We’re loath to venture into the racial politics of the battle over Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Bernette Johnson’s bid to become chief justice of the state’s high court. But how must this look to outsiders?
Reuters is reporting that lawyers for Gov. Bobby Jindal are appealing a federal court judge’s ruling that clears the way for Johnson to become chief justice.
BACKGROUND: The Louisiana Constitution’s succession plan for the state supreme court stipulates that the longest-serving associate justice takes the chief justice position when the current chief justice retires or dies. Johnson, the only black member of the court, was appointed to SCOLA in 1994 via a state racial-discrimination settlement with the feds over the high court’s all-white composition. The settlement ensured at least one member of the court would be a minority and it also expanded the court from six to seven seats. Justices serve six-year terms and Johnson’s fellow justices argue her first six years on the court, during which she was serving as an appointed justice as opposed to an elected justice, shouldn’t count toward her tenure. That would give the chief justice reins to Associate Justice Jeffrey Victory.
Retiring Chief Justice Catherine Kimball initially asked her fellow judges to file briefs arguing the issue before outside judges, but Johnson filed suit in federal court and prevailed. In response, the Jindal administration filed an appeal, arguing that the decision over interpreting the Louisiana Constitution should be left to the Louisiana Supreme Court and not to a federal judge — essentially a variation on the “states’ rights” argument, which was blasted by Johnson’s attorney, who suggests there’s a definite racial component to the effort to prevent his client from becoming chief justice: “That’s what the proponents of slavery said during the Civil War. It’s an age-old excuse,” attorney James Williams tells Reuters.
Read more here.
MAY 23 Here's a story in the Picayune about some statistics that must come as a blow to folks who believe that any private school can do a better job of educating kids than any public school: Danielle Dreilinger reports that only 30 percent of the voucher kids are passing. That's less than half of the state wide average, she says. It's an interesting statistic because most of the schools (if not all) taking voucher kids have never had their students' standardized test scores released to the public before.
MAY 23 Stephen Sabludowsky blogs on Bayou Buzz about auditor requests here. Recently the state GOP started crowing about a request from the Legislative Auditor, claiming they were being targeted because of their anti-tax stance. (Uh, your what?) Denial and hyperbole aside, the state Democratic party blew holes in that theory with an email announcing they'd received the same request, Sabludowsky writes here.
MAY 23 Jim Brown blogs about the senate race in this post. He says that, given Bobby Jindal's "lack of traction" on the national stage, it might make more sense for the governor to consider running against Mary Landrieu for the senate seat. Since Tim Teeple left the Cassidy team, it makes sense he might land on a Jindal for Senate team, Brown opines.
MAY 23 In this Louisiana Voice post, blogger Tom Aswell writes of rumors that his nemesis, state Superintendent of Education John White, may be soon departing Louisiana for a federal post. It's hard to believe, given his performance, Aswell says, but stranger things have happened. An anti-White BESE member says that, if true, White is quitting before he can be fired.
MAY 23 In this post on American Zombie, blogger Jason Berry writes about the Mother's Day shooting. Mayor Landrieu said that "this is not who we are," but the fact is, this is New Orleans, Berry writes. The violence infused in the city is the result of a culture created by "sins of omission or sins of commission," Berry writes. It's not a problem that can be solved by legislating, policing, praying or publicizing, he says: Someone's got to understand what's happening first.
MAY 23 This post in the Westside Journal tells us what Port Allen Mayor Deedy has been up to lately: vetoing ordinances, apparently. This story is most interesting, however, when it delves into a petition that has been circulating around the city lately. It accuses the former mayor of a lot of nasty things; the former mayor says it is full of lies and "broken syntax" which may be a larger offense in his eyes.
MAY 23 This editorial posted in The Advocate is a bit confusing. The writing is poor - definitely not up to the usual editorial writing standard there - and the point is hard to grasp. Apparently, the writer is saying that privatization of state efforts is OK, as long as there is oversight and transparency, but Jindal's not good at that, and the legislature shouldn't over-react. Okey Dokey. Can't they get one of them Pulitzer-winning people to write an editorial?
MAY 23 This post on The Lens gives you links to a new Google Earth tool that allows you to see any spot on earth transform over the past 30 years. Bob Marshall, who covers the coast for the paper, says that in the case of Louisiana's coastline, it's possibly something you don't want to see, because it's not a pretty picture. There are several clips here, showing critical areas erode away. For Marshall, it was vindication for all those times he was met with eye-rolling when he talked about erosion.
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