For many Louisianans, the 1991 Louisiana gubernatorial runoff between three-term Gov. Edwin Edwards and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke was a race from hell. Voters were forced to decide who was the lesser of two evils — a crook or a neo-Nazi — and then vote.
Given little choice, Louisiana chose Edwards, thus electing him to his fourth term– more than any other governor in the state’s history.
Not to the surprise of many, corruption plagued the governor’s office more than ever before. But Edwards always floated above the law, like an Achilles with no heel. It was generally accepted Edwards would never face punishment for his widely known corrupt practices.
In May 2000, Edwards was convicted for selling riverboat casino licenses in U.S. District Court on charges of racketeering, conspiracy, fraud, extortion and money laundering. Edwards lost his appeal to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in August last year and was ordered to begin serving his sentence.
In October, Edwards, 75, reported to the Fort Worth Penitentiary, a prison for inmates with health problems, to serve his 10-year sentence. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Edwards will be eligible for parole when he is 83, after serving at least eight years and five months inside federal prison.
Ten years ago, state troopers guarded Edwards; now they police him. According to a story by Louisiana Gannett newspapers, Edwards and his son were not allowed to communicate with each other because of their conspiracy conviction.
After he receives a visitor (he is limited to so many a week), he is strip-searched. Afflicted with numerous health problems, Edwards, a model prisoner, reads a lot, but only watches television in the morning because the other prisoners watch wrestling and soap operas.
The son of sharecroppers, Edwards used the programs of his populist predecessors to obtain an education and a chance to suceed. He became one of the state’s most prominent political figures, but Edwards likely will end his life far below where he started it–behind bars.
Petitions are circulating the state asking the president to grant Edwards clemency. U.S. Rep. David Vitter lashed out at these petitions in a letter to the president, insisting Edwards serve his full sentence because of his egregious crimes against Louisiana.
Though I usually agree with Vitter, I disagree with him about Edwards. According to a poll conducted by Gannet Newspapers, so do most Louisianans.
After countless investigations and acquittals from previous trials, the government finally caught Edwards, short a juror and general integrity. He was made an example of–no one can break the law, not even the governor of Louisiana. Convicting Edwards must be an incredible power trip for prosecutors.
For the betterment of Louisiana, Edwards needed to be convicted for his corruption, but the close calls on the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments in this case renders Edwards’ conviction just as bad as Edwards’ corruption.
At the beginning of this year, the Supreme Court refused to hear Edwards’ complaints, effectively ending the appeals process for the governor. Unless the court decides to hear the case, Edwards will remain in jail short of action from the president.
But for all of Edwards’ faults, he did several positive things for the state, especially in his first two terms. As governor, Edwards streamlined the state’s bureaucracy, saving the state millions of dollars.
He also gave minorities more opportunities in this state than they ever had in state government. Taxing oil by the value and not the amount was an Edwards’ project, giving the state millions of dollars per year.
Yes, Edwards cheated this state out of millions of dollars. When the state elected him in 1991; however, we knew he was a crook. We knew, yet we still voted for him. He didn’t really break the public’s trust because we didn’t have any for him.
Edwards does not belong in prison anymore. Why make the old scoundrel suffer in the very last years of his life when he is the most benign? Edwards should have been in prison during the ’80s and ’90s; it’s pointless now. Louisiana politics has moved on from Edwards.
Edwards has repaid the state more than a million dollars, his effective profit from the casino scandal, as well as a $250,000 fine. Edwards has been in prison for a little more than eight months. Perhaps we could put him under house arrest in a year or two and call it a day.