Archive for June, 2010

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Drug Ring Busted in Jefferson Parrish

June 11th, 2010 | Posted in Drugs, Local Issues by bloom | No Comments »

Last week, the U.S. attorney’s office charged five men for taking part in the trafficking of over 200 pounds of marijuana. Through special investigations by the Drug Enforcement Agency, DEA, and help from an inside informant, a lead was found for something other than marijuana. In Gretna, agents set up a surveillance location that captured the suspicious transfer of a large bag from one vehicle to another. When officers made their arrests, they found two and a half pounds of cocaine in the bag. The two men arrested were also charged with participation in the marijuana trafficking.

The DEA was able to put away several men who were taking part in the trafficking of a portion of the illegal drugs that go through the greater New Orleans area. If you or anyone you know has been arrested for charges of drug possession or trafficking, call Bloom Legal at (504) 599-9997 for a free consultation.

OPP Prepares for Hurricane Season

June 11th, 2010 | Posted in Local Issues, NOPD by bloom | No Comments »

On Wednesday, the Orleans Parish Criminal Sherriff Marlin Gusman announced the new plans following a call for mandatory evacuation in the city of New Orleans. The prisoners detained at Orleans Parish Prison will be transferred immediately to another location, before contraflow is even implemented. With the number of detainees at over 3,000, it is necessary to be prepared to transfer the prisoners to another location in an orderly fashion if such an event shall occur during this hurricane season.

The events following Hurricane Katrina five years ago helped inspire this new evacuation plan, because the result of a late evacuation and loss of information lead to many doing time without even being convicted in other state prisons. There are many lessons to be learned from that catastrophic event, and this certainly is one of them. Gusman plans to be ahead of the game with the new plan, which includes a strong system in keeping track of the prisoners while they are evacuated. Failure to prepare is preparing to fail, and with an organized agenda for such a circumstance, it seems that the Orleans Parish Prison will be ready if any hurricane shall head in the city’s direction.

Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients Moves to Senate Floor

June 9th, 2010 | Posted in Drugs, Legislation by bloom | No Comments »

The senate committee on Judiciary C has approved House Bill 617 narrowly by a 4-3 vote due to Senator Elbert Guillory (D-Opelousas) crossing party lines. The bill would mandate that 20 percent of all recipients of welfare from the Family Independence Temporary Assistance Fund be drug tested. Additionally, it would require for all persons receiving federal funds from FITAP to sign consent forms allowing for this screening. The bill, already approved by the House, now moves to the Senate floor for approval later in the week.

The bill’s sponsor, State Rep. John Abruzzo (R- Metairie), argued that the purpose of the bill is to get welfare users, especially single women, off of drugs and move them towards reentering society. “The goal is to support families and not someone’s drug habit,” argued Abruzzo.

The bill received some opposition as well. Sen. Ann Duplessis (D- New Orleans) argued vehemently against the bill claiming that the framework is already in place. Currently, the State Department of Social Services tests close to 15 percent of applicant after their initial screening. “The bill doesn’t put a program in place,” Duplessis contended. “The program is already in place.”

Furthermore, many opponents of HB 617 believe that the bill will be found unconstitutional as it most likely qualifies as an unreasonable search and seizure, thus violating the rights of the recipients of federal funding.

Consumer Spending Down in April

June 9th, 2010 | Posted in National Issues by bloom | No Comments »

Consumer spending was stagnant in April, remaining at $10.4 trillion, the weakest showing in the last seven months. Consumer spending is closely monitored because it accounts for 70% of national economic activity and is seen as a barometer for the overall economic health of the US citizenry and the economy as a whole. This was despite the fact that personal income grew 0.4% for the month.

However, most economists still believe that spending by consumers will increase over the quarter by 3%. This is largely due to the expected 503,000-job increase for the month of May. Most of these though will be part-time, temporary workers hired by the government for the census. This nonetheless means that 15.3 million people remain out of work. Furthermore, consumer spending will be boosted by historically low mortgage rates and low gas and utility costs. An additional explanation for this lack of growth is that personal saving increased 3.6 percent in April.

Oil Expansion: Deep Water Horizon Spill Reaches Florida

June 7th, 2010 | Posted in BP Oil Spill by bloom | No Comments »

Within the last few days, the oil spill from BP’s Deep Water Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico has reached the tourist driven regions of Florida. On the beaches where thousands of people come to visit each year, tar balls are starting to take route with the seaweed by washing up along the shore with the fluctuations of the tides. The first industry that saw the effects of this negligence on behalf of the energy giant, BP, was the Louisiana and Mississippi fishermen. But now that the oil is extending its range with thousands and thousands of gallons leaking out every day, it seems that the tourist driven coasts of Florida might be plagued this summer with a decrease in the amount of visitors.

While BP is claiming to be capturing more and more leaking oil everyday, the leak has still not been stopped, and incredible amounts of it are still washing around in the gulf. But this claim was enough to have BP’s stocks turn in the positive direction in recent days. Regardless of that, there is still much work to be done to preserve the coastal environment and the industries that are receiving the biggest blows from this human-caused disaster.

Bill Passed by the House to Allow Elected Officials to Receive “Minor” Gifts

June 7th, 2010 | Posted in Legislation, National Issues by bloom | No Comments »

Last week, the House passed a bill which broke free from the previous ethics laws implicit in Louisiana politics allowing for elected officials to receive, openly, gifts from those companies with which they do business. With a 55-31 passing, the House Bill 296 will now give politicians the right to accept kickbacks, just as long as they are not in excess of $15 each time, and no more than $45 per year.

The ethics laws that have been implicit in Louisiana went so far as to not allow for librarians to receive Christmas cookies last December because they do not allow for the rewarding of someone’s work. While this is a break from a the laws meant to end kickbacks for elected officials, it does not seem to go too far considering the limitations on the amount that can be spent. If the bill passes through the Senate, then it will be up to someone to regulate how many gifts and what their prices are in accordance to this pending law.

The Problem of Counting Detainees

June 6th, 2010 | Posted in National Issues by bloom | No Comments »

As the 2010 census finishes up its work for this decade, the issue of tallying illegal immigrants and prisoners for the census and the location that receives benefits for those people has been brought forward as a prominent issue. For the first time, lawmakers have allowed states to count prisoners in the areas in which they were previously living before being detained. While this certainly would be beneficial to areas with high incarceration rates, it has raised great concern from cities and regions in which prisons are located.

According to a Brookings institute report, in the fiscal year 2008, the per person payout from the census was $1,469. This means that small towns and cities that play host to these detention centers run the risk of losing millions of dollars should those detainees be counted elsewhere. This would have an adverse affect on the tax money previously available to those communities.

In a pure twist of irony, illegal immigrants held in detention centers before deportation were also counted for the census despite leaving the country in the very near future.

New Orleans Ranks #1 in Murder Rate Per Capita

June 4th, 2010 | Posted in Local Issues, National Issues, NOPD by bloom | No Comments »

Following the FBI’s uniform crime report, which was released in the latter days of May, New Orleans ranked at the top for the highest murder rate per capita in the country. With the use of the most recent data from the census, the estimated population of New Orleans is at 336,425. In 2009, there were 174 murders in the city, which was a 9% drop from the previous year, but nevertheless still left New Orleans at the top of the list. With the murder rate per capita at 52 to every 100,000 people, the city ranked higher than Baltimore, St. Louis and Detroit. Coming in at #6 was the big city to the north, Baton Rouge, with a 34 to every 100,000 rating.

Although the numbers of murders within the city have declined over the past few years, New Orleans is still finding itself at the top when it comes to murder per capita. A continuation of improvement from year to year would be ideal, but to drop in rank from #1 per capita murder rate would be an even greater step. Superintendent Ronal Serpas plans on facing this problem head on, and allow for the public to view the criminal incidents in the city.

Another NOPD Officer Admits Guilt in Danziger Bridge Incident

June 4th, 2010 | Posted in NOPD by bloom | No Comments »

On May 20th, Ignatius Hills submitted his resignation to the New Orleans Police Department, the day before he would be charged on accounts of involvement with the Danziger Bridge shooting that occurred right after Hurricane Katrina blew through the crescent city. Hills admitted to his participation in the cover up of the police shooting at six unarmed civilians on the bridge connecting New Orleans East and Gentilly, killing two and severely wounding the four others.

Hills is the fifth officer to plead guilty in the Danziger Bridge incident, furthering the necessary justice for the actions of this group of officers. The others who have admitted guilt in this confrontation include officers Robert Barrios and Michael Hunter, and investigators Jeffery Lehrmann and Michael Lohman.

Judges’ Recusals End Katrina Greenhouse-Gas Suit

June 4th, 2010 | Posted in Local Issues by bloom | No Comments »

In April of 2007, the Massachusetts v EPA case ended with the Supreme Court acknowledging the man made phenomenon, Global Warming. This helped inspire several Mississippi Coast residents to file suit against numerous energy companies for their contribution to Katrina by polluting the atmosphere with greenhouse-gases. In October, a three-judge panel gave the plaintiffs the right to pursue an appeal for an earlier ruling. But when the case reached the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, it could not be tried in en banc fashion due to the recusals of several judges. The conflicting interests of these judges were most probably a result of connections with the defendants in previous cases, or current investments. With only eight judges left to rule on the case, it became erroneous due to an even number, which lead to the clerk dismissing the appeal.

The only chance now for the plaintiffs is to make an appeal directly to the Supreme Court. With the help of three judges, Eugene Davis, Carl Stewart and James Dennis, and their dissents about the dismissal, these Mississippians might have a chance in the Supreme Court, but that does not mean they will be victorious in the end.

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