Lafayette’s SafeSpeed and SafeLight programs got the next best thing to a green light from the courts yesterday. United States Magistrate Judge C. Michael Hill issued a Report and Recommendation to District Judge Tucker Melancon that the court toss out a complaint brought against the program by two Lafayette residents, who argue it is unconstitutional.
City attorney Pat Ottinger put out a press release and reviewed the recommendation at last night’s council meeting. The Magistrate Judge agreed with the city’s argument that because the program is designed to be a civil, not criminal, proceeding, it is not in violation of the Fifth and Sixth amendments, as the lawsuit contends.
In his press release, Ottinger says, “We are gratified that the Magistrate Judge, after taking the matter under advisement for further research and careful consideration, agreed with our position that the SafeSpeed Program is a civil, not criminal, proceeding. Thus, the arguments advanced in opposition to the program were found to be unfounded in law. No program of this type has been held violative of the United States Constitution by any court in the country.”
The recommendation goes to District Judge Tucker Melancon to decide on how the court will proceed with the case. The recommendation comes at an auspicious time for city-parish officials looking to move ahead with the program. At last night’s council meeting, city-parish Traffic and Transportation Director Tony Trammel submitted a new request to the council to invest $45,620 in revenue from the program into signs and support staff to help administer it. Trammel originally requested $152,500 - a request that the council denied, partly on concerns over the pending federal lawsuit. The council is scheduled to vote on the new request at its Jan. 20 meeting.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
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