Charles Foti

Charles Carmen Foti Jr. (born November 30, 1937) is a lawyer in New Orleans and a politician who served a single term from 2004 to 2008 as the Democratic Attorney General of the U.S. state of Louisiana, United States. Prior to becoming attorney general, Foti had been repeatedly reelected and served for thirty years as Orleans Parish criminal sheriff.

Charles Foti
43rd Louisiana Attorney General
In office January 12, 2004 – January 14, 2008
Governor	Kathleen Blanco
Preceded by	Richard Ieyoub
Succeeded by	Buddy Caldwell
Sheriff of Orleans Parish, Louisiana
In office 1974–2004
Succeeded by	Marlin N. Gusman (elected 2004)[1]
Personal details
Born	Charles Carmen Foti Jr. (1937-11-30) November 30, 1937 (age 87)
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Residence(s)	New Orleans, Louisiana
Alma mater	University of New Orleans (BA) Loyola University New Orleans (JD)
Profession	Attorney
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1955-1958
Battles/wars	Vietnam War

Foti won the attorney general's office when the incumbent Democrat, Richard Ieyoub of Lake Charles, ran unsuccessfully for governor in the 2003 primary. Foti defeated the Republican candidate, Suzanne Haik Terrell, also of New Orleans, 689,179 votes (54 percent) to 597,917 (46 percent).

Foti failed in his bid to win reelection as attorney general, having finished last in the three-way nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007. The leading candidates were the Republican lawyer, Royal Alexander of Shreveport, and the Democratic District Attorney, Buddy Caldwell, of Tallulah. Caldwell won the general election^[2] and was sworn in to replace Foti on January 14, 2008. Caldwell later switched to the Republican Party in 2011, to secure his second term.

On February 1, 2014, Foti ran again for the Orleans Parish sheriff's position; he finished second in a four-candidate field. He polled 23,676 votes (28.6 percent). Foti's fellow Democrat and successor as sheriff, Marlin N. Gusman, with 40,557 votes (48.9 percent), nearly won the position outright in the nonpartisan blanket primary.^[3] Foti and Gusman entered a runoff election on March 15,^[4] in which Gusman handily prevailed, 40,068 (66.7 percent) to Foti's 19,996 (33.3 percent).^[5]

Early life and education

Foti was born in 1937 in New Orleans. He attended public schools, graduating from Warren Easton High School in the city. He earned a Bachelor's degree at the University of New Orleans, where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.^[6] After military service and working, Foti returned to university, earning a J.D., Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 1965.

Personal

From 1955 to 1958, Foti served in the United States Army.^[7]

A long-time advocate for the elderly, during his time as criminal sheriff, Foti organized Thanksgiving meals for New Orleans senior citizens who were alone or could not afford a holiday meal. He also started a back-to-work program for seniors over the age of fifty-five. As attorney general, Foti investigated and prosecuted abuse of the elderly in Louisiana's health-care facilities.

After vacating the attorney general's office, Foti joined the New Orleans law firm Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC, where he engages in the practice of securities and consumer fraud law.^[8]

Criticism

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Foti as State AG prosecuted private citizens on behalf of the numerous elderly New Orleans residents who died in flooding, power failures, and resulting disaster. Foti reportedly claimed that some medical staff, who worked at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans during the storm, had murdered several patients.^[9] In July 2007, Dr. Pou sued Foti, accusing him of playing politics with her life and the dead from Katrina.^[10] After the police conducted a lengthy investigation, a grand jury in July 2007 declined to indict Pou. ^[11] The charges have since been expunged. In 2009, the legislature passed a bill to pay Dr. Pou's legal fees, which was signed by Governor Bobby Jindal.^[12] Several lawmakers have apologized for the accusations against Pou.^[12] The failed prosecution of Dr. Pou was an issue during Foti's unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2007.^[13]

In a related story, the owners of a nursing home near Poydras filed a civil suit against federal, state and local officials, including the Army Corps of Engineers, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, Attorney General Charles C. Foti Jr., and numerous other authorities and agencies for failing to evacuate nursing home residents during the hurricane.^[14]

Electoral history

Criminal Sheriff, Parish of Orleans, 1990

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, February 3, 1990

Candidate	Affiliation	Support	Outcome
Charles Foti	Democratic	needs more research	Elected
Henry Julien Jr.	Democratic	needs more research	Defeated

Criminal Sheriff, Parish of Orleans, 1994

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, February 5, 1994

Candidate	Affiliation	Support	Outcome
Charles Foti	Democratic	Unopposed	Elected

Criminal Sheriff, Parish of Orleans, 1998

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, February 7, 1998

Candidate	Affiliation	Support	Outcome
Charles Foti	Democratic	Unopposed	Elected

Criminal Sheriff, Parish of Orleans, 2002

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, February 2, 2002

Candidate	Affiliation	Support	Outcome
Charles Foti	Democratic	90,897 (71%)	Elected
Morris Reed	Democratic	27,378 (22%)	Defeated
Orlando Matthews	Democratic	9,014 (7%)	Defeated

Attorney General of Louisiana, 2003

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, October 4, 2003

Candidate	Affiliation	Support	Outcome
Charles Foti	Democratic	689,179 (54%)	Elected
Suzanne Haik Terrell	Republican	597,917 (46%)	Defeated

Attorney General of Louisiana, 2007

Threshold > 50%

First Ballot, October 20, 2007

Candidate	Affiliation	Support	Outcome
James "Buddy" Caldwell	Democratic	434,111 (36%)	Runoff
Royal Alexander	Republican	395,649 (32%)	Runoff
Charles Foti	Democratic	389,568 (32%)	Defeated

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References

1. "Louisiana general election returns, November 2, 2004". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
2. "Results for Election Date: 11/17/2007". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
3. "Louisiana election returns, February 1, 2014". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
4. "Jarvis DeBerry, Sheriff Marlin Gusman's re-election bid thwarted by Quentin Brown, lawn-care guy, February 3, 2014". New Orleans Times-Picayune. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
5. "Results for Election Date: 3/15/2014: Orleans Parish". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
6. "Distinguished Alumni". Tau Kappa Epsilon. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
7. "Charles Foti", Campaigns and Elections
8. Daily Business News Archived August 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
9. "Doctor accused in Katrina deaths asserts innocence". Associated Press. 2006-09-22.
10. Gwen Filosa (2007-07-16). "Foti sued by doctor accused in Memorial Hospital deaths". The Times-Picayune. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
11. "'Dark Cloud' Lifted From Pou, Attorney Says: Grand Jury Declines To Indict Doctor In Hospital Deaths". WDSU. 2007-07-24. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27.
12. "Gov. Jindal Signs Bill To Reimburse Anna Pou". Associated Press. 2009-07-01. Archived from the original on 2012-08-25.
13. Bill Barrow (2007-10-21). "Foti out as attorney general". The Times-Picayune.
14. "Care Home Owners Sue in Katrina Deaths". LA Times. 2006.

External links

• Official site

Party political offices
Preceded by Richard Ieyoub	Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Louisiana 2003	Succeeded by Buddy Caldwell
Legal offices
Preceded by Richard Ieyoub	Attorney General of Louisiana 2004–2008	Succeeded by James "Buddy" Caldwell