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Jordan Landry of Morgan City has accepted membership in The National Society of Collegiate Scholars, an honor society for high-achieving first- and second-year college students with a minimum of 3.0 grade point average.
NSCS is an honors organization that invites less than 10% of all eligible students nationwide.
NSCS is made up of scholars from two-year, four-year and online institutions.
Notable NSCS distinguished honorary members include former president Jimmy Carter, U.S. Amba-ssador Dr. Robin Renee Sanders, the late Sen. John McCain, and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala.
“We welcome Jordan Landry to our community of like-minded, high- achieving nationwide scholars,” said NSCS Executive Director Scott Mobley.

BATON ROUGE —A House committee rejected a bill Wednesday that would have prohibited police officers from receiving immunity in civil cases involving abuse allegations.
The bill by Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge, aimed to address pushes for police reform after the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.
Members of the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee killed the bill in a 9-7 vote, mostly among party lines. All Democrats on the panel voted in favor of the bill, while most Republicans opposed it. Reps. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, and Richard Nelson, R- Mandeville, voted alongside Democratic members.
Qualified immunity protects government officials from civil lawsuits that claim the official violated a plaintiff’s rights. Suits are only permitted if an official violated “clearly established” rights.
Qualified immunity has been debated at the federal level as Democrats and some Republicans in Congress have called for its end in the wake of Floyd’s death. Congress has debated repealing the doctrine, and the Supreme Court announced Monday that it had declined to hear U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, a Democrat who represents New Orleans and parts of Baton Rouge, wrote a letter to the state House committee urging members to support the bill.
“Many of you here have been upset that contact tracing or wearing a mask could violate your constitutional rights,” he said. “Isn’t the taking of a life a much more egregious violation?”
Supporters of the bill said qualified immunity protects “bad actors” in law enforcement and makes it harder for people injured by police to go to trial and get compensation.
Jim Craig, an attorney and the director of the Louisiana office of the MacArthur Justice Center, said Jordan’s bill would have held officers accountable “while still protecting those officers who are faced with difficult judgment calls about the use of force.”
Representatives of the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association opposed the bill, saying it was concerned that the language could invite lawsuits against officers who used force under reasonable circumstances.
“We’re here to make sure law enforcement continue to believe they can do their job, and when they don’t use excessive force...that they’re not going to lose everything and go through extended court processes,” said St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne.
Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs, also opposed the bill, saying it could have “vilified” officers and disincentivized them from doing their jobs out of fear of being sued. Her nephew, a police officer, was killed on duty.
Lawmakers recently heard another piece of legislation that addressed police brutality. Rep. Ted James, D-Baton Rouge, proposed a bill that would have created a study on policing. Several Republicans opposed the bill, and removed wording that mentioned Floyd and police brutality before passing it.

K9 Vickie helped the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office make two drug arrests early Thursday, Sheriff Blaise Smith said.
—Jacob Zirlott, 36, Cayce Street, Franklin, was arrested at 2:51 a.m. Thursday by the K-9 and Narcotics Sections on charges of driving left of center, driving under suspension, resisting an officer, possession of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and transactions involving drug proceeds.
—Roni M. Landry, 31, Paul Lane, Franklin, was arrested 2:51 a.m. Thursday by the K-9 and Narcotics Sections on charges of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
A deputy patrolling the area of U.S. 90 near Patterson conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle and made contact with the driver, identified as Zirlott, who was driving with a suspended license, and a passenger, identified as Landry.
Through the investigation, a K9 deputy arrived on the scene and deployed K9 Vickie to conduct an open-air sniff. K9 Vickie showed an odor response on the vehicle. Methamphetamine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, two extended magazines for a semi-automatic pistol, a BB gun pistol and $6,694 in cash were found.
Zirlott and Landry were transported to the St. Mary Parish Law Enforcement Center for booking. No bail has been set at this time for either.
Smith also reported these arrests:
—Bryson Matthew Skinner Sr., 26, Grace Street, Siracusaville, was arrested at 11:38 a.m. Wednesday on a charge of resisting an officer by flight. Skinner is being held for another agency.
—Donnell Darby, 43, Isabella Street, Franklin was arrested at 7:41 p.m. Wednesday on a warrant for failure to appear on the charge of possession of marijuana. Darby was released on his own recognizance.
Morgan City Police Chief James F. Blair reported these arrests:
—Terry Donald Sandlin, Third Street, Berwick, was arrested at 7:13 a.m. Wednesday on a charge of speeding and on a warrant for three counts of failure to appear.
An officer conducted a traffic stop in the area of La. 182 and Federal Avenue. The driver was identified as Sandlin. A warrant check revealed City Court of Morgan City held active warrants for his arrest.
He was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking and incarceration.
—Magan Renee Gaudet, 28, Parro Lane, Berwick, was arrested at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday on a warrant for six counts of failure to appear.
Officers responding to a complaint on Allison Street came into contact with Gaudet. A warrant check revealed the City Court of Morgan City held active warrants for her arrest.
She was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking and incarceration.

When Prohibition became the law of the land, it was not very popular in south Louisiana. I’m told that some of the best illegal whiskey made anywhere during those supposedly dry days came from communities along Bayou Teche, and that smuggling in factory-made stuff was a substantial enterprise along parts of the Louisiana coast and in the Atchafalaya Basin.
The ban on booze went into effect on Jan. 17, 1920, when the Volstead Act spelled out how the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would be implemented. The Louisiana legislature had ratified the amendment by only a narrow margin in November. Legislators from north and central “dry” parishes scraped together just enough votes to overcome vigorous objections from New Orleans and the “wet” parishes of south Louisiana.
But then French Louisiana found an unexpected ally in Mrs. Chauncey Olcott, a woman in Paris who mounted a serious, though short-lived, legal fight, claiming that Louisiana should have been exempt from the law altogether because of our French heritage.
She argued that the Louisiana Purchase treaty between France and the United States in 1803 gave France the perpetual right to send liquor to the Louisiana Territory, and that the treaty superseded the prohibition amendment She maintained that the treaty was international law, while the Constitution was limited only to the United States.
The New York Times reported the story on Aug. 6, 1922, and said that U.S. constitutional lawyers were “unimpressed” with her argument.
It could have been a big problem if she was right. Said the Times: “Officials ... pointed out that if France possessed any such treaty right, superior to the American Constitution, the great belt of States west of the Mississippi ... would again become wet.” That would include not only Louisiana, but Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.
“The Washington viewpoint,” the Times said, “is that no treaty can rise superior to the Constitution. It has been repeatedly held by the Supreme Court that treaties, like law, to be valid must be constitutional and that any treaty contravening the Constitution must fall of its own weight.”
Scholars said the key fault in Mrs. Olcott’s argument was that the treaty granted rights to France in “the Louisiana Territory.” They said parts of the treaty that protected French trade while Louisiana was only a territory may have had some validity, but that the 1803 treaty became generally moot once Louisiana became a state.
It does not appear that the case ever actually went to court, so Prohibition continued to be observed in Louisiana, but not as religiously by the people of south Louisiana as in some other places.
Lots of them took full advantage of the fact that it was never illegal to drink during Prohibition. The law never actually banned consumption of alcohol — just making it, selling it, and shipping it. If you could get it, you could drink it.
That kept a good many folks busy making their own replacements for the good French Bordeaux Mrs. Olcott wanted to sell us, or running out into the Gulf to meet boats hauling crates of fine scotch or good bourbon distilled someplace else.
A ditty of the day sums up the attitude in much of south Louisiana:
Momma makes brandy from cherries;
Poppa makes whisky and gin;
Sister sells wine from the grapes on our vine ─
My gosh, how the money rolls in!
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, "Cajuns and Other Characters," is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.