Did New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell commit a legal blunder by traveling to a conference in Washington, DC?
Mayor Cantrell says the city cannot afford to pay Orleans Parish Public Schools millions of dollars, despite an apparent agreement, and the schools have gone to court to try to force the administration to live up to the agreement.
"The judge can say, 'I do see some inconsistencies here,'" said legal analyst Doug Sunseri. "On one hand, you're saying the city's broke and you can't pay the school board. On the other hand, you're using discretionary money to do discretionary activities."
But even if the city ends up with a legal judgment against it, Sunseri said there is no legal way to force the city to hand over the money.
"The city has immunity from seizure," Sunseri said. "You cannot go down and seize a city account...there are settlements against the city of New Orleans that are 40, 50 years old that will probably never be paid."