Yeah sure, the legislature gets together and argues and writes some stuff up, passes something, or maybe doesn't pass anything. It doesn't matter. What really happens is Jeff Landry says such and such thing is a law so he gets to act like it is a law and therefore, it is one.
Landry complained that public records had been “weaponized to stifle deliberative speech.” His Republican allies in the Legislature moved to carve out a “deliberative process” exemption to allow government officials to have candid conversations with one another about proposed laws and regulations without fear that those communications could become public.
Even as Landry campaigned for the change to the law – which legislators nixed amid public outcry – he already was citing “deliberative process” and “executive privilege” exemptions to deny some records to members of the public. His administration cited those exemptions even though neither of those phrases currently appear in Louisiana’s public records statute.
A review of Landry’s first five months as governor shows that in nearly a quarter of all public-records requests his office fielded, his attorneys withheld records by citing deliberative process or executive privilege. The documents they withheld for those reasons included records related to Landry’s attempts to expand the death penalty, records dealing with the Louisiana National Guard’s deployment to Mexico and records related to Landry’s travel.
Getting the feeling this is going to be sad 4 years. Lots of hand wringing about the Governor's bad behavior but little or no accountability for any of it.
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