In a week-and-a-half from now, the six semifinalists for New Orleans Police Department superintendent job will take part in a two-day assessment, including interviews with public safety personnel and local stakeholders.
However, we still don't know officially who the six semifinalists are. Mayor LaToya Cantrell is refusing to release the names of the candidates because, she says, she doesn't want them to be harrassed.
According to a legal analyst, she's legally obligated to release that information.
"It is subject to production under Louisiana public records law under Title 44," Doug Sunseri, attorney and host of WWL's All Things Legal, said. "The exceptions would be the right of privacy or something that's proprietary information that needs to remain confidential."
Sunseri says Mayor LaToya Cantrell's claims that she wants to protect the candidates from harassment is not a valid reason to withhold those documents.
"My review of Title 44 doesn't indicate that there's an exception for the subjective perception of a mayor believing that candidates for police chief would be harrassed would fit one of the exceptions under the Louisiana public records law," Sunseri said. "I think when you are applying for a public job in an administration, there is no expectation of privacy, so I don't think that would fit that particular exception."
Sunseri says someone could sue the administration to force them to release the documents, but he says it could take months for a court battle to play out.
"And I guess that's what she's counting on, even though there's not a legal basis for it," Sunseri said. "I think the mayor is saying: Look. Let me fall on the ball for a couple of months, and by the time it would be released, a decision might have been made already, and it would be a moot issue."
WWL-TV is reporting that one of the six semifinalists is interim superintendent Michelle Woodfork, but that information apparently came from unofficial sources.
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