Mood:
blueTopic: End of the Age
JAMES R. SOILEAU SR.
March 20, 1969 - January 28, 2009
Funeral services were held for James R. Soileau Sr., 39, of Opelousas, at St. John Baptist Church in Ville Platte at 7 p.m., Tuesday, February 3. Burial was held at 10 a.m., Wednesday, February 4, in the Soileau Cemetery.
Mr. Soileau died Wednesday, January 28, 2009, at Doctor’s Hospital in Opelousas.
Rev. Freddie Jack officiated.
Williams Funeral Home of Ville Platte was in charge of arrangements.
[Mr. Soileau was married with three children]
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Evangeline Parish
NAACP reorganizes
Ville Platte Gazette
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) reorganized and elected new officers last week. Left to right are James R. Soileau, vice president; Odelia Boykins, treasurer/secretary; and Arthur Sampson, president. The organization plans to meet on the first Wednesday of each month. They invited interested persons, regardless of race or religion, to their December 3, meeting at the Martin Luther King Center at 6:30 p.m. The organization still has positions for another vice president and secretary. Sampson said the organization will be focusing on the ongoing desegregation case with the schools, judicial system and other issues in the community. They are working on a post office box and a membership drive. Yearly fees are $30 per adult and $15 per child. For more information, call Sampson at 336-1389.
VI. THE STORIES BEHIND THE STUDY
ACLU ReportIn preparing this report, the ACLU wanted to go beyond the data to find out what people are experiencing day-in day-out, and whether the complaints we receive have merit. We spoke with a number of people who feel they’ve been targeted by police.
The story we heard most frequently comes from black men who drive new or luxury cars. These men always tell the same story. When driving their cars, police stop them for no reason. Police search their cars without cause.
When the search doesn’t turn up anything, the police issue them tickets for fabricated or minor violations such as driving five miles over the speed limit or failure to signal before making a turn.This pattern of events violates the U.S. Constitution, Louisiana’s law, and the CERD Human Rights Treaty which all condemn racial profiling.Yet it occurs repeatedly.
James Soileau, a 39-year-old disabled veteran from Ville Platte, Louisiana has such a story. After serving eight years in the military, including twice on the front lines of Operation Desert Storm, Soileau retired with his wife, who works as a school teacher. As a disabled veteran, he collects several thousand dollars a month from the government and sometimes works as a camera machinist.
I had a couple incidents with the police,” he explained.“A police officer who’s off the force now, he was wondering how I was able to drive new cars. So he labeled me as a drug dealer. He was pulling me over left and right. And if anybody else was driving my car, he was stopping them and having my car impounded. He would pull me over just to see who was driving.
If it was me, he knew I knew the law. So he would just kind of harass me a little bit, ask for my license.”
At the time, Soileau was buying a new car every few years and had a Toyota Camry. “Between me and my wife,we got an income of almost $100,000 a year.We got a nice car that’s paid for. I just recently bought a house in Opelousas—the house cost me a quarter of a million dollars. And what they don’t understand is,how can a black man have that?
See, that’s Evangeline Parish.” [End-ACLU-peice]
--------------------------------------------------------------Post Author Commentary:
James, was a freedom fighter. He was dedicated to what he believed. I knew him to be a christian and a decent person, who loved his family. He was involved with several individuals and groups in his home parish who sought for rights. Some were not as diligent as was James.
When he found himself in precarious situations because of his beliefs, he sought to do the proper thing. He was respected by many. I know his loved ones will miss him. As an individual, James stood out among the rest. It must be said, this man was genuine.
"It is however, strange; how quickly we move through the travail of life. We seek for justice and liberty, and as we age there is just not enough time. Convincing others of the harm that may be in the way, is difficult at times. The motivations of some around the genuine has a sobering affect. It does not appear yet, what shall become of us who seek for true truth"-La1Justice
July 22nd, 2008
Dear Editor,
The people of Evangeline Parish need to know who is committing one of the most infamous crimes of the 21st century right here in Evangeline Parish. We would think it to be drug dealers, thieves, rapists and murderers; but we would be wrong. The people in Evangeline Parish would have to look hard because these offenders can easily cover up what they do. We would have to look in our judicial system. There is nothing in the Constitution says that if you can’t prove a person guilty, let’s just say they are guilty.
How can authorities in Evangeline Parish prosecute someone without having an “honest” belief in their guilt? Matthew Soileau has proved his innocence with the rape charge of the individual who has accused him over and over again. Certain individuals have been accusing Matthew Soileau with no evidence in the case. The victim has admitted to not telling the truth because she was mad at him for holding her while her mother was disciplining her. When they went to court and the victim was admitting to not telling the truth, the judge and the lawyer said, “I don’t want to hear what a 13-year-old girl has to say.” Now I, James R. Soileau, say, “We are getting closer and closer to “real” accountability; the next step is to have these malicious prosecutors charged for their criminal code offences.” Police officers, social workers and prosecutors involved in the wrongful conviction of Matthew Soileau should be punished for negligence and bad faith. It’s a decision that’s being referred to as a wake-up call for authorities across the country that they very well may be held civilly accountable. Authorities and individuals involved should be punished for negligence in the way they handled a prosecution, namely failing to disclose evidence.
One of these individuals lives in Monroe, Louisiana and doesn’t know what is going on. The evidence will show this individual is brain washing these children and that she’s committed “perjury,” which is a crime. This case happened over a year ago in which the evidence leaned toward Matthew Soileau being innocent. Punishment should be administered against the authorities and individuals; it should be left up to a trial judge to decide if they acted in bad faith. The decision could set a precedent for how the authorities in Evangeline Parish do their job. A successful punishment would provide “the stick” to hold them individually responsible for acting in good faith.
I, James R. Soileau, would like to know if hearsay can be considered as substantive evidence. Can the state offer proof in the event evidence is excluded? What grounds does the state have but hearsay? The proffered evidence the state has is hearsay and it may not be sufficient. For that specific reason the evidence the state has should not be admissible.
According to The Code of Evidence: “The rules of evidence are not meant to be slavishly followed but are to be applied to achieve a just result and for the purposes of fairness and judicial efficiency. The rules of evidence have developed over time as a means of promoting the fact-finding process and filtering unreliable evidence, there are instances when a strict application of the rules of evidence might lead to an unjust result. The Code of Evidence is meant to remind the judge when interpreting the rules in difficult situations their purpose is to promote fairness to the parties so the truth may be ascertained, in a just and efficient manner to the court, the parties, and the witness. This liberal directive, however, is not meant to be a license for the court to ignore established rules of evidence under the pretext of finding the truth and saving time.”
We have all the evidence in our possession. If anyone would like to see the evidence, contact James R. Soileau. We can give you names and go into great detail about what is going on. I would even let you make copies so you can see what they are doing. You would be surprised at the names that you would discover; surprised to see who is pushing this. We all have to look at this before we elect our next officials. “The laws are only as good as the people who enforce them,” that is the police officers and the D.A., If you don’t know your rights, you don’t have any. Laws in Evangeline Parish have become complicated for the average person to understand, thanks to those who have seized the courtrooms for their own purposes and schemes. We are here to clean the mess caused by the so-called redemption movement.
Matthew Soileau’s trial date is July 21, 2008. Come see for yourself.
James R. Soileau
