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The ACLU of Louisiana is calling on federal prosecutors to launch an investigation into the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office following a report by WWNO/WRKF and ProPublica that revealed stark racial disparities in shootings by deputies and systemic transparency problems.

The news organizations’ ongoing investigation into the Sheriff’s Office found that more than 70% of people who deputies shot at during the past eight years were Black; that figure is more than double the 27% of the Black population in this suburb west of New Orleans. In addition, 12 of the 16 people who died after being shot or restrained by deputies during that time were Black men.

In response to public records requests, the office could not account for how often its deputies use force. It denied a request for copies of all complaints against Sheriff’s Office employees during the past two years and couldn’t even say how many had been filed, stating such a number “does not exist.”

Alanah Odoms, the ACLU of Louisiana’s executive director, asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana to “scrutinize the data and evidence collected” by the news organizations and to review three pending lawsuits filed by the ACLU against the Sheriff’s Office.

“It is no secret that the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office has a deep-rooted history of racial discrimination and cruelty toward residents of color,” Odoms said. “The harsh political reality is the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish is wholly unaccountable to the people.”

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a reporter’s voicemail or email about the ACLU statement. Sheriff Joe Lopinto previously declined to be interviewed about the news organization’s findings, saying only that when his deputies commit serious misconduct, they are arrested, noting that at least nine had been since he became sheriff in 2017.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Odoms’ request for an investigation.

The U.S. Department of Justice, the parent agency of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, launched an investigation into the neighboring New Orleans Police Department over a decade ago and found problems similar to those identified by the news organizations’ investigation into Jefferson Parish. The NOPD had failed to properly track and review when its officers used force, its internal investigation system was deeply flawed and its officers were disproportionately shooting and killing Black people, the DOJ reported.

But, despite years of complaints by Black community leaders in Jefferson Parish, the DOJ has not intervened.

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, called the news organizations’ findings “disturbing.”

“I do not, and our society should not, condone any violence, misconduct or excessive use of force by those sworn to protect and serve,” said Carter, who this month called for a DOJ investigation into the Louisiana State Police, which has come under heavy scrutiny recently over a pattern of violence directed at Black arrestees.

“I am hopeful that the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office will use all resources available to thoroughly and transparently seek out the truth, wherever it may lead,” Carter said.

Ashonta Wyatt, a leader in Jefferson Parish’s Black community, called the ACLU’s request a “wonderful step in the right direction.” But she said there is a long way to go to achieve the sweeping reforms she believes are needed to improve the Sheriff’s Office.

“Something has to happen that actually turns the tide in the direction of humanity,” Wyatt said. “I want to see real change. I want the investigation to bear real fruit (because) this is a deep-seated, systemic issue.”

Wyatt and other community leaders said years of ignored complaints have eroded the public’s trust in the department. Because the sheriff is an elected position — not subject to governmental or civilian oversight — the office is accountable only to voters, barring DOJ intervention.

The ACLU called for prosecutors to review three lawsuits it has filed against the Sheriff's Office as further evidence of misconduct. The suits allege sheriff’s deputies beat a Black man in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center, used excessive force against a protester and unlawfully detained and searched a Black woman because of her race.

The Sheriff’s Office, in court filings, described the first two lawsuits as “frivolous, groundless and unreasonable” and said its deputies’ actions were “reasonable under the circumstances.” It has not filed a response to the third suit, according to court records.

Nearly twice as many lawsuits alleging wrongdoing by deputies have been filed against the Sheriff’s Office as against the NOPD since 2013, despite NOPD having about 1,100 officers compared with about 760 at the Sheriff’s Office, according to a WWNO/WRKF and ProPublica review. Three-fourths of the plaintiffs in the Jefferson Parish lawsuits were Black.

Odoms accused the Sheriff’s Office of operating as a “rogue agency that is permitted to operate in the shadows,” pointing to its failure to present a plan for the adoption of body cameras, despite a request to do so by the state legislature. After a sheriff’s deputy shot an unarmed 14-year-old boy in the back in March 2020, the state House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution requesting that Lopinto, by Jan. 1, 2021, present a plan to outfit deputies with body cameras.

Lopinto, however, dismissed the resolution as doing “nothing” and having “no effect of law.” He has yet to present a plan.

“All residents of Jefferson Parish should demand better of a law enforcement agency that is as funded to the tune of $100 (million),” Odoms said. “Taxpayers should be outraged by this level of unprofessionalism and corruption.”

BATON ROUGE – Federal disaster aid remains elusive because of political gamesmanship in Washington as Louisiana residents struggle through Hurricane Ida’s lasting impacts and the remaining effects of natural disasters dating to last hurricane season.

After visiting New Orleans and other hard-hit areas of southeast Louisiana following Hurricane Ida, President Joe Biden agreed to request supplemental recovery aid from Congress. The request also included long-sought assistance for southwest Louisiana, which has endured four declared natural disasters since August 2020.

Louisiana’s supplemental funding, however, has been lumped into a $28 billion natural disaster package that is tied to raising the nation’s debt ceiling – a highly political affair.

House Democrats passed a $3.5 trillion government funding bill that would raise the current $28.7 trillion debt limit to an undetermined amount and allow Democrats to use a procedural process known as reconciliation to pass trillions of dollars in social spending, climate change agenda items and election reforms without any Republican votes.

The construction of the spending proposal led to Louisiana congressmen voting against disaster aid for the state.

U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., who represents southwest Louisiana, voted against the legislation and predicted the House bill would fail in the U.S. Senate.

“Our hurricane recovery needs should not be held hostage,” Higgins said. “I support a clean bill that includes the disaster relief we’ve been demanding for a year.”

U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., who is from Ida-affected southeast Louisiana, thanked Biden for authorizing hurricane funding relief and proceeded to vote against the House spending proposal because of what he called a debt ceiling “poison pill.”

“At the last minute, Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi added a poison pill to the bill that allows the Biden Administration to increase the national debt from the current $28,700,000,000,000 ($28.7 trillion) without limit. The current debt is equivalent to $87,000 for every man, woman and child,” Graves said in a statement.

Democratic congressman Troy Carter, who represents New Orleans, applauded the spending bill, saying it contains “crucial funding for Louisiana disaster recovery for the state to rebuild from Hurricane Ida and other recent disasters.”

“Louisianians have been through a lot and this bill recognizes that struggle. It also helps us to begin working on those challenges,” Carter said.

U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has pledged no Republican support for the $3.5 trillion House measure, which he said plays “Russian roulette” with the U.S. economy.

Moderate and progressive Senate Democrats also are at odds over the bill’s multitrillion price tag, which not only complicates disaster relief and the national debt ceiling debate, but also a scheduled Monday vote on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said he and the progressive wing of the Senate would not support the infrastructure bill if the $3.5 trillion government funding proposal was lowered.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who helped negotiate the bipartisan infrastructure agreement, echoed that Louisiana’s disaster assistance is being “held hostage,” which he said was “inexcusable.”

“Recovery after [Hurricane Ida] is a two-pronged approach,” he said Thursday on social media. “It starts with disaster aid, but finishes with the bipartisan infrastructure bill to prepare us for the next storm before we’re back in the same situation.”

Louisiana’s other U.S. Senator, Republican John Kennedy, met Wednesday with Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, and U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, in Washington to discuss the state’s recovery needs.

Shelby is the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Collins is the lead Republican on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.

“Our people are desperate, and we have to help them. It’s that simple,” Kennedy said in a statement. “The fact that Louisiana stands strong in the wreckage of category 4 storms doesn’t mean we should stand alone. Our state sends a lot of tax dollars to Washington, and Louisianians need a little help now.”

Small business advocates and economic-improvement organizations focusing on economic development within disadvantaged New Orleans communities echoed the thoughts of Congressman Troy Carter, who wrote a letter to the heads of FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pressing the federal agencies to include small, local, disadvantaged business enterprises (DEBs) in the post-Hurricane Ida rebuilding process.

In a September 8 letter, Carter (D–New Orleans) stressed the importance of including DBEs in the process of awarding federal recovery contracts as the southeast Louisiana region rebuilds from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ida late last month.

Carter cited the Stafford Act of 1988, which outlines the requirements for federal disaster-response efforts, in his Sept. 8 communication.

“I write today to urge you to ensure that your contracting efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida include full participation of minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned small businesses,” Carter wrote in the letter to FEMA and the USACE. “Any contracting done pursuant to the Stafford Act or related to disaster recovery efforts in affected areas should fully comply with any applicable small, local or disadvantaged business enterprise requirements. I hope you will consider not just meeting these statutory requirements but setting goals that exceed them.”

Carter added in the letter that President Joe Biden has stressed the importance of providing opportunities to DBEs since Biden took office earlier this year and has already directed federal agencies to increase contracting with DBEs by 50 percent, a move Carter called “a great effort that illustrates an important step toward equity for our historically and systemically disadvantaged small businesses.”

“Efforts to support and recognize DBEs should always be implemented, and the need to do so is even greater in the aftermath of a disaster,” Carter added.

Local DBE advocates agreed with the congressman and stressed the need to involve people of color, women and other demographics that historically have been shut out or unfairly compensated for crucial post-disaster recovery contracts.

LaVerne Toombs, executive director of the New Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce, said giving business to DBEs will provide employment opportunities for local residents, thereby kickstarting the economies of disadvantaged communities.

“Contracts must be awarded to Black businesses that create jobs in their communities and help to fuel the region’s economy,” Toombs said.

However, she said, she remains worried that small Black businesses might again fall victim to long-held historical precedents that unfairly shun DBEs.

“My concerns are that Black businesses won’t be treated equally and are continually faced with systemic racism,” Toombs said. “Unfortunately, Black businesses receive a minuscule portion of the contracts doled out annually.”

Judy Reese Morse, president and CEO of the Urban League of Louisiana, said the importance of involving businesses owned and run by people of color in the post-hurricane rebuilding of the local region would be far-reaching and much needed.

“It’s critical that Black-owned businesses are able to equitably compete for disaster contracts in the aftermath of any event that has ravaged the very places they were created to serve,” Morse said. “As established anchors in their communities, Black-owned businesses provide essential goods and services, create jobs, offer mentorship opportunities and are a vital component of helping to close the wealth gap.”

Morse said the Urban League is well aware of the barriers to development and improvement that face DBEs at all times, especially after disasters like hurricanes. She added that Hurricane Katrina provided a poor, dysfunctional model for a recovery process, and hopefully, things will be different this time around. She noted that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic surge provides even more potential obstacles.

“When those challenges [facing DBEs] are combined with a catastrophic hurricane that also coincides with the ongoing COVID pandemic, the capacity to survive is exponentially jeopardized,” Morse said. “It is very important to us to ensure that the mistakes made in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, with regard to contracting opportunities for Black-owned businesses, are never repeated again.”

For their part, federal officials say they are attentive to the needs, and to the potential, of DBEs during the recovery effort. Army Corps of Engineers Office of Public Affairs Gene Pawlik told The Louisiana Weekly that the Corps was aware of Carter’s letter to the military unit and that the USACE will respond to the communication with respect to the Congressman’s concerns about post-disaster contracts.

He added that local small businesses will certainly be involved in the recovery process.

“USACE places emphasis on direct awards to small businesses, and we are especially sensitive to awards to local firms in times of disaster,” Pawlik said in a statement to The Weekly. “We plan to transition work to local firms at the earliest practical opportunity.

“As we serve communities adversely impacted by storm events, we must consider the potential duration and severity of the disaster, the scope and structure of the existing contracts, and the potential impact(s) of a transition to the local economies.”

Toombs and Morse each singled out ways that their organizations are among the several local agencies that can help local DBEs obtain federal contracts and other vital economic-development business, including right now after Ida.

“Black businesses must receive contracts to assist with rebuilding the infrastructure in the region,” Toombs said. “However, my concerns are the capacity for a number of our small Black businesses. That’s why the New Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce (NORBCC) strives daily to provide valuable resources and continue to be the voice for Black businesses in the 10-parish region.”

She added that the Chamber “is focused on promoting inclusivity and awareness of the opportunity for local small and emerging Black Businesses within our region. Through our outreach efforts and programs, we work to connect the local business community by policing updates, contracting opportunities, financial assistance, and technical assistance on strengthening the viability of our Black business community.”

Morse said the Urban League of Louisiana has partnered with the Foundation for Louisiana to establish the Black Business Works Fund to aid businesses in coming back from the hurricane even stronger than before.

She said Black-owned businesses can visit urbanleaguela.org/ida to access disaster-recovery and relief opportunities, including links to the Office of State Procurement’s current bid openings and to the Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center, which works to increase the use of Louisiana businesses in meeting emergency and/or disaster-related needs.

She added that the Urban League of Louisiana’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation can provide small business support services such as business planning, identifying funding resources, and preparation for accessing post-hurricane procurement opportunities.

Toombs noted that the City of New Orleans has already made moves to allot city work contracts to local DBEs, a fact that reflects the overall movement toward building DBEs and creating employment options.

“I know the city of New Orleans has implemented a procurement process to improve supplier diversity when awarding and tracking City contracts to local businesses,” Toombs said. “I applaud the Mayor [LaToya Cantrell] for making City Hall a more equitable place to do business. There’s still a lot of work to build trust within the Black business community to believe there are real contract opportunities.”

Returning to Carter, the Congressman concluded his letter by underscoring the thoughts of Morse, Toombs and others in the New Orleans area.

“I urge you to heed the President’s directive and prioritize contracting for these businesses in the coming days, weeks and months,” Carter wrote. “Now is the time to increase those commitments. … Giving our small and local businesses an opportunity to participate in the rebuilding of their community is key to a strong recovery and stronger communities. It’s one of the surest ways we can build back better. I urge you to do everything in your power to provide contracting opportunities to our local small, minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses.”

Here's what happened ⬇️

What happened: Infrastructure wasn't the only part of the White House’s Hill outreach Wednesday. A group of Congressional Black Caucus members met with White House officials to discuss the treatment of Haitian migrants, Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty said.

“We were able to express our concern for people who look like us. We had not seen the horses and the whips with any other population of people so that to us goes to racism."

— CBC Chair Rep. Joyce Beatty

Who was there: Domestic Policy Council Director Susan Rice, senior advisor Cedric Richmond and other top officials met with Beatty and Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, Yvette Clarke, Shelia Jackson Lee, Barbara Lee, Gregory Meeks, Troy Carter, Ritchie Torres and Steven Horsford, according to Beatty and the White House.

Why it matters: It's the second time the administration has been publicly called out by fellow party members in as many days, an unusual development. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded an immediate end to "hateful and xenophobic Trump policies" toward Haitian refugees on Tuesday. GOP lawmakers have used the episode to again whack the Biden administration over its border policies.

Also on Wednesday: Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson and Meeks, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote DHS and the State Department to request to "halt repatriations to Haiti until the country recovers." The letter is here.

Pressure point: Though somewhat unusual, entreaties like these also tend to carry more weight. It may be especially meaningful for Richmond coming from the CBC, which he led from 2017 until 2019.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) met with senior White House officials on Wednesday and called for the suspension of border patrol agents photographed on horseback rounding up Haitian migrants near the southern border town of Del Rio, Texas. 

CBC Chairwoman Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) told reporters after the meeting at the White House with senior adviser and former CBC member Cedric Richmond and domestic policy adviser and former ambassador Susan Rice that the group immediately highlighted the now-viral pictures that to many observers looked like they were from another era.  

“We were very concerned, as we looked at the process, we want those [agents] that were identified suspended; we want to halt that process,” Beatty said.

“The nation saw that,” Beatty added. “There is no one who has contacted me that did not feel that this was not horrific. It’s deplorable, it's insulting, it makes me too emotional to even talk about that you would treat people like that.”

Beatty was joined at the White House by Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Troy Carter (D-La.), Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Yvette Clark (D-N.Y.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Steven Horsford (D-Nev.).

Beatty also noted that caucus members Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) — chairs of the House Homeland Security Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, respectively — were sending a letter to the administration on the issue.

The letter asks the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to supply the committees with a laundry list of documents regarding the situation by Oct. 1. 

Thousands of Haitian migrants at the border are being deported back to Haiti, a country that has suffered an earthquake and the assassination of its president in recent months. Both the deportations and the treatment of the Haitian migrants has outraged Democrats, many of whom have called for a suspension of deportation flights to Haiti.

The administration is also facing criticism from Democrats and activists for its continued use of Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allows border officials to deport migrants without giving them the chance to seek asylum.

In their letter, Thompson and Meeks make a direct appeal for deportations of the Haitian migrants to stop.

“We urge the Administration to halt repatriations to Haiti until the country recovers from these devastating crises,” the lawmakers wrote.

“We are troubled by the plan to repatriate thousands of people to Haiti, despite the instability, violence, and devastation that continue to plague the country,” Thompson and Meeks added.

Additionally, the letter notes that four months ago — prior to the earthquake and assassination — Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced an 18-month temporary protected status designation for Haiti, allowing eligible Haitian nationals residing in the U.S. as of May 21 to begin the process and stay in the country.

On Tuesday, Mayorkas condemned the actions of border agents, but confirmed that the deportations of Haitian migrants will continue.

“We are increasing the frequency and number of the repatriation flights each day,” Mayorkas said.

“We're hoping that what we are doing now serves as a deterrent because it backs up the words that we have spoken since the very outset: that irregular migration is not the way to enter the United States. It will not work.”

The administration is also facing pressure from Republicans, who say the White House has lost control at the border. 

All of this comes as President Biden is struggling to see his legislative priorities passed through Congress, specifically his $3.5 trillion budget that would offer a substantial increase of funding to social services and his bipartisan infrastructure deal.

Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), the CBC’s second vice chair, acknowledged the administration’s current heavy workload, but stressed that the situation in Del Rio is “unacceptable.”

What we want is a comprehensive plan of how you're going to deal with this issue,” Lawrence told The Hill.

“Where is the compassionate part of human rights being implemented in your plan … the visual we're seeing, I don't see any human rights, compassion [or] values that we, as the United States are supposed to use.”