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I’ve watched story after story about Judge Trudy White appear on WAFB since December of 2015. I’ve asked myself over and over who did Judge White tick off? Because these reports are clearly bias and unmerited. I began looking into the information for myself after watching report after report. A few days before Greg Meriwether showed up at the EBR Metro Council Meeting to “question” Judge White, I sat down with Cleve Dunn Sr. to learn about RHI, the company that Greg continues to mention in his “investigative reports”. I found out some pretty interesting facts about RHI, like the fact that Greg lied about the price of RHI’s services.

I almost stayed away from this situation until I saw with my own eyes what Greg Meriwether calls “investigative journalism”. The night that Greg approached Judge White at the Metro Council meeting, was Delta Sigma Theta Day at the council. I believe Judge White is a Delta and therefore came to support the sorority. Residents from around Baton Rouge were present to support the Metro Council’s vote to override Mayor Kip Holden’s veto of the North Baton Rouge Economic Opportunity Zone which is why I was at the Metro Council Meeting.

News media was on hand because of the veto override and informed Greg that Judge White was present. He came with a separate cameraman and as Judge White walked out of the Chamber he began to question her as she tried to leave. She did not respond to Greg. She instead turned around and came back to the council chamber. Greg then began to stalk Judge White. The judge had already walked away from Greg, he insisted on staying there to, at this point, harass Judge White in my opinion. As a black man and the owner of a media platform, I then asked Greg to leave the judge be. He then shushed me. Which let me know he couldn’t be reasoned with.

Judge White again prepared to leave and as she was walking past me, I asked her, “Would you like me to escort you out the side door to avoid being harassed?” Her response was yes. I talked with Johnny the Security for the Metro Council and Johnny and I walked Judge White out of a side door of the chamber. Greg goes out the back door and follows Judge White, and again begins to ask her questions. He even attempted to get on the elevator, to which I told him he wasn’t getting on and that if he did we would have a problem. I escorted Judge White to the police station downstairs and they took her to her vehicle.

I gave the back story, because Greg failed to show Johnny, who is white, in his “investigative report”. He failed to show the footage of his first attempt to talk to Judge White where she declined to comment. He only showed the footage that would make it look like he didn’t continuously harass this woman. As a man, I believe it is my duty to make sure women feel safe. Greg has no respect for the people he is “investigating” and we love gossip so much that we trust anything that mainstream media says, without questioning it.

Here are the facts, RHI is short for Rehabilitation Home Incarceration, it is owned by Cleve Dunn Sr. Someone who has known Judge White for decades. He has also been in business for decades, and has offices on Burbank here in Baton Rouge. RHI receives referrals from Judge White, the same way Judge Daniels, Urving, and Anderson give referrals to Amber Camper of Criminal Justice Services (CJS) and Ben Cannizzaro of Capital City Probation (CCP), who both own businesses that offer the same services as RHI.

RHI also has a success rate with offenders, according to records reviewed by RHI 89% of the people who go through their home monitoring program don’t end up back in the criminal justice system. How? RHI offers more than just home monitoring. They offer services ranging from anger management classes, parenting classes, a job readiness & placement programs, mental health evaluations, substance abuse and sober living classes. RHI gives people who come through the system options.

RHI also saves the state of Louisiana money, to the tune of over $10 million dollars last year. How? If a person is given a bail and Judge White refers them to the program to be monitored and go through the classes. The state isn’t housing that person in jail, which means the daily rate we pay for prisoners goes down.

How does the payment work that Greg mention in his “investigative report?” Greg said in his report that RHI charges $550 to those Judge White sends to them. The truth is the initial cost is $525.00 which includes the monitoring equipment from AEM. Then there is a monthly fee of $385.00 paid to RHI to monitor the person who has been sent to them.

Now compare the cost. Every time Judge White sends a person to RHI that individual is responsible for paying to be monitored. It would cost the state around $55 a day to house that prisoner about $1650 a month to tax payers. Annually it cost nearly $20,000 a year to house a prisoner in the state of Louisiana. By Judge White sending a person to RHI, she allows that person to get back in the work force and pay for their own run in with the law.

Let me be clear, Judge White is doing tax payers a favor and Greg Meriwether and WAFB knows this. The question is, who has an issue with Judge White to push our local news to not tell the truth that recidivism programs save tax payers dollars and help us rehabilitate people rather than incarcerate them. Louisiana is number one in the nation for prison population. Which makes us the prison capital of the known world. Our state is in a budget crisis and Judge Trudy White, through her approach on the bench, is not only helping us to rehabilitate people but saving the state tax dollars.

I think we should send a clear message to WAFB that we won’t allow black women to become targets of theirs. We should boycott WAFB and watch WBRZ Channel 2 and WVLA 33 until WAFB issues an apology to Judge White for not telling the full truth. We as a community need to stand up against this type of harassment.

The truth is, WAFB not only tried to harm Judge Trudy White, but Cleve Dunn Sr. and Cleve Dunn Jr. two black businessmen in Baton Rouge who have done nothing to break the law. If it were a crime, then there are several white judges in Baton Rouge who are guilty of doing the same thing. If Greg wasn’t a puppet he would have reported the actions of every judge in the 19th JDC, but he can’t because it won’t fit his narrative.

We as a community must also remember the same canons Greg referred to in his report say, “A judge should not participate in extrajudicial activities that detract from the dignity of the judge’s office, interfere with the performance of the judge’s official duties, reflect adversely on the judge’s impartiality, lead to frequent disqualification, or violate the limitations set forth.” Meaning a judge should not comment on something that will bring the court under question. Judge White took an oath, to protect the bench and her silence is doing just that.

WAFB and Greg Meriwether have shown in their report that they will bend the truth to make a point – not that they will do what is in the best interest of the people to present the truth to the public who trust them. #BoycottWAFB because their bias and racism is clear. Just because Greg is half black doesn’t mean he can’t be racist against part of himself or carry out the mission of those who are either racist or sexist, by targeting Judge Trudy White. She has done her job by helping the tax payers and giving people a second chance, now we should do ours and #BoycottWAFB.