Three Orleans Parish Criminal Court judgeships will be eliminated at the end of 2026.
In a 4-3 decision. The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the legislature legally and properly passed the law reducing the criminal bench's size from 12 elected judges to nine.
Judge John Fuller, whose seat on the court is one of the three that will be eliminated, argued that the legislature unconstitutionally approved the bill because the bill passed in both houses of the Louisiana Legislature by a simple majority, not the two-thirds majority required by the Louisiana Constitution. However, in the unsigned majority opinion, the justices in the majority ruled that the Louisiana Constitution carves out an exception to that provision for Orleans Parish via a "notwithstanding" clause, which they contend allows the legislature to change the makeup of New Orleans's courts by a simple majority vote.
"The text of our Constitution continued the Orleans Parish civil and criminal district courts 'subject to change by law,' made that legislative authority controlling 'notwithstanding any other contrary provision of this constitution,'" the majority opinion states. "That was what was placed before the people of Louisiana and adopted by them; therefore, the people of Louisiana exclusively vested the decisions concerning these courts to the legislative majority they elect to represent them."
Chief Justice John Weimer was among the three judges who dissented. He cited records from the 1973 Constitutional Convention that showed the framers of the current constitution voted to keep the Orleans Parish protected by the two-thirds vote requirement as "evidenced by the absence of a clear exemption from a supermajority vote with respect to Orleans Parish judges in the constitution."
" . . . (T)he Louisiana Constitution clearly states that '(t)he Legislature may change the number of judges in any judicial district by law enacted
by two-thirds of the elected members of each house,'" Weimer wrote. "Unlike the majority, I find this provision necessarily applies to courts in Orleans Parish, making Act 748—which eliminated three judge seats in Orleans Criminal District Court by fewer than two-thirds of the elected members—unconstitutional. Thus, I must respectfully dissent."
Weimer also pointed out how politics may have played a role in how the majority decided and in the Landry Administration's and legislature's desire to reshape the New Orleans court system.
"Judges are called on daily to make challenging decisions based on the law or on the Constitution," Weimer wrote. "Occasionally, applying the law as written can be unpopular; but partisanship, personalities, or popularity should not affect the judge’s decision. Unfortunately, judges are all too often faced with undue criticism for applying the law as written—not only from citizens, but from the government as well. One of the grievances against King George III that led to the founding of our nation over 250 years ago was that judges were adversely affected by the shifting winds of politics.
"This grievance is reflected in the Declaration of Independence: 'He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for
establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.' Today, the Louisiana Constitution contains that protection of judges in Article V, (Section) 15(D)."
