08 April 2009

shady gold weems law firm censors local media from video taping a public meeting


some nurserymen in the central louisiana village of forest hill are upset over the village's decision to move the location of their annual nursery festival.

some nurserymen, like robert strange, say that the festival "is the lifeblood of [the] community" and that moving the festival is counterproductive in that its shifting the focus of the festival away from forest hill's nursery row or "the strip" onto a whole different place.

mike soulter, of living color nursery, signed a petition to stop the festival's location from being moved and said that the decision to move the festival "needs to be brought in front of the people of forest hill, it needs to be a town decision."

donna arrington, of seasonal sensations nursery, the nurseryman who started the petition, intimates that the whole thing smacks of louisiana style good ole boy network corruption.

who wouldnt think that -- seeing that the mayor of forest hill, marcia young -- her husband doug young owns the property where the festival is proposed being moved to and oh yeah especially since louisiana has the reputation of being the most corrupt state in the union.


the mention of the word "corruption" provides us with the perfect segue to bring in alexandria, la. attorney brandon sues with bendini, lambert & locke errr gold, weems, bruser, sues and rundell.

mike magnoli reports that on monday, 06 april 2009, the village of forest hill held a town hall meeting about the festival moving issue and mr. sues censored the local media from filming it -- something which the media had every lawful right to do.

it would appear that mr. sues violated la. r.s. 42:4.1, et, seq (louisiana open meetings law) which states:

it is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens be advised of and aware of the performance of public officials and the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy. toward this end, the provisions of r.s. 42:4.1 through 10 shall be construed liberally.
more specifically la. r.s. 42:8 states:
all or any part of the proceedings in a public meeting may be video or tape recorded, filmed, or broadcast live.
la. r.s 42:10 says that:
the attorney general shall enforce the provisions of r.s. 42:4.1 through r.s. 42:8 throughout the state. he may institute enforcement proceedings on his own initiative and shall institute such proceedings upon a complaint filed with him by any person, unless written reasons are given as to why the suit should not be filed.
so shall we see an investigation and/or enforcement action by louisiana attorney general james d."buddy" caldwell? only time will tell -- but dont hold your breath.

the gold firm has long had a reputation as the go to firm of choice for high level criminals, organized crime gangs and corporate fraudsters, what with the protection racket they seemingly run for their clients with their stranglehold of the federal court (like we're supposed to believe that the only qualified attorneys to be federal judges in the entire western district of louisiana can only come from this one firm) and the undue influence gold weems exerts over some (if not all) ninth judicial district court judges.

just down the road from forest hill is the town of woodworth, long understood to be one of the most corrupt towns in louisiana with the speed trap scam they operate.

a check of its website [screen grab] shows that one of the towns "municipal officials" the towns attorney, is none other than henry b. bruser, iii, with the gold weems law firm. coincidence?

EXTERNAL LINK