There was no rest for the wicked or stupid in the Gret Stet of Louisiana over the holiday weekend. There was a heaping helping of dumb on every side; enough to make me cranky and yes irked. How irksome was it? Sufficiently irksome to merit its own post; now, that’s irksome.
Here’s a quick and dirty summary of the action thus far:
MAGA Republicans have been turning the screws on the criminal justice system in New Orleans. The lege passed a measure reducing the number of judges and consolidating court clerkships. New Orleans officials objected and wanted to conduct a special election for the single clerkship. Right-wing State Attorney General Liz Murrill sent a letter to Mayor Moreno, DA Jason Williams, and members of the City Council threatening to oust them under the Gret Stet’s usurper law. That led to an Orleans Parish grand jury indicting Murrill on 16 felony counts. Murrill twice petitioned the state Supremes for emergency relief that was granted on the long weekend. What the emergency was beats the hell outta me.
Holy Faulknerian paragraph, Batman.
How twisty and turny is this shit show? I personally date what Murrill, with surprising accuracy, has dubbed lawfare between my city and the state to her stage managing the indictment of former Orleans Parish Sheriff, Susan Hutson for this infamous 2025 jailbreak:
You say malfeasance; I say incompetence. Let’s call the whole thing off.
Hutson has already been punished with defeat by the electorate. The last I checked incompetence is not a crime. If it were, many involved in this shit show would be criminals instead of dumbasses. I was tempted to call this post Dumbassery on the Bayou since the national media sets everything in Louisiana on the bayou:
This fire on the bayou is a stupid loop that includes:
- Murrill whining about not receiving notice of the grand jury hearings. State law does NOT require such notice. The AG *should* know this. Her response is either mendacious or incompetent or a mixture thereof.
- Landry talking pardons. In Louisiana, pardons can only be issued after a conviction. The former state AG *should* know this. Of course, to paraphrase Earl Long’s famous quote about an AG of his day, “If you want to hide something from Jack Gremillion, put it in a law book.” That goes double for the Clownfish and Murrill.
- The Gret Stet Supreme Court for granting emergency relief over the holiday weekend. They act as if they work for Murrill. They do not: as elected Justices, they work for the people. The Court should have let the indictment run its course, especially as dismissal was likely.
- The Grand Jury for acting sua sponte (on its own accord) in what looks like some tit for tat shit.
- Judge Leon Roche for allowing the detention of WWL-TV producer Danny Monteverde and the station’s lawyer in a kerfuffle over transparency. The Judge denies ordering this. I don’t believe him.
You say clusterfuck; I say shit show. Let’s call the whole thing off.
My reaction to this mishigas is bipartisan. With the exception of city officials who refused to cave to Murrill’s empty threat, no one has covered themselves in glory. Instead, it’s been gory and I’m not talking Al Gore or his distant relation Gore Vidal. It’s a bloody mess with enough discredit to go around.
The state Supremes have done one thing right in the last week. They appointed retired Orleans Parish criminal court judge Dennis Waldron to preside over the Hutson case. Judge Waldron was my favorite judge back in the day. He’s smart, honest, tough, and fair. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he threw out the Hutson case if her legal team makes a strong enough argument. Mine would be: Where’s the evidence and intent?
Repeat after me: Incompetence is NOT a crime. If it were, Murrill and Landry would be in deep shit and sinking fast. They’re both past malakas of the week, after all.
The Clownfish and his mini-me seem to be following the MAGA DOJ playbook: Indict first and dig up some evidence later. That’s NOT how the criminal justice system should operate. The stakes are too high to cavalierly throw around accusations and indictments. That goes for the runaway Orleans Parish grand jury as well. Whataboutism is a poor substitute for evidence. A pox on both their houses.
This story has oodles of open questions since no one involved seems to have used their noodle. And I’m not talking ramen or rigatoni. Mmm, noodles.
Shorter Adrastos: I’m likely to update this fakakta story if it continues to spin out of control. The parties to these cases need adult supervision. Oy just oy.
For more details check out stories in the Louisiana Illuminator, Guardian, and Picayune.
You say clusterfuck; I say shit show. Let’s call the whole thing off.
The last word goes to Isaac Hayes:
