Brown Tells His Story in Book

Wednesday, December 1, 2004

The Concordia Sentinel

Louisiana has had a score of public officials spend time in jail, but Jim Brown is the first and only one to write a book about his experience. Actually, Brown's recently-released book, entitled "Justice Denied," is not about the six months Brown spent in federal prison at Oakdale. It concentrates on the federal case itself.

Brown obviously got a raw deal, one which he didn't deserve. It ended his political career and cost his a cool $50,000 in fines. As he put it himself, he was caught in a drive-by shooting that was directed at Edwin Edwards, but as one observer wrote Brown was standing on a dangerous corner.

Brown's book starts with the day in September of 1999 when he was indicted on 56 counts for favoring a failed insurance company called Cascade whose owner was represented by Edwards.

This was after Edwards left office and Brown was facing reelection as the state Commissioner of Insurance.

Despite the Grand Jury indictment that came only one month prior to the election, Brown was returned to office by the voters. When the insurance case finally went to trial, the jury found Brown innocent on all the charges except one. He was sent to jail for lying to an FBI agent.

Brown takes issue with that, too, pointing out that he was never allowed to see the agent's handwritten notes. The agent got it wrong, Brown says.

Thus, "Justice Denied" was given birth while Brown spent six months locked up at Oakdale.

He was guilty by association as federal authorities tapped Edwards' telephone and taped conversations between Edwards and Brown about the Cascade case.

The outcome of the settlement regarding the insurance company was favorable to the company's policyholders in Louisiana. All of them were paid.

Later Edwards and others, including his son, were sent to prison for taking money in exchange for casino licenses. Edwards was not imprisoned in the Cascade indictments.

"Justice Denied" is a detailed account drawn from Brown's diary and notes which he made while it was going on. It provides an inside view of the insurance industry and its problems in Louisiana as well as how the justice system works in the country.

Brown took over an insurance department that was in disarray and put it on its feet before the Cascade case ever came about. He is proud of that accomplishment.

His book also contains many stories about his experiences in Louisiana politics and the relationship which he had with Edwards, going back to his first election to the Senate when he was practicing law in Ferriday.

Brown took office when Edwards first became governor. He ran against Edwards but only after Edwards indicated he wasn't running. Looking back on the days when Brown lived in Ferriday, he was a man who dreamed of going to the top in politics. His goal was the governor's office.

And, according to an account in the book, Brown came close to becoming a United States senator when in 1996 it appeared John Breaux would be appointed ambassador to France.

Breaux agreed to recommending Brown for the appointment to the Senate if then-Gov. Mike Foster would assure President Clinton that he would appoint Brown, a Democrat, to replace Breaux.

The deal was in place until Clinton backed off of the Breaux appointment to France because he was coming under fire and needed all of his friends in the Senate.

Thus, Monica Lewinsky prevented Breaux for becoming ambassador to France and Jim Brown from going to the Senate. Wonder what the feds would have done then?

Since his release, Brown has been busy writing "Justice Denied." Some 10,000 copies are now available in bookstores.

The book probably won't make the New York Times Best Seller list. But it gives Brown the opportunity to defend himself as well as providing a warning for others to heed.