The Supreme Court of Louisiana has dealt a blow to a North Carolina woman who scored a major victory last February when the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal ruled she was entitled to the return of more than $144,000 seized from her car during a traffic stop on Interstate 10 in St. Martin Parish. The state’s high court overturned the 3rd Circuit ruling, siding with a district court judge who earlier ruled that the state had the right to seize Tina Beers’ cash.
Beers was travelling with her children when she was pulled over by a state trooper for an undisclosed traffic violation in January of 2009. A search warranted, according to the trooper, by Beers’ nervousness led to the discovery of the bundles of cash hidden in the car’s floor. According to court documents, Beers’ claimed no knowledge of the cash, which according to state police was found to have narcotics residue on it following an examination by a drug-sniffing canine. But Beers was never charged with a crime or even ticketed for a traffic violation and was allowed to resume her journey, leaving the cash behind.
Beers, who is identified in the 3rd Circuit case as Tiffany Beers, later filed suit to have the cash returned and the 3rd Circuit ultimately ruled the state didn’t have probable cause to keep the cash. But the state high court disagreed:
[W]e find the district court did not err in finding probable cause for forfeiture based upon the totality of circumstances established by the state trooper’s affidavit. Because the court of appeal found there was no probable cause for forfeiture and reversed the district court’s ruling that struck Tina Beers’ claim, we reverse the decision of the court of appeal and reinstate the ruling of the district court.
Read the full ruling here.
JUNE 16 This story in the Advocate tells us that the state Department of Education is taking a look at the Course Choice program. They're doing that because the legislature (probably responding to reporting by Tom Aswell, who does not work for the Advocate) ordered them to make sure that these private companies aren't signing six-year-olds up for high school Latin classes without their parents' knowledge or consent.
JUNE 17 Columnist James Gill writes about the recent complaint of death row inmates at Angola: it's hot as you-know-what in their cells, with the heat index topping 120 for months. Since we're not executing people anymore (Gill opines) then we should probably officially end the practice of putting people on death row. The prisoners, by the way, are not asking for cool breezes: they only ask for clean water and a temp that doesn't top 88.
JUNE 17 Here's blogger Ian McGibboney's take on the Baton Rouge plan to give bus tickets to homeless people who have a home with family who live far away. Taken from one point of view, it could be a good solution for some people. But McGibboney raises some good points here, including this one: Why not improve opportunities for everybody in Baton Rouge so these people can find the jobs they came to BR for?
JUNE 17 Picayune columnist Jarvis DeBerry talks here about the Zimmerman trial, but the real topic is the concept of a black man being more dangerous, somehow, than a white man in a fight. It is an interesting discussion, and one that may enlighten people who think that racism doesn't exist because nobody's keeping black folks from eating at the Woolworth lunch counter.
JUNE 17 Here's an interesting column from Baton Rouge Business Report's publisher, Rolfe McCollister, about anger against the government. It's brewing because of recent revelations about the IRS and the GSA, he says. It's readable, not just for the subject, but because of McCollister's collection of sources: Huffington Post, National Review and Wikipedia. That's a combo you don't see every day.
JUNE 17 In this American Press post, Jim Beam talks about the high school diploma track that lets kids who aren't interested in university get what they want and need out of high school. The diplomas get kids ready for technical school, Beam explains, and then he goes on to give some of the numbers. Some of these numbers might really surprise people who think technical school is second best. And, Beam adds, a college diploma does not guarantee anybody a job.
JUNE 17 The Washington Post reports here that OSHA is going to investigate the explosion that occurred last week in Donaldsonville, shortly after the other fatal accident in Geismar. As soon as the site is safe, State Police will be pulling out of the Donaldsonville plant to make way for OSHA investigators, the story reports. (Hey, here's an idea: why don't they go a couple miles down the road and figure out what happened when that massive sinkhole started sucking up land.)
JUNE 17 Robert Mann writes about the LSU Board of Supervisors in this post, taking a look at the many ways board members have served Gov. Jindal and not their university or their students. The board members are esteemed members of their fields, but can't seem to do anything but say "yes" to Jindal, regardless of the cost to LSU, Mann opines.
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