in Fitzgerald complaint. That's not to say the behavior isn't deplorable, because it is. But it isn't entirely out of the ordinary.

Or at least, it is treated as regular political behavior in some parts of the country.

Like in Louisiana.

I think back to District Attorney Eddie Jordan's resignation in October of 2007. The writing had been on the wall for quite some time at that point but he remained in office, determined to stay on the job even as veteran prosecutors quit and accused murderers were released on 701s.

Do you remember how his resignation was finally arranged?

Remember this headline:

Jordan's new job part of resignation

Jordan resigned from his post two weeks ago, saying he hoped his absence would allow people to work out some way for the judgment to be paid, forestalling a crippling shutdown of the office he led for almost five years. Though the settlement still looms over the office, Jordan's resignation assured him a private sector job arranged by business leaders.

"It is part of the package that was developed," said Robert Stellingworth, executive director of the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, a nonprofit group. The business community will pay for Jordan's consultancy, Stellingworth said.

The consulting gig, cemented through a contract signed last week, is not a full-time job, said Stellingworth, who declined to give the amount Jordan will be paid.

"We believe he can add some perspective" to the foundation's work, Stellingworth said. The business community has remained in talks about the legal settlement but committed no private money to pay it. Lapeyre, who described himself as an "adviser" to the city on the issue, last week sat in on a meeting between Mayor Ray Nagin and Landrum-Johnson.

Quite literally, the former District Attorney Eddie Jordan nearly forced a total shut down of the criminal justice system, relenting only when he was able obtain a well-paying foundation job for himself.

Mayor Nagin needed to call in "the business community" to do him this favor, to find a job for Eddie Jordan. And "the business community" came through for the Mayor, placing him under Richard Stellingsworth at the Police and Justice foundation. His salary would be paid, not by the foundation, but by "the business community," all as arranged by "adviser" Jay Lapeyre, President of the New Orleans Business Council.

Isn't this exactly what Mr. Blagojevich was trying to arrange for himself in Illinois in exchange for the Senate seat?

Here in New Orleans, we allowed the same exact thing to occur out in the open. It was reported right there in the paper and nobody really batted an eye.

We never did learn if Mr. Lapeyre or "the business community" asked for or received anything in return.

Lucky for us Mayor Nagin doesn't get to pick Senators. He only gets to decide municipal policy.

I Think You Can Forget It

Not real thrilled about the sources of the campaign coffers for aspirant District Attorneys Leon Cannizzaro and Ralph Capitelli. Look at this from the T-P, kudos to Frank Donze and Laura Maggi. (sorry for the long excerpt)

All four candidates for district attorney are Democrats. But Cannizzaro has received support from several prominent Republican donors.

For example, the reports show that real estate developer Joe Canizaro; his wife, Sue Ellen; and companies they own have given Cannizzaro a total of $25,000. Phyllis Taylor and her company, Taylor Energy, contributed a total of $10,000. Edward Diefenthal, the chief executive officer of Southern Holdings Inc., and his wife, Nancy, each gave $5,000. Companies owned by Lockport shipbuilder Donald "Boysie" Bollinger have anted up a total of $5,000, and former U.S. Rep. Bob Livingston, now a Washington lobbyist, gave $1,000.

Joe Canizaro and Bollinger have been two of President Bush's most prolific Louisiana financial supporters.

--

Other notable Cannizzaro financial backers include businessman and failed gubernatorial candidate John Georges and his wife, Dethel, for a total of $10,000; former Jefferson Parish District Attorney Jack Capella, $5,000; movie theater operator T.G. Solomon, $5,000; and personal injury lawyer Morris Bart, $2,500.

Cannizzaro also received a total of $30,000 in contributions from St. Bernard Parish developer Joseph Georgusis and members of his family.

Among the big-name backers who individually made $5,000 contributions to Capitelli are Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu, defense attorneys Pat Fanning and Ralph Whalen, and Edward and Nancy Diefenthal.

Other noteworthy names on Capitelli's donor list are St. Tammany District Attorney Walter Reed, $3,500; lawyer and former legislator Henry Braden IV, $2,500; New Orleans Business Council leader Jay Lapeyre, real estate developer Roger Ogden and lawyers Rob Couhig and Darleen Jacobs, $2,000 each; New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, businessmen Robert Boh and Frank Stewart, and banker Ashton Ryan, $1,000 each; and former U.S. Attorney Harry Rosenberg and restaurateur Ralph Brennan, $500 each.

I don't really like this at all. WCBF has not yet made an endorsement in this race but this has me feeling pretty queasy about pulling the lever for either of these two gentleman. Such a huge percentage of Judge Cannizzaro's campaign is being bankrolled by a single social network.

Our next DA must Must MUST be committed to fairly prosecuting white collar criminals in politics and in commerce. How can I trust either of these two guys? Cannizzaro's list is especially nausiating.

Jason Williams has almost entirely funded his own campaign, save for one $5,000 check from his father-in-law, former Mayor Sidney Barthelemy. Barely objectionable.

We'll have to learn more about him...

Linda Bizzarro has no friends?

Considering the DA Race

There are four candidates running for District Attorney of New Orleans:

Leon Cannizzaro

Jason Williams

Ralph Capitelli

Linda Bizzarro

And the election is fast approaching. I don't think anyone needs to be reminded how important the DA's office is, I don't think anyone forgets Eddie Jordan's embarrassing tenure.

What are people's thoughts on this race?

Briefly, and I hope to expand on this later, here's what I'm looking for:

1. Acknowledgment that New Orleans and Louisiana have amongst the highest incarceration rates in the world and that this reinforces the social conditions that tend to lead to crime.

2. Commitment and a plan to setting a new mission for the DA and NOPD that emphasizes a reduced incarceration rate. This means a concerted effort toward community policing practices that abandons this city's 'catch-and-release' philosophy. This means no more book throwing at non-violent drug defendants and the open-minded entertainment of decriminalization policy. This means more than continuing to fund the drug court programs.

3. Commitment and a plan to refocus resources being wasted to prosecute petty drug dealers on cases involving violent crimes. This means forensics and, especially, witness protection.

4. Deep reluctance to employ the death penalty.

5. Enthusiastic commitment and plan to prosecute white collar criminals.

6. Passion for researching and experimenting with successful methodologies from other cities and states.

7. Ability to articulate and advocate for more sensible gun ownership policies at the state level.

8. Plan to initiate substantive changes at the DA's office in the face of a resistant Mayoral and NOPD administrations.

9. Core administrative and managerial competency.

10. History of ethical and transparent practices and demonstrated freedom from powerful political and industrial alliances.


Yesterday there was a forum for DA candidates and I thought the T-P recap was quite interesting:

Each of the candidates claimed to be prepared to target violent crime and put murderers and armed robbers behind bars. Many similarities emerged on the policy issues: All vowed to improve the often-fractious relationship with the New Orleans Police Department; all support the creation of more specialized units to handle different kinds of cases, from sex crimes to public corruption; all pledged to provide better management for an office with an $11 million budget and 200-employee staff.

Instead of finding substantial differences on the issues, the candidates repeatedly returned to how their attributes best qualify them for the job during the forum at Loyola University sponsored by a collection of community groups less than three weeks before the Oct. 4 primary. An expected runoff of the top two vote-getters will be held in November.

They better find some substantial differences amongst them on the issues because I know that the candidates can't possibly have the same prosecutorial ideologies. Our incarceration culture resembles that of a totalitarian state, we need transformative leadership not marginal reform.

I'm open-minded toward pretty much all of the candidates though it's very difficult not to totally throw Leon Cannizzaro under the bus for touting in a TV ad his endorsement from national GOP bankroller and blatant racist Boysie Bollinger. At least he's not keeping it a secret, I guess.

On second thought, I'll just go ahead and throw him under the bus. It would take a miracle for me to vote for someone enthusiastic about an endorsement from an animal like Bollinger.

If you've attended any of the DA candidate forums, please feel free to list your thoughts. Or if you have not gone to any DA forums, like me, please feel free to add some questions or priorities.