Changes

|death_cause=

|death_cause=

|resting_place=St. Joseph Cemetery in Shreveport

|resting_place=St. Joseph Cemetery in Shreveport

|religion=[[Roman Catholicc]]

|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]

|occupation=[[Civil engineer]]<br>

|occupation=[[Civil engineer]]<br>

[[United States Army]] in [[World War I]]

[[United States Army]] in [[World War I]]

|residence=Shreveport, Louisiana

|residence=Shreveport, Louisiana

|party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]

|party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]

|alma_mater=[[Valparaiso University]]

|alma_mater=Valparaiso University

}}

}}

'''Henry Lane Mitchell,''' known as '''H. Lane Mitchell''' (August 17, 1895 &ndash; November 8, 1978), was a [[Civil engineering|civil engineer]] who served from 1934 to 1968 as the elected citywide public works commissioner in his adopted city of [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]. Hailed during his tenure as a popular success, his life after retirement was marred by legal troubles which led to his [[imprisonment]] upon conviction of [[theft]] of multiple city properties under his domain.

'''Henry Lane Mitchell,''' known as '''H. Lane Mitchell''' (August 17, 1895 &ndash; November 8, 1978), was a [[Civil engineering|civil engineer]] who served from 1934 to 1968 as the elected citywide public works commissioner in his adopted city of [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]. Hailed during his tenure as a popular success, his life after retirement was marred by legal troubles which led to his [[imprisonment]] upon conviction of [[theft]] of multiple city properties under his domain.

The [[African American]] [[civil rights]] interest group known as Blacks United for Lasting Leadership, Inc., filed a [[class action]] lawsuit against the City of Shreveport to force an end to the commission form of government. In 1974, blacks constituted 32 percent of the Shreveport population, but no African American had served on the city council, which since 1910 had consisted of four commissioners and the mayor. By the time of the 2010 U.S. census, forty years later, Shreveport was nearly 55 percent black in population.<ref>2010 General profile of housing and population characteristics for Shreveport from the U.S. Census</ref> BULL alleged that the inherent at-large feature of the commission government operated unconstitutionally to dilute the votes of blacks. The U.S. district court agreed and declared the commission government unconstitutional under the [[14th Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]]. The decision was affirmed in March 1978 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in [[New Orleans]], by which time Mitchell had been out of office for nearly a decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://openjurist.org/571/f2d/248/blacks-united-for-lasting-leadership-inc-v-city-of-shreveport|title=Blacks United for Lasting Leadership, Inc., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, vs. the City of Shreveport, Defendants-Appellants|date=March 29, 1978|publisher=openjurist.org|accessdate=June 19, 2014}}</ref>

The [[African American]] [[civil rights]] interest group known as Blacks United for Lasting Leadership, Inc., filed a [[class action]] lawsuit against the City of Shreveport to force an end to the commission form of government. In 1974, blacks constituted 32 percent of the Shreveport population, but no African American had served on the city council, which since 1910 had consisted of four commissioners and the mayor. By the time of the 2010 U.S. census, forty years later, Shreveport was nearly 55 percent black in population.<ref>2010 General profile of housing and population characteristics for Shreveport from the U.S. Census</ref> BULL alleged that the inherent at-large feature of the commission government operated unconstitutionally to dilute the votes of blacks. The U.S. district court agreed and declared the commission government unconstitutional under the [[14th Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]]. The decision was affirmed in March 1978 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in [[New Orleans]], by which time Mitchell had been out of office for nearly a decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://openjurist.org/571/f2d/248/blacks-united-for-lasting-leadership-inc-v-city-of-shreveport|title=Blacks United for Lasting Leadership, Inc., et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, vs. the City of Shreveport, Defendants-Appellants|date=March 29, 1978|publisher=openjurist.org|accessdate=June 19, 2014}}</ref>

Shreveport hence was compelled to switch to the mayor-council form of government with the fast-approaching 1978 elections, when Public Works Commissioner Donald Edgar Hathaway, Sr., ran a strong but losing race for the revised position of mayor to an automobile dealer, William Thomas "Bill" Hanna, who made issue that he was an "outsider" to the troubles that had befallen City Hall during the preceding term of office.<ref>James C. Gardner, ''Jim Gardner and Shreveport,'' Vol. II, (Shreveport: Ritz Publications, 2006), pp. 224–225.</ref>

Shreveport hence was compelled to switch to the mayor-council form of government with the fast-approaching 1978 elections, when Public Works Commissioner Donald Edgar Hathaway, Sr., ran a strong but losing race for the revised position of mayor to a wealthy automobile dealer, William Thomas "Bill" Hanna, Jr. (1930-2016), who made issue that he was an "outsider" to the troubles that had befallen City Hall during the preceding term of office.<ref>James C. Gardner, ''Jim Gardner and Shreveport,'' Vol. II, (Shreveport: Ritz Publications, 2006), pp. 224–225.</ref>

==Postlude==

==Postlude==

Three months after he left office, Mitchell was [[Indictment|indicted]] and convicted of four counts of theft of Shreveport city property. His appeal in 1971 [was rejected in state court despite representation by high-profile attorneys Whitfield Jack and James Edwin Bolin, Jr., of Shreveport. State Attorney General Jack P. F. Gremillion, who subsequently had his own legal problems with the U.S. government, represented the state in Mitchell's appeal.<ref name=leagle/>

Three months after he left office, Mitchell was [[Indictment|indicted]] and convicted of four counts of theft of Shreveport city property. His appeal in 1971 [was rejected in state court despite representation by high-profile attorneys George Whitfield Jack, Jr. (1906-1989) and James Edwin Bolin, Jr. (1914-2002), of Shreveport. State Attorney General Jack Paul Faustin Gremillion, Sr. (1914-2001), who subsequently had his own legal problems with the U.S. government, represented the state in Mitchell's appeal.<ref name=leagle/>

The theft convictions, all with the complicity of municipal garage superintentendent Anthony J. Lucero, Jr.,<ref name=leagle/> included:

The theft convictions, all with the complicity of municipal garage superintentendent Anthony J. Lucero, Jr.,<ref name=leagle/> included: