Tag: Judge Ross LaDart

Is the Louisiana 24th JDC incapable of dispensing justice in public records cases involving the politically connected?

Folks that has certainly been my experience after covering Judge Ross LaDart’s attempted home cooking of Anne Marie Vandenweghe’s public records suit back in 2010 and 2011 so along those lines it comes as no surprise that Judge Glenn Ansardi, a close friend of the disgraced former Goatherder in Chief and the Kenner political mafioso would issue an injunction against the release of public records that would expose JEDCO, specifically wealthy developer/Goatherder Henry Shane and company engaging in prohibited partisan political activity.

Political emails sent through Jefferson Parish agency shouldn’t be released, judge says ~ NOLA.com

A state judge Friday ordered Jefferson Parish not to release politically themed emails that an economic development official exchanged through his public agency’s account during the runup to the 2010 School Board elections. A court hearing has been scheduled Wednesday to consider the issue further.

Judge Glenn Ansardi of the 24th Judicial District Court in Gretna issued the temporary restraining order at the request of Henry Shane of Kenner, one of Jefferson’s most politically influential businessmen, who sued to block release of the correspondence. NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune and The Advocate had asked for the emails under the authority of Louisiana public records law.

I first heard about the use of JEDCO to push the political campaigns of certain school board members such as the now infamous kook Michael Delesdernier and Tom Capella political hack/thug Pat Tovrea at the time JEDCO’s Lucien Gunter announced he was stepping down as executive director.  Slabbed has excellent sources in both JEDCO and the Jefferson Parish business community as a whole that were horrified that the organization had been hijacked by the likes of developer/crony capitalist Henry Shane and people are talking. It appears both NOLA.com and the Advocate have taken an interest in this story and it is a good one IMHO.

So why is Ansardi interested in doing the bidding of Henry Shane?  Perhaps for reasons related to both the Internal Revenue Service and the prohibition on certain nonprofits engaging in partisan political activity and/or even better, Car 54. Drew Broach explains: Continue reading “Is the Louisiana 24th JDC incapable of dispensing justice in public records cases involving the politically connected?”

Judge Windhorst’s problem with “abuse of discretion” on display in the Succession of Kenneth Carroll

The poor litigants in this case have Judge LaDart feeding the Beaver and evidently caught Judge Windhorst on a hangover on the recusal motion. The prevailing legal theory is Judge Windhorst will do less damage on the Louisiana 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. In any event the below tells the tale.

Recuse again in the news as a fight is brewing in Gretna over Judge LaDart’s ability to call a case straight

We’ve covered the topic of recusal a time or two here on Slabbed and while the first link did not win us any fans in Judge Marty’s courtroom, it still stands today as Slabbed’s single most trafficked post as we scooped the national media yet received nary a hat tip from any of ’em though if memory served Becky Mowbray at the T-P termed the Slabbed Nation “detractors” for expecting an impartial judge in the drill moratorium case. Lest I digress.

In the case at hand the children of the late Kenneth Carroll are involved in a donnybrook  of a contested estate case with Carroll’s widow and my professional experience in these matters is that contested estates generally invite fee rape.  There are allegations Judge LaDart altered a court transcript and worse folks but the crux of the children’ argument is that LaDart is too close to lawyer Max Nathan to impartially dispense justice.  This is not the first time we’ve seen this argument used in the 24th JDC to get a Judge recused as this also happened in the divorce case involving Patrick and Julie Quinn after Patrick Quinn, acting pro se convinced Judge June Darensburg it was best to have Judge Steib step aside due to his close relationship with Julie Quinn’s attorney Wiley Beevers.

We do not have much use for Judge LaDart here on Slabbed and this is no secret so in a twist I’ll present the con arguments to the LaDart recusal motion as filed by Team Nathan for the executrix Isabel Wingerter below the jump.  Judge Steve Windhorst is now presiding. ~ sop Continue reading “Recuse again in the news as a fight is brewing in Gretna over Judge LaDart’s ability to call a case straight”

The Jefferson Parish Politico Mafioso: A reign of uninterrupted criminal malfeasance and

You want public records you paid tax dollars to have produced ? Well the above picture pretty much sums up the attitude of the Jefferson Parish Politico Mafioso…that’s right…FUCK YOUZ… WHAT YOUZ GONNA DUES ABOUT IT !

“…It was Deja Vu …and live on Cox TV too. Our backdrop is during one of the Council meetings around the time the public records debate was heating up as a result of a sudden and dramatic shift in policy resulting from Anne Marie Vandenweghe’s reassignment. She was removed from the Public Records Department only to be replaced by Greg Giangrosso, a Wilkinson lackey. Under Vandenweghe’s direction, public documents were just that, Public Records readily available in most instances to those qualified to request the same. Giangrosso’s assignment was and is to stonewall the release of Public Information which he and his superiors, Peggy Barton and Louis Gruntz, have decided taxpayers are to have limited access to in almost all instances. The response that one receives from Giangrosso is a pasted legalese form letter citing erroneous legal precedent for not honoring the Public Records Request. Margie Seemann (CFGG) was pressing the Council to explain why documents regarding information of a similar topic which she had previously received under Vandenweghe’s tenure, was now routinely denied under some broad and vague “governmental” exception. It was at that moment when Peggy Barton opened her mouth to defend the indefensible, everyone in that Council Chamber and watching TV, could foretell the response as though it would have been uttered by her mentor Tom Wilkinson, himself. She looked down at Ms. Seemann, a facial expression of pure contempt and as sarcastic a tone as one could muster, stated that she would review “OUR” records and “SHE” would determine what would be made available to the public at some later date. And there you have it, Wilkinson in drag…without the proverbial…FUCK YOU, SUE ME!”

And more of the same tone of arrogance, as we read, “…yada, yada…blah, blah, blah of some pasted authority that gives support to her expected response in defending the indefensible. As though this pointed insult by Barton isn’t enough, she further states, “…If the documents you request are not afforded an exception in the public records law, then they will be provided to you in due course. ” Right! In essence, FUCK YOU Margie and Margaret, go away, don’t bother me…” Continue reading “The Jefferson Parish Politico Mafioso: A reign of uninterrupted criminal malfeasance and”

Anne Marie Vandenweghe wins again in her quest to gain access to public records: A Judge Ross LaDart is so fucked update.

Old ways die hard folks but Friday I received word that the Louisiana Supreme Court denied writs in the matter of the Parish’s appeal of the bitch slap given crooked 24th JDC Judge in Ross LaDart in the matter involving whistleblower Anne Marie Vandenweghe’s public records request for her own emails.  This means the case comes back to LaDart, who was pretty much mandated on exactly how to rule in it by the Louisiana 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The denial of writs was a loss for the Parish’s law firm Phelps Dunbar who simply can seem to win a public records case unless it is fixed in advance.  Also losers are the taxpayers of Jefferson parish who see their hard earned tax dollars squandered in legal fees fighting an open and shut case.

Stay tuned folks.

sop

That ain't doughnut glaze on Judge Ross LaDart's Chin! Louisiana 5th Circuit Court of Appeals bitch slaps the inept judge, reverses shithouse public records opinion. A Jefferson Parish Political Corruption Scandal update.

OK folks if you want to catch up on the myriad of ways Jefferson Parish strives to continue doing business in smoke-filled rooms with no accountability or transparency you can catch up by clicking here. The long and short of it is that former Assistant Parish Attorney Anne Marie Vandenweghe sued to make the Parish honor her public records request for her own emails generated before she was fired for whistleblowing on corruption in the Jefferson Parish Attorney’s office. The case was assigned to Judge Ross LaDart, a jurist that either incredibly lazy, inept, corrupt or a combination of the three because his swift opinion kicking the case to the curb was just kicked back to him via appeal in a published opinion released today that is not kind to the Judge.

So today Team Vandenweghe wins big and the Parish will likely be forced to give her own emails, which rumor holds contains evidence of additional criminal activity in the Parish Attorney’s office as it relates to the payroll fraud portion of the political corruption scandal. This in turn explains why the perpetrators still employed by the Parish have fought Team Vandenweghe tooth and nail on this. We shall see before this is done IMHO.

There are several clear losers today. First is the firm of Phelps Dumbar and their lawyers assigned to the case who evidently can’t win in the courtroom unless the fix is in via Judges like LaDart. The taxpayers of Jefferson Parish lose because not only are there still alleged criminal perpetrators on the Parish payroll, they also get stuck with the legal tab defending shithouse double dealing on part of parish employees and certain elected officials. John Young loses too Continue reading “That ain't doughnut glaze on Judge Ross LaDart's Chin! Louisiana 5th Circuit Court of Appeals bitch slaps the inept judge, reverses shithouse public records opinion. A Jefferson Parish Political Corruption Scandal update.”