Bruce Lynn
Encyclopedia
Bruce Newton Lynn, I, is a retired north Caddo Parish businessman and banker who was a Republican
member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
from 1976–1988. He is a native and resident of the village
of Gilliam
, where three generations of his family have operated the J.W. Lynn cotton
plantation
.
native, and the former Irene Bruce (1895–1982), originally from Kansas City, Kansas
. He graduated from the former Belcher High School
in 1942. He attended Texas A&M University
in College Station
and later Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge, but he did not graduate from either institution. He later completed banking school.
Lynn, a U.S. Marine, was stationed in the Pacific
theater during World War II
.
In 1949, he married the former Margaret Johnson of Doyline
in Webster Parish. They have one son, Bruce N. Lynn, II (born 1950), who operates the plantation, and a daughter, Pamela Lynn Broesamle (born 1952) of Scotts Valley
, California
, near San Jose
. The couple has five grandchildren, including a namesake grandson, Bruce N. Lynn, III, (born 1975) of Gilliam, and, as of July 2006, one great-grandchild. Lynn is Presbyterian.
With his background in cotton production, Lynn was in 1970 the president of the National Cotton Council, a trade association
based in emphis, Tennessee|Memphis, Tennessee
, and Washington, D.C.
He remains an advisor to the council board. Because he was in Washington with the cotton council late in 1980, he became a member of the transition team for President-elect Ronald W. Reagan. Lynn said the election of Reagan remains the highlight of his personal political interest.
Lynn was affiliated with the former Louisiana Bank and Trust Company in Shreveport
from 1970-1987.
nomination. Wilson was a former mayor
of the town of Vivian
, where he and Lynn had served together on the North Caddo Hospital Board. In 1975, Wilson relinquished the state House seat to run unsuccessfully for the Louisiana State Senate. He lost to his then fellow Democrat Donald Wayne "Don" Williamson
.
Lynn then narrowly won the general election
to succeed Wilson. He defeated Democrat Powell A. Layton, the principal of Northwood High School in Shreveport, by only 40 votes: 2,894 (50.3 percent) to Layton's 2,854 (49.7 percent). Lynn's House terms coincided with six other Republicans, including B.F. O'Neal, Jr., Arthur W. "Art" Sour, Jr.
, and Clark Gaudin
. Three other members, A.J. McNamara, Lane A. Carson
, and Michael F. "Mike" Thompson, had been elected as Democrats but switched their affiliations.
Thereafter, Jimmy Wilson joined the Republican Party and waged two unsuccessful campaigns for the Fourth Congressional District seat vacated in January 1979 by popular long-term Democrat Joseph David "Joe D." Waggonner, Jr.
Lynn was narrowly reelected in the 1979 general election, 51.7 percent to 48.3 percent for the late Democrat Jack Miller, a businessman from Blanchard
, also in Caddo Parish. He defeated Miller again in 1983. When Lynn declined to run in 1987, the seat went Democratic with the election of Caddo Parish Commission president Roy M. "Hoppy" Hopkins
of Oil City
, who subsequently died in office during the last year of his fifth term. Hopkins' commission seat was filled for a term by James Whitfield Williamson
, a businessman who served as the mayor of Vivian from 1972–1986 and an older brother of Don Williamson.
Lynn's House seat returned to Republican representation in the special election of 2007, when James H. "Jim" Morris
of Oil City was elected to succeed Hopkins.
and Corrections from 1988–1992, under appointment from then Governor Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer, III
.
In his capacity as corrections secretary, Lynn was sued by an inmate who claimed invasion of privacy during a body search carried out on all convicts in the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. Under orders from Lynn, David Keith Elliott submitted to a visual body cavity search. The searches were conducted in the general presence of other inmates, guards, and three bystanders. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana granted Lynn's motion for summary judgment
and dismissed Elliott's suit.
Elliott then filed before the New Orleans-based U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case entitled Elliott v. Lynn. Elliott claimed that the search violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution
.
The three-judge appeals court panel held that, while the Constitution protects against "unreasonable search and seizure," Elliott was not deprived of a "state created liberty interest without due process of law." Elliott had also claimed that Lynn was not entitled to the protection provided by qualified immunity.
The court found that during the period "preceding June 9, 1989, an extraordinary number of murders, suicides, stabbings, and cuttings occurred within the Louisiana State Penitentiary. These circumstances created an emergency situation, and the defendant Lynn ordered an institution-wide shakedown … All 3,164 prisoners, including Elliott, were subjected to a visual body cavity search over a period of two and one-half days. To facilitate this massive search effort, Lynn brought in additional correctional officers." The court hence found in Lynn's favor.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
from 1976–1988. He is a native and resident of the village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Gilliam
Gilliam, Louisiana
Gilliam is a village in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 178 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, where three generations of his family have operated the J.W. Lynn cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
.
Early years, education, military, family
Lynn was born to J.W. Lynn, an ArkansasArkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
native, and the former Irene Bruce (1895–1982), originally from Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...
. He graduated from the former Belcher High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in 1942. He attended Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
in College Station
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...
and later Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge, but he did not graduate from either institution. He later completed banking school.
Lynn, a U.S. Marine, was stationed in the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
theater during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
In 1949, he married the former Margaret Johnson of Doyline
Doyline, Louisiana
Doyline is a village in southwestern Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 841 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area....
in Webster Parish. They have one son, Bruce N. Lynn, II (born 1950), who operates the plantation, and a daughter, Pamela Lynn Broesamle (born 1952) of Scotts Valley
Scotts Valley, California
Scotts Valley is a small city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, about thirty miles south of downtown San Jose and six miles north of Monterey Bay, in the upland slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,580...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, near San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. The couple has five grandchildren, including a namesake grandson, Bruce N. Lynn, III, (born 1975) of Gilliam, and, as of July 2006, one great-grandchild. Lynn is Presbyterian.
With his background in cotton production, Lynn was in 1970 the president of the National Cotton Council, a trade association
Trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
based in emphis, Tennessee|Memphis, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He remains an advisor to the council board. Because he was in Washington with the cotton council late in 1980, he became a member of the transition team for President-elect Ronald W. Reagan. Lynn said the election of Reagan remains the highlight of his personal political interest.
Lynn was affiliated with the former Louisiana Bank and Trust Company in Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
from 1970-1987.
His legislative elections
Lynn first filed to run as a Republican for the District 1 seat (parts of Caddo and Bossier parishes) in the state legislature in 1971, but he withdrew after James H. "Jimmy" Wilson (1931–1986) won the DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nomination. Wilson was a former mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of the town of Vivian
Vivian, Louisiana
Vivian, is a town in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States and is home to the Red Bud Festival. The population was 4,031 at the 2000 census...
, where he and Lynn had served together on the North Caddo Hospital Board. In 1975, Wilson relinquished the state House seat to run unsuccessfully for the Louisiana State Senate. He lost to his then fellow Democrat Donald Wayne "Don" Williamson
Don W. Williamson
Donald Wayne Williamson, usually known as Don Williamson , is a semiretired American businessman in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish and the largest city in north Louisiana, who served in both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature between 1968 and 1980...
.
Lynn then narrowly won the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
to succeed Wilson. He defeated Democrat Powell A. Layton, the principal of Northwood High School in Shreveport, by only 40 votes: 2,894 (50.3 percent) to Layton's 2,854 (49.7 percent). Lynn's House terms coincided with six other Republicans, including B.F. O'Neal, Jr., Arthur W. "Art" Sour, Jr.
Art Sour
Arthur William Sour, Jr., known as Art Sour , was a Shreveport businessman and a pioneer in developing a competitive Republican Party in Louisiana. A conservative, Sour served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972-1992. He was born in Shreveport to Arthur W. Sour and Adele Sour . He...
, and Clark Gaudin
Clark Gaudin
Edward Clark Gaudin is a Baton Rouge attorney who served for twenty-one years in the Louisiana House of Representatives as the first Republican member from East Baton Rouge Parish in the 20th century....
. Three other members, A.J. McNamara, Lane A. Carson
Lane Carson
Lane Anderson Carson is the head of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs in the administration of Governor Bobby Jindal. Carson is also a licensed building contractor and real estate broker, and an attorney in private practice. He resides in Covington, the seat of St. Tammany Parish...
, and Michael F. "Mike" Thompson, had been elected as Democrats but switched their affiliations.
Thereafter, Jimmy Wilson joined the Republican Party and waged two unsuccessful campaigns for the Fourth Congressional District seat vacated in January 1979 by popular long-term Democrat Joseph David "Joe D." Waggonner, Jr.
Lynn was narrowly reelected in the 1979 general election, 51.7 percent to 48.3 percent for the late Democrat Jack Miller, a businessman from Blanchard
Blanchard, Louisiana
Blanchard is a town in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,050 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Blanchard is located at ....
, also in Caddo Parish. He defeated Miller again in 1983. When Lynn declined to run in 1987, the seat went Democratic with the election of Caddo Parish Commission president Roy M. "Hoppy" Hopkins
Roy M. Hopkins
Roy McArthur Hopkins, known as Hoppy Hopkins , was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, having represented District 1 in northern Caddo Parish and two precincts in northern Bossier Parish from 1988 until his Thanksgiving Day death after a long illness of bone cancer...
of Oil City
Oil City, Louisiana
Oil City is a town in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,219 at the 2000 census. Oil City is located on Louisiana Highway 1 north of Caddo Lake...
, who subsequently died in office during the last year of his fifth term. Hopkins' commission seat was filled for a term by James Whitfield Williamson
James Whitfield Williamson
James Whitfield Williamson was a businessman and politician from north Caddo Parish in northwestern Louisiana, the scion of a prominent political family...
, a businessman who served as the mayor of Vivian from 1972–1986 and an older brother of Don Williamson.
Lynn's House seat returned to Republican representation in the special election of 2007, when James H. "Jim" Morris
Jim Morris (Louisiana politician)
James Hollis Morris, known as Jim Morris is a businessman from Oil City in northern Caddo Parish, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. His District 1 encompasses the northern portions of both Caddo and neighboring Bossier Parish...
of Oil City was elected to succeed Hopkins.
Inmate sues Secretary Lynn
After his legislative service, Lynn was the director of the Louisiana Department of Public SafetyPublic Safety
Public safety involves the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety of the general public from significant danger, injury/harm, or damage, such as crimes or disasters .-See also:* By nation...
and Corrections from 1988–1992, under appointment from then Governor Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer, III
Buddy Roemer
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...
.
In his capacity as corrections secretary, Lynn was sued by an inmate who claimed invasion of privacy during a body search carried out on all convicts in the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. Under orders from Lynn, David Keith Elliott submitted to a visual body cavity search. The searches were conducted in the general presence of other inmates, guards, and three bystanders. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana granted Lynn's motion for summary judgment
Summary judgment
In law, a summary judgment is a determination made by a court without a full trial. Such a judgment may be issued as to the merits of an entire case, or of specific issues in that case....
and dismissed Elliott's suit.
Elliott then filed before the New Orleans-based U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case entitled Elliott v. Lynn. Elliott claimed that the search violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
.
The three-judge appeals court panel held that, while the Constitution protects against "unreasonable search and seizure," Elliott was not deprived of a "state created liberty interest without due process of law." Elliott had also claimed that Lynn was not entitled to the protection provided by qualified immunity.
The court found that during the period "preceding June 9, 1989, an extraordinary number of murders, suicides, stabbings, and cuttings occurred within the Louisiana State Penitentiary. These circumstances created an emergency situation, and the defendant Lynn ordered an institution-wide shakedown … All 3,164 prisoners, including Elliott, were subjected to a visual body cavity search over a period of two and one-half days. To facilitate this massive search effort, Lynn brought in additional correctional officers." The court hence found in Lynn's favor.