A state supreme court ruling that the Louisiana legislature acted within its authority to eliminate the office of New Orleans Clerk of Criminal Court isn't the final say on the matter.
Calvin Duncan, the man elected to the job prior to the law's taking effect, still has a case pending in federal court.
The problem for Duncan is that in these kinds of cases, federal courts take their cues from state rulings.
"That really makes Mr. Duncan's federal case all the more unlikely to succeed," said Loyola law professor Dane Ciolino. "Federal litigants have only gotten traction when states have violated their own procedures in order to deprive their voters of the ability to cast ballots for a public official."
The professor says even with a narrow majority ruling from the Louisiana Supreme Court, it likely dooms Duncan's case.
