I attended most of the hearing today on Dr. Coopers petition for injunction against Beasley, Chaisson and Babineaux. I had to leave about 4:30 so I did not hear the last couple of witnesses. During Dr. Coopers testimony, as has been reported, things were quite contentious with Dr. Coopers attorney at one point stating his opinion that the judge had already decided how he was going to rule. The judge did not take kindly to this and chastised Mr. Roy quite strongly about implying that the judge might be biased himself. The judge said, I will not have you tell me in my court that I am biased or have prejudged this case. I will not have it. Later, the judge also stated that he was very close to holding Mr. Roy in contempt. Other than that, here some things the judge said that I think are relevant and significant: The Judge explained what Dr. Cooper must prove and relied on the case (Valley v. Rapides) that Mr. Roy relied on. The judge said there are two very strong presumptions that Dr. Cooper must overcome- a presumption of honesty and integrity of elected officials in doing their duty and a presumption that when elected officials make decisions they are doing so in the public interest. To overcome these presumptions, Cooper must prove that board members have put aside their honesty and integrity and desire to serve public interest in such a way that they are irrevocably partial and their minds are irrevocably closed. Also here some statements the Judge made: Board members have a duty to cast votes. I cant replace the Board members- they must be elected by the people. Disagreements [between the superintendent and board members] are not the issue. Irrevocable bias is not disagreements, not voting records, not heated arguments. The hearing will continue in the morning and I will be in attendance.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 02:25:13 +0000
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