Sherman A. Bernard

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Sherman Albert Bernard Sr.
Bernard in his later years
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner
In office
1972–1988
GovernorEdwin Edwards
Dave Treen
Preceded byDudley A. Guglielmo
Succeeded byDouglas D. "Doug" Green
Personal details
Born(1925-06-10)June 10, 1925
Schriever, Louisiana, US
DiedMay 11, 2012(2012-05-11) (aged 86)
Marrero, Louisiana, US
Resting placeGarden of Memories in Marrero
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseJulia Speranza Bernard (deceased)
Children6
Residence(s)Marrero, Jefferson Parish
OccupationBusinessman
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Marine Corps
Battles/warsWorld War II

Sherman Albert Bernard Sr. (June 10, 1925 – May 11, 2012) was an American businessman from Jefferson Parish in the New Orleans suburbs, who served from 1972 to 1988 as the Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance. He is mainly remembered for having served twenty-six months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to extortion in federal court in connection with his job duties.[1][2]

Background

Bernard was born in Schriever in Terrebonne Parish in south Louisiana, and graduated from Terrebonne High School in Houma in Terrebonne Parish. He served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. Early in his career he was an officer of the Louisiana State Police. At the time he entered the race for state insurance commissioner, Bernard was in the house moving, trucking, and construction business in Westwego on the West Bank of the Mississippi River in Jefferson Parish.[3]

State politics

In 1968, Bernard was elected to the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee.

David C. Treen, then of Jefferson Parish[5]

In 1974, Bernard challenged

Public Broadcasting Service chef and humorist Justin Wilson.[10] Bernard polled 627,247 votes (50.3 percent) to Williamson's 618,952 (49.7 percent).[11]

In 1983, Bernard was forced for his final term as insurance commissioner into a general election, popularly called the runoff in Louisiana, with the Republican candidate, Dave Brennan, an insurance executive.[citation needed] In the primary, Bernard led with 652,060 votes (46.7 percent); Brennan trailed with 362,147 (26 percent).[12] Bernard won his fourth and final term as commissioner in the general election, having polled 553,230 votes (54.9 percent) to Brennan's 453,793 (46.1 percent). Turnout dipped sharply in the second race because there was no gubernatorial contest at the top of the ticket, as[13] Edwin Edwards had unseated David Treen in the primary.

In the September 27, 1986, primary for the U.S. Senate seat finally vacated by Russell Long, Bernard finished in fourth place with 52,075 votes (4.4 percent), three more than the fifth-place candidate, fellow Democrat J. E. Jumonville, Jr.[14] Victory for the seat ultimately went to another Democrat, U.S. Representative John Breaux of Crowley of Louisiana's 7th congressional district, who defeated the Republican choice, U.S. Representative Henson Moore of Baton Rouge of Louisiana's 6th congressional district.

Bernard was ousted from office in the 1987 nonpartisan blanket primary by fellow Democrat Douglas D. "Doug" Green of Baton Rouge, 773,026 (55.3 percent) to 456,539 (32.6 percent).[15]

Although Green had run on a platform to clean up irregularities in the department – he even called himself "Mr. Clean" – Green was subsequently implicated in the Champion insurance scandal and was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, a far longer period than Bernard would later serve. Champion was found to have made more than $2 million in campaign contributions to Green in exchange for regulatory favors.[3]

Arrest and Trial

Bernard was the first of three successive insurance commissioners to be convicted and serve time in federal prison for unrelated crimes (preceding Doug Green and James H. "Jim" Brown). He confessed in 1993 to having extorted $80,000 during the 1980s; the money was disguised as campaign contributions from insurance companies in return for obtaining operating licenses in Louisiana.[3] State Representative Harry Hollins of Calcasieu Parish led a legislative committee in 1978 which began investigating Bernard.[16]

He pleaded guilty to one count of extortion and was later sentenced to twenty-six months in federal prison which he served at FPC Montgomery in Montgomery, Alabama.[3]

Bernard recalled that he had a view of the Alabama State Capitol from the prison bus that took him daily to his job changing light bulbs and sweeping a large auditorium.[17] He was released on September 20, 1996.[18]

Comeback

In 1991, Bernard tried to return to the insurance commissioner's office, but he finished the primary with just under 19 percent of the vote.[19]

Victory instead went to

Louisiana Secretary of State who was earlier a state senator from Ferriday in Concordia Parish in eastern Louisiana. Green did not seek reelection in 1991.[20] After his reelection to a third term in 1999, Brown was forced in 2003 to resign the office and was sentenced to six months in the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale, Louisiana, for lying to an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a charge that Brown repeatedly repudiated in his book Justice Denied but one which ruined his political career. The Oakdale facility is where former governor Edwin Edwards spent the latter portion of his own prison sentence for racketeering.[3]

Death

The

Roman Catholic[citation needed] Bernard died in his sleep at the age of eighty-six at his home in Marrero, also in Jefferson Parish. Bernard and his wife, the late Julia Speranza Bernard, had six children: Sherman Bernard, Jr., and wife, Denise, Dale Bernard, the late Dennis Bernard, Linda Bernard Zimmerman and husband, Harry, Deana Benard, and Victor Bernard and wife, Scarlet. Bernard is interred at Garden of Memories in Marrero.[3][21]

References

  1. ^ "Jim Bradshaw, "Louisiana's seen several jailed state officials", October 2002". capitolwatch.reallouisiana.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  2. ^ "Rick Jervis, "Insurance chief up against Louisiana's past", March 30, 2008". usatoday30.usatoday.com. March 30, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Dominic Massa, "Ex-insurance commissioner Sherman Bernard dies at 87," May 11, 2012". WWL-TV. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  4. ^ "Sherman A. Bernard, p. 23" (PDF). parlouisiana.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 11, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
  5. ^ Louisiana Secretary of State, General election returns, February 1, 1972
  6. ^ Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, October 26, 1974, p. 2962
  7. ^ Louisiana Secretary of State, Primary election returns, November 1, 1975
  8. ^ Shreveport Journal, October 11, 1979, p. 9D
  9. ^ Louisiana Secretary of State, Primary election returns, October 27, 1979
  10. ^ "The Williamsons of Caddo Parish: A Political 'Mini-Dynasty'", North Louisiana History, Winter 2008, p. 38
  11. ^ Louisiana Secretary of State, General election returns, December 8, 1979
  12. ^ "Louisiana primary election returns, October 22, 1983". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  13. ^ "Louisiana general election returns, November 19, 1983". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  14. Louisiana Secretary of State
    . Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  15. ^ "Louisiana primary election returns, October 24, 1987". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  16. ^ "Guide to Harry Hollins Papers" (PDF). ereserves.mcneese.edu. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  17. ^ "Rate Post (Prison)". bbvforums.org. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  18. ^ "Inmate Locator". bop.gov. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  19. ^ "Louisiana primary election returns, October 19, 1991". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  20. ^ "Louisiana general election returns, November 16, 1991". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  21. ^ "In Memory of Sherman Bernard Sr". obits.dignitymemorial.com. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
Preceded by Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance

Sherman Albert Bernard Sr.
1972–1988

Succeeded by