Will they get what they paid for?

There was an update this week on the law firm contracted by Louisiana Republican leaders in the legislature to help them draw up their redistricting maps. This week, the legislature interrupted its regular business to hold a one day special session during which it overturned the Governor's veto of their congressional district map. Civil Rights groups have immediately sued in response.  So now we will find out whether or not that legal advice was worth what the legislators paid for it. 

Which raises the question, how much did they pay and what did they even pay for in the first place? Recall back in February, Republican leadership was being coy with reporters about this contract and, as the Illuminator also pointed out in that story, they had been trained to be as secretive as possible about such matters through "email hygiene."  Well, there's an invoice now but it doesn't really say much. 

 An out-of-state law firm has charged the Louisiana Legislature $78,081 for providing “redistricting advice,” according to an invoice obtained Thursday through a public records request. It’s unclear when the law firm performed the work and what type of services it provided.

BakerHostetler sent the Legislature a bill that only provides the lump sum of money it’s charging the state for assistance on new political maps. There is no itemized list of  expenses on the invoice, such as individual attorneys’ billable hours or a breakdown of what portion of the bill might have been spent on the lawyers’ travel.

The invoice also doesn’t detail the any range of months or specific dates during which the law firm performed its work. The Legislature received the bill March 14 and it must be paid by April 14, according to the invoice. Money Louisiana makes from taxpayers and state fees will be used to cover the cost.

Well whatever advice that money bought, we'll see if the courts think it was worth it. If they decide to re-up the contract, maybe it will come with a refresher on how federal laws apply to the states. It's not clear the legislators have a terrific grasp on that right now. 

Another gaffe from Stefanski came Wednesday when he was arguing for a veto override in the House for the congressional redistricting bill Gov. John Bel Edwards rejected. Stefanski’s comments came after Rep. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, had just finished telling colleagues how the failure to add a second majority-minority seat in Congress was a clear violation of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“The Voting Rights Act is federal law. It is not (in the) Louisiana Constitution,” said Stefanski, who had started his floor speech with what he called a “constitutional lesson” about the veto override process and separation of governmental powers. 

After the House voted 72-31 to override the governor’s veto, the bill moved to the upper chamber where Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, called out Stefanski for those remarks.

“This federal constitution, not the state – yeah, I get the difference – quoting the chairman on the other side (Stefanski) who made a point that we are Louisiana and this (override) is not federal law,” Peterson said. “I happen to disagree, that we do have to follow federal law, and what this bill represents is a violation of, yes, the U.S. Constitution.”

Winks and nods

The special redistricting session taking place in Baton Rouge this week is going just about as poorly as we thought it would. Because the legislature is dominated by the Republicans, we already know they are going to have their way with this process. It's possible the Governor could weigh in a bit. But notice that Republicans have already fired a warning shot at him. That's what last week's exercise in pretending to care about the Ronald Greene case was all about.  Someone really does need to hold the John Bel accountable for what is clearly a cover-up. But Republican leadership won't do that... unless he provokes them.

So it's basically a foregone conclusion that the Republicans are going to maintain the current number of majority-minority Congressional districts. It's also a foregone conclusion that the maps for the state House and Senate as well the PSC, Supreme Court and BESE will also maintain the status quo to the greatest extent possible. (Although there are a few instances where petty scores may be settled along the way.) 

This is all very depressing because redistricting is actually pretty important. This is the democratic infrastructure we're going to have to struggle under for the next decade. It would be great if there was any hope of making that not terrible somehow. But the numbers in the legislature are what they are and there's not much to be done about it now besides watch and complain. Next comes another several cycles of Democrats losing elections and turning around to blame people for not voting hard enough.

There's an outside chance that somebody could sue. Although, that chance seems more and more fleeting every time the Supreme Court takes another hack at what's left of the Voting Rights Act. But, just to keep their bases covered, the Republican leadership has retained legal counsel anyway. We're not sure who is paying for that.... or even who the lawfirm's actual clients are in the first place. Do they work for the Republicans or for the legislature as a whole? We do know who they are. 

BakerHostetler has worked in states around the country on political redistricting and election litigation, and it has earned a reputation for defending Republicans against voting rights lawsuits. One of its attorneys, Mark Braden, was general counsel to the Republican National Committee for a decade. 

Cortez and House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, said the firm was not chosen for its work with Republicans, but because of its experience and expertise. Kate McKnight, the BakerHostetler attorney Hewitt said she spoke with about her map, was on a redistricting panel last summer organized by the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures.

“It was the [law firm] that was best suited to our state, whether it was Republican or Democrat,”  Schexnayder said in an interview Sunday.

Yesterday, some of the Democratic legislators tried to get answers about the nature of the firm's contract during debate on the Senate floor.  It's still murky.  Page Cortez says the firm has been "hired for litigation purposes in the two lawsuits that have been filed against the state of Louisiana,” referring to redistricting challenges already underway. But if the state is the client it should be easy to determine how the firm is being paid and how much.  But Cortez also insists that "zero public money" has been spent on this. The Illuminator also reports that it is seeking public records on any public contacts with BakerHostetler but that might also prove difficult because these lawyers know how to keep their email voices down.

McKnight, the lawyer that Hewitt consulted, has advised state legislators, in general, to avoid a paper trail when it comes to redistricting, according to an article on the National Council of State Legislatures website.

“I will always talk about email hygiene. Please,” McKnight told lawmakers from around the country last summer. “If you can meet with someone in person, do that. If you can’t do that, call them. If you absolutely must, send them an email (that says): ‘Call me.’”

This, no doubt, will trigger most observers into reciting their favorite Earl Long quote that all Louisiana schoolchildren are required to learn by rote. 

"Don't write anything you can phone. Don't phone anything you can talk. Don't talk anything you can whisper. Don't whisper anything you can smile. Don't smile anything you can nod. Don't nod anything you can wink.​"