The pressure is officially on U.S. Rep. Ahn “Joesph” Cao to vote for healthcare reform. Over the course of the week, President Barack Obama has barnstormed the country for his comprehensive healthcare package with firebrand speeches outside of Philadelphia and St. Louis reminiscent of his campaign, in an attempt to get his signature legislation over […]
Author Archives: The Editors
Posted inGovernment & Politics
The Lens interviews Spike Lee
The Lens recently visited the Rampart Street studio and office space of Spike Lee, who’s been in the city the past month filming a sequel to his HBO documentary “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.” He’d just gotten back from Houston, where he was interviewing people displaced by the federal levee disasters, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Federal consent decrees have reformed police departments
The FBI has confirmed seven separate civil rights investigations into unjust NOPD conduct. Seven. It is a situation so shameful and so infuriating it is becoming difficult to find new ways to condemn it. Any officers responsible for acts of brutality should be punished and I hope that, finally, they will. You could simply isolate […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Not a good week for cop
Today, another NOPD investigator was charged in the alleged conspiracy to cover up the killings on Danziger Bridge. Jeffrey Lehrmann also just happened to have been the lead investigator of the 2006 Central City massacre, a quintuple killing for which Michael Anderson was convicted and sentenced to death. Earlier this week, Judge Lynda Van Davis […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
The mayor doesn't oversee education but should get involved anyway
Today, Mitch Landrieu unveiled another task force to advise his transition, this time on public education. I feel like I’ve been reminded 1,000 times that the city of New Orleans HAS NO CONTROL over education policy. Library Chronicles reminded me of it today, as a matter of fact. Even though I think Jeffrey was being […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Jordan not exonerated just because Anderson might be; Cannizzaro won’t yield
Earlier today, Criminal District Court Judge Lynda Van Davis ordered a new trial for Michael Anderson, accused of a 2006 quintuple homicide in Central City that resulted in the deployment of the National Guard. Anderson had been sentenced to death last year but Van Davis ruled that District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office erred in failing […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
‘Misplaced’ videotape matches defense team narrative
This week, I took in the sights and sounds at convicted killer Michael Anderson’s motion for a new trial. Anderson is sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of five teens in Central City. The massacre resulted in national headlines, local outrage, the deployment of the national guard, and, ultimately, the downfall of former District […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Rose report is awfully cute, also plain awful
Chris Rose has produced a darling little piece for Fox 8 TV on Police Superintendent Warren Riley and Mayor Ray Nagin’s mysterious invocation of the “shadow government” during campaign-season radio appearances on WBOK talk radio. He ‘fesses up to calling in to the show ask for the names of those who comprise the shadow government. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
“Credibility” is not just a BS political hurdle
In the wake of the most disturbing police coverup conspiracy I’ve ever seen, I questioned whether a local candidate for our next police superintendent, a veteran of this broken NOPD, would be considered a credible leader for the force. Commenter jeffrey responded to the post: Do we want a police department that works in the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
New evidence should mean new trial, says man convicted in 2006 Central City masscre
Before sunrise on June 17, 2006, five young New Orleanians were gunned down in an SUV at Josephine and Danneel streets in what was dubbed the Central City massacre. News of the killings rocked the community and made headlines around the country. The reaction of local elected officials was swift and extreme. Within days, Mayor […]