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Two parishes in the Seventh District are still being harassed by the federal courts. The St. Landry Parish School system is now under the duress of having to come up with a desegregation plan by September 11 acceptable to Tucker Melancon and the Justice Department, or they will come in and force upon St. Landry Parish a plan of their own.
Everyone in St. Landry Parish knows that the system is already completely desegregated. Unfortunately, the federal authoritarians are never pleased to leave well enough alone. They must fulfill their hobbies and/or create a need for their existence. To completely ignore the great advances that SLP has achieved in the 43 years since the original suit took place is a tragedy. It is a tragedy that each of us ... and our children must continue to pay for.
To paint the ridiculous with more absurdities, Tucker Melancon demands that the school district prove to him that it has in good faith eliminated all traces of discrimination in the school system. Yet, he has not offered one example that discrimination exists today. The school system is being burdened to prove that it has rid itself of policies that supposedly existed decades ago. Back then, there were school board members who are not board members any more. School teachers and principals who aren't teachers and principals any more. Yet these unelected judges and lawyers expect our current school board members to prove that there longer exists what they cannot prove does exist.
Evangeline Parish is also suffering from a decades old desegregation plan. On July 19, Evangeline Parish voters rejected a $21,500,000 30 year Obligation Bond to rebuild Ville Platte High School. As a result of Judge Melancon's threats, the school board will try again to get it passed on November 4th. What is really sad about this tax vote, is, how they are allowed to continue putting them on ballots after continued failures. Apparently, they will keep putting them on the ballots until they get their way. It's not enough that non property owners are allowed to decide how much taxes property owners have to pay, effectively taxation without representation; they will keep putting these proposals on ballots until they get their way?
Well, judge Melancon has threatened that if it doesn't get passed this time, then he will close down Ville Platte High School and force the Ville Platte students to attend High School in Basile, Pine Prairie and Mamou. To bus Ville Platte students to Basile will mean that these students will be on the bus at least an EXTRA 1 1/2 hours a day. This is about 8 hours a week that the students could be studying and learning more. Instead, they will be in daily transit to make a federal judge and justice department lawyers feel better about themselves. That, or simply feel a whole lot more powerful.
These St. Landry and Evangeline Parish School Board problems are pathetic examples of wasting our tax dollars and our children's education and lives, just to make their federal jobs justified. These two examples are a mockery of justice, and worse yet, just a tip of the iceberg. So, what recourse do we have? Most people are unaware that we do have a recourse. While our current Representative, Charles Boustany has done NOTHING to alleviate this injustice, our Constitution does have an answer. Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution specifically authorizes Congress to remove from federal appellate review any cases they consider to be outside to scope of the federal courts. This is all part of our brilliant founding fathers understanding of the necessity of a balance of powers
Has Charles Boustany even tried to constitutionally remedy this encroachment of the federal courts? Will Don Cravins, if elected, tackle this egregious situation? Do they know that the Constitution gives this Power to Congress? Have they even read the Constitution?
A priority of Peter Vidrine, as your next U.S. Representative will be authoring or sponsoring a bill to remove from the federal courts the continued harassment of our educators by tyrannical judges.