Prometheus 6

No D.A. office, no law enforcement.

"The decision that's going to have to be made by responsible people in the city is whether they want a D.A.'s office," said Clement P. Donelon, who represents the 35 former workers.

I am bugging out over the idea of a government that is not responsible for the actions of its component departments. I'm picturing the reaction if New York's police department had to sell off assets to settle the various lawsuits it has been involved in.

Lawyers Threaten Shutdown of DA's Office
By JOHN MORENO GONZALES
Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Millions of dollars in assets can be seized from the district attorney's office to pay off a $3.65 million judgment against the office in a racial discrimination lawsuit, a federal judge ruled Monday.

The Orleans Parish district attorney's office has not yet paid the judgment from the 2005 case, in which dozens of white office workers successfully sued District Attorney Eddie Jordan for replacing them with black workers. He had asked for more time, but a court rejected it.

U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. found that the district attorney office's $3.5 million in assets could be seized to meet the debt. Jordan is not personally responsible for the payment.

Plaintiffs' lawyers had cited a statement by Jordan's representatives that said the office owned no extra assets that could be used to meet the debt. The plaintiffs' lawyers also cited independent audits showing the nearly $1 million worth of vehicles and just over $2 million in furniture.

The finding could end up bankrupting the office in this crime-plagued city, lawyers for the white office workers said. They said they would use it as leverage to force city officials to include a payoff in the next city budget. The budget is due Nov. 1.