Newell: Are the code enforcement sweeps in the French Quarter an attack on the poor?

Is it an undue hardship to follow the same rules everyone else has to follow?

That’s the question WWL’s Newell Normand posed on his Wednesday show as he offered a rebuttal to a recent news column calling French Quarter code enforcements by police an attack on poor people.

“You have a rule,” Normand said. “You have laws, and those laws are the desires of the residents living within whatever those geographic, geopolitical boundaries are. And they’re based on customs, right?”

Normand said that while no one wants laws that are too intrusive, you can’t have a society without order.

“New Orleans has not only tolerated but openly embraced the notion of the gray market, in which hardworking micro-businesses and those on the fringes of the broader system were able to find space to earn a living without the interference of government,” he continued. “It’s actually something that most people would like is to be able to live their life with the least amount of interference of government as possible. Unfortunately, if there’s none, there’s anarchy. You’re going to always have winners and losers.”

He cited a number of different programs available for those looking for a hand up in society as a better way of helping those less fortunate than simply letting them slide on laws they may be breaking.

“So when we talk about this alleged disproportionate way of enforcement we need to talk about all of those other programs,” he said.

You can hear the full segment by clicking the link above.