I am fascinated by how breathless the media in New Orleans is over the new “Progressive” DA that was installed this week.

The issue they seem to ignore is that New Orleans is a political subdivision of Louisiana and it and its people are governed by the laws of Louisiana. A District Attorney is an officer of the State whose sole job is to honestly and to the best of his or her ability enforce the laws of the State. He has no power or authority to make or modify laws or to selectively enforce them to fulfill some concepts, undefined in law, of fairness. He has no power to override the will of Legislatures as executed into law by numerous governors.

After millennia of mankind in turmoil our America system of government has evolved into the pinnacle of stability in which citizens have great confidence. If activists on any side of an issue want to change law that’s fine, they should adhere to our system by going to the Legislature and do so. They should not try to subvert our Constitution or our statutes by expecting a DA to ignore his duty simply by redefining the will of the legislature through choosing what laws he thinks are wrong or by not prosecuting offenders of law.

Should any DA choose to abuse their authority it will be up to the Attorney General of the State to prosecute him/her for dereliction of duty, failing to provide honest service, or whatever law applies to the situation. We are a nation of laws and though some think that that they have some overriding moral obligation to ignore them, they don’t.

A few words come to mind when I read the media salivating over the prospects of what a rogue officer of the state at any level could do; Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, Atlanta, and so on. These cities burned because their leaders failed in their duty to the people and turned their back on those who violated their law. Chicago, New York, Jackson, and yes, New Orleans. Cities in which there is already a disrespect for law resulting in violence far worse than in many wars that we have been involved in.

We have laws and a structure in which to enforce those laws for a reason. That reason is the protection of the majority of our society. They are not there to be selectively enforced in order to fulfill some political philosophy. So my hope is that Mr. Williams will adhere to his duty to aggressively prosecute those who through their own free will have decided that it suits them to break the laws of Louisiana.

I hope that he will not try to circumvent the statutory foundation of our state, as no officer of the state has that right. Should we allow anyone, no matter the claim of moral duty, to usurp power that is not by law theirs, then the result can only be chaos.

I am confident that Mr. Williams grasps his role and will provide good service to those for whom he works, the people of Louisiana and I wish him the best of luck in his new position. We all need and deserve it.