A New Orleans judge removed from the bench after Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill to remove three of 12 criminal court judges is suing state officials.
The bill was part of a legislative package to shrink the Orleans Parish court system — the only parish with separate civil and criminal courts.
Originally, SB 217 — now Act 748 — by West Monroe Sen. Jay Morris called for the three criminal court judges with the least seniority to be cut. Section A Judge Simone Levine, Section J Judge John T. Fuller and Section I Judge Leon Roché fit the criteria, but were not named in that version of the bill.
Two days before the session ended, however, a conference committee swapped Roché for District E Judge Rhonda Goode-Douglass, while also naming District Judges A, E and J specifically. Members of the committee did not say why they made the swap, but Morris credited the governor’s office and the Orleans delegation.
The last-minute change also removed language mandating a two-thirds vote by both chambers to pass, a move that potentially goes against the Louisiana Constitution since it requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers to change the number of judges in a judicial district.
In his lawsuit, Fuller alleges neither chamber met that requirement, but the bill was passed and signed into law anyway.
SB 217 passed the House on a 62-34 vote, and the Senate on a 25-10 vote. The bill would need at least 70 votes in the House and 26 votes in the Senate to reach a two-thirds majority.
The lawsuit asks the judge to declare the law unconstitutional and block the state from enforcing it.
In a statement, Attorney General Liz Murrill — who’s named in the lawsuit — said the Constitution provides “special exemptions for Orleans Parish that permit the legislature to legislate in the ordinary manner.”
Gov. Landry, Secretary of State Nancy Landry, Orleans Parish Clerk of Court Chelsea Richard Napoleon and the state are also named in the suit.
The ACLU of Louisiana sent a letter of concern to the governor and the secretary of state. Advocacy director Sarah Whittington said Fuller’s lawsuit mirrors issues the ACLU has with SB 217. .
“ The Constitution clearly states that the legislature may change the number of judges in a judicial district, but only if that law is enacted by two-thirds of each house,” she said. “In our review, we saw that did not happen in the House ever. The House never passed it with two-thirds of a vote, and ultimately, the final vote by both the House and the Senate did not meet that two-thirds threshold for the version that was sent to Gov. Landry's office.
“So our letter is that the law never passed. It never should have been sent to the governor.”
The ACLU is not representing Fuller and is not part of the litigation. Whittington said the ACLU does not take issue with the idea of cutting judges, just with the constitutional question at hand.
“ We don't disagree that they [the legislature] can eliminate these positions, and we never took that position at the legislature in our testimony,” she said. “But we think that the law must meet the constitutional standards that are set, and unfortunately, this bill, this legislation did not.”
