Having tried a case in Louisiana once (and ONLY once), I know that LA law can be more than a little squirrelly.
But, does the city have a CHOICE? Ordinarily when a judgment against a municipality (including its departments, like the PD) is final, the city fathers have to cough up the money from somewhere, or the plaintiff's attorney will start attaching police cars and file cabinets and selling them on the courthouse steps . . .
“I know that LA law can be more than a little squirrelly.”
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Would LA law even matter since this was the ruling of a federal judge?
I am not an attorney (nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night) but my understanding is that Eddie Jordan is the Orleans Parish District Attorney. (A Parish in Louisiana is equivalent to a County in other States.) Thus Mr. Jordan's office is not part of the City of New Orleans. For this reason Mayor Nagin is saying the City of New Orleans did not control Mr. Jordan's actions and is not responsible for them and therefore should not pay the judgement.
Stolen long ago, I'm afraid.
“But, does the city have a CHOICE? Ordinarily when a judgment against a municipality (including its departments, like the PD) is final, the city fathers have to cough up the money from somewhere, or the plaintiff’s attorney will start attaching police cars and file cabinets and selling them on the courthouse steps . . .”
Heck, the city government & NOPD has been for sale for YEARS....
It's mainly a vocabulary issue, rather than a substantive difference. The now have almost all of the UCC, for example, and they have greatly modified forced heirship law.
But, does the city have a CHOICE?
It's more complicated than that. He's technically Parish DA, not a city prosecutor, although Orleans Parish and New Orleans are essentially the same, and generally are jointly governed. So, as a Parish office, not answerable to the mayor, the city may not be liable.
There is a judgement for the NOLA firefighters against the state of Louisiana that goes back to the 1970s that still has not been paid off.
Interesting take, counciler. I live in Middlesex County, which until a few years ago had a government that was older than the United States. “We” went bankrupt over a couple of very badly run hospitals. There were stories in the papers that the creditors could seize private real-estate in one of the wealthiest counties in the country.
In the event, the Commonwealth took over the administration of the now defunct county government and the money was found somewhere. I don’t know how it is elsewhere, but in the Commonwealth, county government is an incredible sinkhole.