It is common to see rivals meet each other on the field in the Superdome, but last week a conservative Republican Governor-elect and a liberal Democrat New Orleans District Attorney stood together in the stadium and said they would be on the same team – at least on matters of fighting crime.
During the recent gubernatorial campaign, candidate Jeff Landry was asked by political commentator Tucker Carlson about his announced plans to change New Orleans for the better. How will he do it? Landry, who is not known for his shyness, answered brashly, “I will bend it to my will.”
Landry has often chastised New Orleans as a city that has been badly run by Democrats. Nevertheless, at his Superdome press conference the governor-elect revealed that one supporter of his “will bending” will be a New Orleans Democrat, and a liberal one at that.
With District Attorney Jason Williams standing at his side, Landry said that the state attorney general’s office, which he has headed, will get more involved in New Orleans’ crime fighting. To help supplement the city’s police shortage, state police will be more involved – not just in providing security for big events, but in criminal pursuit. Plus, anyone apprehended by the state cops will be prosecuted, not by the D.A., but by the State Attorney General’s office. Williams seemed to appreciate the relief. Liz Murril, the newly elected AG, seemed to welcome the new responsibility.
(There will also be a little extra New Orleans familiarity. Landry announced his pick of a new State Police Superintendent, Robert Hodges, a 28-year veteran of the department. He is a New Orleans native – a Brother Martin graduate.)
Jason Williams and the Guv-elect working together may be a hopeful sign that the so-called, and mis-named, “progressive” movement in law enforcement is weakening. Across the country some D.A.s and judges labeled as “progressives” have not been prosecuting certain drug infringements and have been refusing to charge juveniles, even those who committed horrid crimes, as adults. Most of the voting public have interpreted that as being soft on crime. There has been outrage, and some D.A.s have been booted from their jobs. Williams himself has seen the light by charging the four teenagers implicated in the gruesome Linda Frickey carjacking and murder not as juveniles but adults. All will be serving lengthy sentences. His change in attitude may be bolstered by personal experience: he and his mother were recently carjacked.
(In what might be another example of “progressive” backlash, two 16-year-old brothers were arrested for the Williams carjacking as well as a similar incident the same night. Though they are legally juveniles, last week an Orleans Parish grand jury voted to transfer the two to the adult court system. According to reporter Jillian Kramer of NOLA.com the difference is this: Had they been convicted in juvenile court their maximum term could only be until they turned 21. As legal adults, their term can now be between 10 and 99 years.)
What was announced at the Superdome could have reflected a new spirit of kumbaya that will ultimately go nowhere, or maybe it is the beginning of making the public safer.
An old cliches says that “where there is a will there is a way.” Sometime, however. the “will” may need to be bent in new directions.
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