New districts for Louisiana Supreme Court justices die without a Senate vote
29th January 2024 · 0 Comments
By Greg LaRose
Contributing Writer
(lailluminator.com) — A contentious, behind-the-scenes battle between the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court and five of his six colleagues ended in a stalemate on Friday, January 19, when the state legislature adjourned a special session without voting on a plan to redraw their election districts.
All seven justices supported the addition of a second majority-Black district to the court’s roster. Associate Justices William Crane, James Genovese, Piper Griffin, Jefferson Hughes and Jay McCallum submitted a redistricting proposal that House Speaker Pro Temp Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, put into a bill. It advanced through the House and gained Senate committee approval Thursday, but Speaker President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, did not bring it up for a vote before ending the session.
“A lot of members had concerns about the Supreme Court, and we didn’t really have the time necessary to dedicate it – and I definitely did not,” Henry said in an interview. “Our goal was the congressional map, which the governor (said) was a priority of his as well as the closed primary, which was a priority of his.”
The Republican-majority legislature heeded Gov. Jeff Landry’s advice to add a second majority-Black district to Louisiana’s U.S. House delegation. It’s seen as a concession to a federal judge who had given lawmakers until the end of the month to replace a map approved in 2022 that has only one majority-Black district. Black voters have sued to block the first map from taking effect.
Landry also wanted to move the state toward party-only closed primaries for Democrats and Republicans in time for this fall’s congressional races, but the bill legislators approved delays its implementation until 2026. It also limits closed primaries to races for Congress, the state school board and Public Service Commission. Lawmakers also amended the proposal to allow unaffiliated voters participate in the party primaries.
The Louisiana Supreme Court’s district lines have only been updated once over the past 103 years, most recently in 1997 using what’s now 34-year-old Census data. The legislature isn’t required by law to redistrict the Louisiana Supreme Court every 10 years as it is other state and legislative election boundaries.
Henry said factors that kept the proposed court districts from moving forward were the bill’s last-minute arrival and the hard freeze earlier this week that kept the public from taking part in legislative hearings.
“This way, we have the opportunity to go back and look at it again,” the Senate president said. “We can look at it again in the criminal justice system session if we want or the regular session.”
Landry will call the legislature together for another special session, devoted to crime and public safety, starting Feb. 19. It’s length has not been officially determined. The regular three-month legislative session begins March 11.
Chief Justice John Weimer opposed the map his colleagues drew because it radically altered his district. Although he cannot run again when his term ends in 2031, he objected to having his hometown of Thibodaux moved from his bayou region district to one anchored in Acadiana, the governor’s stronghold.
Landry and Weimer clashed two years ago when, as attorney general, Landry asked a court to pause an election in the chief justice’s district. The maneuver was part of a “consent agreement” between Landry and the NAACP, which in 2019 filed a federal lawsuit to force the redistricting of state Supreme Court seats. As attorney general, Landry would normally have defended the existing districts.
Along with Weimer, Associate Justice Scott Crichton opposed Johnson’s redistricting plan. The new version “obliterates” his district along Louisiana’s western border, he has said, and turns it into the second majority-Black district, one that stretches from Monroe to Baton Rouge along the Mississippi River.
Griffin holds the existing majority-Black district, which is based predominantly in New Orleans.
Crain testified at Thursday’s meeting of the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee for a hearing on the redistricting bill. Committee member Sen. Greg Miller, R-Norco, asked the associate justice if it would be fair to conclude Weimer did not have a hand in creating the proposed map.
“He was involved as we were all involved,” Crain said, adding that justices did not “conference” together to work on the legislation.
In a Dec. 30 letter to the then-incoming governor, attorney general and legislative leaders, Weimer said he didn’t see his colleagues’ map until the day after Christmas, when they asked him to sign off on it. They submitted it the following day, with just five signatures, to the same officials.
In an interview, Johnson said he discussed issues lawmakers from the bayou region had with changes to Weimer’s district in his bill and was prepared to amend it on the Senate floor on the last day of the Special Session.
“I’m very disappointed we didn’t get a chance to address it,” Johnson said. “I felt like it was important enough to stay as long as we needed to, but I didn’t have any opportunity.”
With those amendments-in-waiting, Johnson said he has a good “starting point” to revisit state Supreme Court redistricting in next month’s special session or the regular session. He hasn’t discussed those options with Crain, and it would be up to Landry to include it in his agenda for the next special session, he said.
Johnson said Crichton’s district remains prime for reconfiguration into a second majority-Black seat because it will be open once Crichton’s term ends Dec. 31. The other districts were drawn to protect three of the incumbent justices who can run for re-election, which is an element that can be used in redistricting.
The other two justices, including Crain, will reach 70 years old before their term ends and state law doesn’t allow them to run again.
Piper Hutchinson contributed to this report.
This article originally published in the January 29, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
