Lafayette Citizens Against Censorship

Not so.

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When I arrived, people were already filing in, and the crowd just kept growing. Someone had printed out rainbow-hued sheets of paper with "Cara" on them, and was handing them out to supporters. News crews from all three local television stations arrived, some going live with reports on the hearing. In the end, the room was at overflow capacity. I'd estimate close to 100 people showed up, all of them to support Cara and tell the Board of Control that censorship is not welcome in our community. It was an amazing thing to see.

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Board President Robert Judge opened the meeting by reading out a statement in which he accused Cara of willful insubordination relating to the display she'd created in June. In his estimation, the display, which, remember, was created to fully comply with Director Gillane's guidelines, meant that Cara, "refused or failed to comply with a lawful directive given by a supervisor or superior"--the Lafayette Consolidated Government's (the body under which Cara's employment falls) definition of willful insubordination. In addition, Judge waved around a letter Cara had written to Director Gillane, which he said contained an "inactionable claim of harassment," whatever that means. The letter, he said, meant that Director Gillane had "recused himself" from disciplining Cara. Finally, Judge cited a state law (RS 25:215), which he claims gives the Board the power to hire and fire any employee it wishes.

 

This is an extreme stretch at best, especially given that Cara was not hired by the Board of Control, her employee reviews are not conducted by the Board of Control, and she is the first employee of LPL to EVER be brought before them for dismissal. Judge then made a motion to dismiss her immediately, which was quickly seconded by his favorite ride-or-die, Stephanie Armbruster.

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In the end, Judge's eagerness to deprive Cara of her insurance and medical leave benefits, I believe, did him in. In his impatience to get the agenda out the door on Friday, he failed to properly get his ducks in a row. This isn't a business, thankfully. (Louisiana is an Employment-at-Will state.) You can't just fire someone. Cara is a civil service employee, and has a right to due process. Remember, she hadn't even seen the charges against her until the hearing started on Monday. Robert Judge was literally expecting to go into that room, read a list of accusations against a librarian in a closed meeting, and then summarily dismiss her.

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Immediately, when President Judge turned the motion over to the rest of the board for discussion, it was clear that he lacked the votes needed for passage. Board member Shane Landers, himself an employee of Lafayette Consolidated Government, seemed horrified at the treatment Cara was receiving. He pointed out that the board members had received an email from Director Gillane only an hour before the hearing, in which he asked them NOT to discipline Cara. (This was a detail Mr. Judge had conveniently left out of his portion of the program.) Landers also said he thought it would set a very "dangerous precedent" to forego due process and fire Cara on the spot, a remark that was met with loud cheers from the audience. Other board members agreed with Mr. Landers, and in the end, Mr. Judge was forced to content himself with tabling the motion until a later time. (We think at the next regular board meeting, which is scheduled for August 15, but I wouldn't be surprised if Judge didn't try to move it up in order to limit the public's participation - one of his favorite tricks.)

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I am incredibly proud to know Cara. She is an unapologetic defender of the First Amendment, and an incredibly brave human. She truly understands what it means to be a librarian, not just as a job, but as a vocation. I hope she keeps her job for very selfish reasons - because I know any library would be lucky to have her, and I want our library to keep her here.

 

I am also incredibly proud of the effort we made on Cara's behalf. The love and strength this community showed when their librarian was threatened was (and is) amazing. Cara has, and continues, to touch so many lives, and we all rose up in defense of her because we know she would do the same for any one of us. It was a beautiful thing to watch in this cynical time we live in.

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If you've come this far, I hope you'll come a little farther. (a little movie jam for all you Shawshank geeks out there). This fight isn't over. Judge is licking his wounds, but he still absolutely wants Cara gone, and now his ego's been bruised. There will be another hearing, and this time, he knows we're coming. We're going to need even more local, state, and national support for this fight.

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As the time gets closer, we'll keep you updated on Cara's case, and what you can do to help. It may be calling, writing emails, or showing up at the next meeting. We're hoping to get some crowdfunding started very soon to help Cara with her legal bills. Thanks so much!

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Latest Update, October, 2022:

I'll also post this on the October page, but I want to make sure and cover all the bases, in order to keep everyone updated on the progress of Cara's case. Since the July meeting, the public has gotten no updates on Cara's case - nothing has shown up on either the August or September meeting agendas, and the board has not issued any statements. So officially, we know nothing. However, given Robert Judge's intense, burning desire to see Cara fired, my personal opinion is that if he had the votes to do so, he would have. Therefore, I think the past (nearly) 90 days of silence speaks volumes. I believe Judge realized he didn't have the votes, and was forced to send the matter back through the proper HR channels. 

 

I do know that Cara still has legal counsel retained in order to protect her rights throughout this continuing process. So to everyone who has contributed (or is thinking about contributing) to her legal fund, a GREAT BIG THANK YOU!! Having that money has made such a difference in her ability to feel confident she could defend herself against this - let's call it what it is - harassment and attempted character assassination. I'm so grateful to the community for coming together in such huge numbers to stand up for her, for librarians, and for freedom of expression in our community. I'm still in awe of the crowds we saw that day.

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I'll keep you updated of any new developments!