Politics of Louisiana - Past Tolerance For Corruption

Past Tolerance For Corruption

Louisiana has long been known for its toleration of corruption in government Bill Dodd, former lieutenant governor and education superintendent, in his book Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics describes corruption as "a way of life, inherited, and made quasi-respectable and legal by the French freebooters who founded, operated, and left us as the governmental blueprint that is still Louisiana's constitutional and civil law." Dodd notes furthermore that some attribute the corruption to "outlaws, gamblers, and fortune hunters who came off the mountains and down the Mississippi River to add their flavor to the Louisiana pot. A sizable minority thinks corruption was made worse by slavery and the granting of full civil rights and privileges to blacks before these hertofore de facto slaves could or would assume and fulfill their personal and legal responsibilities."

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