Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Mayor Candidate Butler Jailed, Missed Debate
TIMES PICAYUNE
By Brian Thevenot
Staff writer
(excerpt)
Criminal District Court Clerk Kimberly Williamson Butler, who spent last week ignoring court orders and dodging arrest warrants, was led away from a courtroom to a jail cell on Monday after she refused to admit breaking the law before a panel of increasingly irritated judges.
Just hours later, Secretary of State Al Ater, Louisiana's top election official, called for Butler's resignation and vowed to explore every option to keep her from managing the April 22 election.
Butler landed in jail after nine of the city's 13 criminal district judges sentenced her to three days in Orleans Parish Prison without bail and ordered her to pay a $500 fine on contempt of court charges. They charged that she failed to comply with their order last month to turn over management of her office's stalled applications for FEMA funds.
Butler's political future remains cloudy. But Ater said he will pursue legal remedies to remove her from managing the election.
LPNS COMMENTARY: IS THE MAYOR'S RACE STILL ON SCHEDULE?
