EBR GOP Backs Caldwell for AG, Cites Conservative Stand on Issues

The Republican Party of East Baton Rouge Parish has endorsed Attorney General Buddy Caldwell for reelection in the Oct. 24 open primary.  EBR Republican chairman Woody Jenkins said Caldwell is well qualified by his experience of 29 years as a District Attorney, eight years as Attorney General, and thousands of criminal cases to continue to serve as Louisiana’s top attorney.

Jenkins said that, just as important, Caldwell has taken a strong conservative stand on most of the important issues facing the state and been willing to protect Louisiana’s values at the national level as well.

Jenkins cited 12 major cases where Caldwell has been a conservative leader:

•Caldwell filed suit to block Obamacare from going into effect within 48 hours of its passage.  He said, “This is not a partisan issue. It’s about what is best for the state of Louisiana and its people. This act is an unprecedented intrusion on state sovereignty and individual freedom.”  Federal District Judge Roger Vinson agreed, although the Supreme Court eventually upheld Obamacare.

•Caldwell filed suit to protect the Louisiana Constitution’s ban on same sex marriage, winning in Federal District Court and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and taking the matter all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Caldwell said, “Through the democratic process, Louisiana citizens have previously voted to establish this definition of marriage and to add it to the state’s constitution. I was joined at counsel table today by constitutional law experts Kyle Duncan and Mike Johnson, both of whom I retained to assist my office with this important task of defending our constitution, which is the expression of the will of our Louisiana citizens. As Louisiana’s attorney general, I will do everything in my power to uphold the will of our citizens and the right of states to manage their own affairs.”

•When President Obama issued his executive order on amnesty for illegal immigrants, Caldwell joined with Texas Attorney General (now Gov.) Greg Abbott in seeking an injunction to prevent the order from going into effect.  The Constitution says the President “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”   Caldwell said, “The Take Care Clause mandates that the President take care that the laws be faithfully executed— not rewrite them or ignore them under the guise of some type of executive discretion. We will not tolerate this blatant violation of our Constitution.”  They won, and the executive order is currently enjoined.

•Caldwell filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency to block a series of illegal regulations.  Caldwell said the regulations, purportedly under the Clean Air Act, are “a perfect example of out-of-control federal regulatory overreach in complete disregard for state sovereignty and in complete disregard of Congressional intent.”

•Caldwell filed suit challenging

President Obama’s moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  Caldwell said, “Each day this moratorium is in place, millions of dollars of income are lost to Louisiana citizens and by our state. Restoring the moratorium for even a few days would add additional strain to systems that are already overloaded by this ongoing crisis, all while the federal government schedules more meetings.”

•Caldwell filed suit against the far-left organization ACORN for its illegal activities, seized dozens of computers at its New Orleans office, and found that organizers had embezzled $5 million.  Eventually, Caldwell put ACORN out of business nationwide.

•When Louisiana lost a Congressional seat because illegal immigrants were counted in the 2010 Census, giving additional Congressional seats to California, Texas, and Florida, Caldwell filed suit in the U.S. Supreme to challenge the illegal counting.

•When the Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms Bureau proposed to ban cartridges for the AR-15 rifle, Caldwell joined 22 other Attorneys General in opposing the regulation as an abuse of the ATF’s authority.  He said, “I am alarmed by this attempt to infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of Louisianans by prohibiting the sale of ammunition widely used by target shooters. It is important to make sure that the plan never resurfaces.”   The proposed ban was eventually withdrawn.

•When San Francisco passed an ordinance requiring that handguns be stored at all times in a locked box and the Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ordinance, Caldwell filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn the 9th Circuit decision.

•Caldwell recovered hundreds of millions of dollars from drug companies that had defrauded the State of Louisiana’s Medicaid program.

•Caldwell recovered more than $8.8 billion from BP Oil Company for damages related to their oil spill in the Gulf.

•Caldwell began a Cyber Crime Unit to search out and prosecute internet child predators.  He linked together more 150 law enforcement agencies.  Under Caldwell, the Louisiana Department of Justice successfully prosecuted the largest child pornography case in U.S. history.

Jenkins said Caldwell’s opponent, Jeff Landry, sought the party’s endorsement but did not answer the Endorsement Questionnaire or file the other documents sought by the party, such as evidence of experience in practicing civil or criminal law, experience in picking a jury, complex civil cases, or administering a large organization.

In a questionnaire he returned to  the local Republican Party, Caldwell said his role models on the Supreme Court are Associate Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

In the questionnaire, Caldwell said:

•“Life is sacred and begins at the moment of conception.”

• “Marriage is between one man and one woman, period.”

•He will work to reverse the Supreme Court decision on same sex marriage and to limit the effects of the decision.

•The Louisiana Constitution provides even more protection for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms than the U.S. Constitution.

•He opposes any effort by state or federal government to monitor private communications by American citizens without a warrant signed by a judge particularly describing the person, place, and lawful reason for the search.

•He considers himself a strict constructionist of the Constitution.

•Judges should have the right to display the 10 Commandments in their courtrooms.

•He believes activist judges are the greatest obstacle to justice in the state.

•He believes voters should be required to produce a photo ID when voting.

•He favors the death penalty.

•He supports Louisiana’s open carry law and the concealed carry law.

•He believes border security is the first step toward solving the problem of illegal immigration.  He said, “A country without borders is not a country.”  He supports returning illegal immigrants to their home countries.

•He opposes so-called sanctuary cities and believes cities such as New Orleans, which refuse to cooperate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws, should suffer financial or other penalties.

•He says the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand “is a pure case of judicial activism and social engineering.”

• On education policy, Caldwell said the federal government should have zero role in how the states educate their children, and education issues should be developed at the local and state level.

The Republican Party of East Baton Rouge Parish is the largest parish Republican party in the state.  More Republicans vote in East Baton Rouge than in any other parish of the state, and Republicans in the parish also have the highest percentage turnout of the 64 parishes.  Endorsement by the parish party means a candidate can use the Republican endorsement and logo in his advertising.

The local Republican party is governed by a 17-member Executive Committee elected by Republican voters in the parish at the time of the Presidential Primary every four years.  One member of the committee is elected from each of the 12 Metro Council districts, and five are elected at large parishwide.

Under party rules, members of the committee vote for or against endorsing each candidate.  If a majority of the committee votes to endorse a candidate, that candidate is endorsed.  This means the party may endorse no candidate, one candidate, or more than one candidate.

“The endorsement really means that the party leaders have carefully reviewed the candidate’s background and stand on the issues and concluded that he or she is well qualified to hold the office sought.  In East Baton Rouge Parish, the parish executive committee is conservative.  So the endorsement is also an indication that the candidate is reliably conservative,” Jenkins said.

For more information on Buddy Cald-well’s candidacy for Attorney General, go to www.buddycaldwell.com.