NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The city of Ville Platte and the American Civil Liberties Union have signed an agreement ending the ACLU's lawsuit against a pedestrians-only curfew.
The city did not admit liability but will pay the ACLU nearly $16,900 in attorneys' fees and costs and agreed that any future curfew will be the least restrictive needed to meet a "compelling need."
"The simple fear of crime is not such a compelling need, and Ville Platte residents are now protected against future restrictions based on fear alone," the ACLU said in a news release Thursday.
What would be a compelling need?
"Well, that's the definition we are all looking for," city attorney Eric LaFleur wrote in an email. "Our curfew was initiated after a rash of robberies and other crime related activity."
He said a hurricane, serious power outage or similar incident would probably be acceptable reason for a curfew.
The original curfew "may have been justified. The length of time in which it was imposed created a constitutional problem," he wrote.
U.S. District Judge Richard Haik signed the consent decree Thursday. City and ACLU lawyers had signed it Dec. 28.
A rash of break-ins and burglaries prompted the curfew, adopted in February 2011 and renewed regularly until October, when the city council voted to suspend it after the ACLU filed its lawsuit.
About 134 people were cited, arrested, fined or jailed for violating the curfew, the ACLU has said.
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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