LLBC opposes Landry’s juvenile justice leader
12th February 2024 · 0 Comments
By Julie O’Donoghue
Contributing Writer
(lailluminator.com) — The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus (LLBC) asked Gov. Jeff Landry to scrap his appointment of Kenneth “Kenny” Loftin to run the state Office Juvenile Justice.
The caucus members expressed concern over allegations of abuse and torture at Ware Youth Center in Coushatta, where Loftin was the longtime executive director. The accusations were contained in a 2022 investigative report published in The New York Times.
“Our members find it disturbing and contradicting that someone with Mr. Loftin’s history for non-compliance and abuses on his watch at one facility, would in turn be elevated to run an entire system focused on juvenile justice,” legislators in the Black Caucus wrote in a joint statement Wednesday. “Children are always worthy of protection, even when they have made mistakes.”
The New York Times journalists identified 42 people held at Ware over 25 years who described being sexually abused by 30 members of the facility’s staff. Many of the allegations overlap with Loftin’s tenure. He ran Ware from its opening in 1993 until 2015 and again from 2021 to 2022.
Caucus members also said they are particularly worried because the children housed at Ware when the alleged abuse took place were mostly Black.
“Mr. Loftin’s past reported actions have shown he cannot be trusted to protect the children of Louisiana,” the statement said.
Landry’s office declined to comment prior to press time, and Loftin could not be immediately reached by telephone for an interview.
The governor has already put Loftin in charge of the Office of Juvenile Justice on an interim basis, but Landry needs the Louisiana Senate’s approval to keep Loftin in the position permanently.
Senators must vet and approve Landry’s nominees to hundreds of jobs and board positions. The Louisiana Senate & Governmen-tal Affairs Committee typically interviews high-profile gubernatorial appointees publicly at hearings, but then the confirmation process largely turns secretive.
Traditionally, senators debate the picks behind closed doors in an executive session. Then, they put together an omnibus list of appointees they approve with just one vote. They often refuse to discuss why certain people are blocked.
Ten state senators are Black Caucus members, including Cleo Fields, a Baton Rouge Democrat who leads the committee that will vet Landry’s appointees.
During an interview last Wednesday, Fields declined to comment on whether he agreed with Loftin’s selection.
“As chair of the committee, I’m going to give everyone a full and fair hearing,” Fields said. “I’m going to reserve my comments until the hearing.”
Dissent in the upper chamber can derail gubernatorial appointments. Senators usually give each other wide discretion to reject a person picked for a board or commission if the individual lives in their district.
In 2020, former state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, blocked five appointments then-Gov. John Bel Edwards made because the people selected lived within the boundaries of her Senate district.
Her rejection of Ronnie Jones, the longtime head of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, got a significant amount of attention. Peterson, who has struggled with gambling addiction, blamed Jones for making public an embarrassing moment in which she was removed from a Baton Rouge casino. Jones has always insisted he wasn’t the person who shared that information with the news media.
Three years later, Peterson was sentenced to almost two years in prison for gambling with money from the Louisiana Democratic Party and her own campaign account.
This article originally published in the February 12, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
