Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Bernette Johnson?is legally entitled to?be the court's next leader, the court ruled Tuesday in a unanimous decision, ending several months of legal and political rancor. Johnson?is now set to?become the state's first black chief justice.
The ruling settles a racially charged scrum over the question of the rightful heir to the state's top judicial post, which?Chief Justice Catherine "Kitty" Kimball is vacating at the end of January.
All that remained following Tuesday's decision was a?review, by?the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, of a Sept. 1 ruling by federal District Judge Susie Morgan, who also found that Johnson has the seniority to succeed Kimball.
That review?was expected only to address whether federal courts had a right to?decide the issue. But the state late Tuesday dropped its appeal.
"As we've said all along, this was an issue for Louisiana courts to decide and we're glad this important issue was decided by the Louisiana Supreme Court. We won't be moving forward with an appeal," Kevin Tully, an attorney for the state, said in an e-mail.
(Read the decision here: Chief Justice Decision.pdf
)Johnson and Justice Jeffrey Victory had both laid claim to serving the longest on the court. Johnson has been there two months longer than Victory, but her right to assume the court's top seat was challenged by others on the bench as illegitimate.
They claimed her first six years on the court didn't count, because she was appointed to the Supreme Court after winning a seat in 1994 on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, as a result of a civil-rights consent decree that temporarily expanded the state's high court from seven to eight judges.
While technically on the 4th Circuit, Johnson was immediately assigned to the Supreme Court under the consent decree. Victory took office two months later, elected directly to the Supreme Court bench.
Johnson's backers, including Urban League president and former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial and many prominent African-American leaders, called the challenge a severe slight. The New Orleans City Council also came out in support of Johnson.
In its ruling on Tuesday, the court found that Johnson's years as an appointed judge counted, taking pains to dismiss the high-volume charges over the past several months.
"Although commentators have loudly emphasized them, factors which we do not ascribe any importance to in answering the constitutional question before us include issues of gender, geography, personality, philosophy, political affiliation, and race -- all of which have the potential to inflame passion; however, not one of those factors provides so much as a feather's weight on the scales of justice," according to the 21-page opinion.
The issue has led to racial tension that cropped up as recently as last week, with the traditional celebration of "Red Mass" to launch the start of the U.S. Supreme Court term.
Several black judges and attorneys ditched the annual event at St. Louis Cathedral for their own celebration at New Zion Baptist Church.
Morial issued a statement on the ruling Tuesday.
"I'm relieved that the matter has finally been resolved in accordance with federal law,"?he said. "I have always maintained that Justice Johnson's status has never been in question, and that any attempt to deny her was an ill-advised attempt to undermine both the consent decree which created her seat and the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court's ruling can now usher in a bright new chapter in the history of Louisiana."
U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, another Johnson supporter,?also issued a statement.?
"I am gratified that the Supreme Court confirmed what so many people, including myself, believed was self evident from the time Chief Justice Kimball announced her retirement: Justice Johnson is the longest-serving justice on the Court," Landrieu said. "She has earned the right to serve as Chief Justice and will serve the citizens of Louisiana well in her new role."
Johnson, Victory and Justice Jeannette Knoll all recused themselves from the matter.
Voting in their place were Burrell Carter, chief judge of the state 1st Circuit Court of Appeal; Henry Brown, chief judge of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal; and Ulysses Thibodeaux, chief judge of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal
The court found no distinction between "elected" and "appointed" justice in the law.
"If the constitutional framers and the electorate had desired to distinguish between elected and appointed service, then it would have been a straightforward matter to do so," the court found. "The word 'elected' could have easily been added before the word 'service.'"
Source: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/10/louisiana_supreme_court_sidest.html
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