The Supreme Court of Louisiana (; ) is the highest court and court of last resort in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the (; ; ), is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans () was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Square" in English), a ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. The Supreme Court, and Louisiana state law, are historically based in the colonial governments of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

during the 18th century. The current Supreme Court traces its roots back to these beginnings.

French and Spanish colonial government

Under the colonial governments of France and Spain, the courts of what is now

existed in several different forms. In 1712, a charter granted by France created a Superior Council with executive and judicial function which functioned as a court of last resort in both civil and criminal cases. In 1769,

Louisiana (New France) Louisiana or French Louisiana was a administrative divisions of France, district of New France. In 1682 the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle erected a cross near the mouth of the Mississippi River and claimed the whole ...

became

Louisiana (New Spain) Louisiana (, ), was a province of New Spain from 1762 to 1801. It was primarily located in the center of North America encompassing the western basin of the Mississippi River plus New Orleans. The area had originally been claimed and controlle ...

, and the Superior Council was replaced with the '' Cabildo''. The colonial Governor held the power of final authority in legal cases. Note that the part of today's Louisiana known as the

Florida Parishes The Florida Parishes, on the east side of the Mississippi River—an area also known as the Northshore or Northlake region—are eight parishes in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The Florida Parishes were part of what ...

, the part east of the Mississippi River excepting New Orleans, had a separate and distinct succession of colonial governments beginning in 1763.

American territorial government

In 1803, Louisiana became a territory of the United States, known as the

Territory of Orleans The Territory of Orleans or Orleans Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States, organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from October 1, 1804, until April 30, 1812, when it was Admission to ...

. In 1804,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

created a three-judge Superior Court for the territory and gave the Legislative Council the power to create other courts. In 1807, the newly-elected Legislative Council created courts in each of the territory's nineteen parishes. These courts were courts of general jurisdiction with an appeal applying to the Superior Court.

The Court under the state government of Louisiana

Constitution of 1812

In the first constitution for the state of Louisiana, one Supreme Court was created and the legislature was given the power to create inferior courts. The number of judges was fixed to be not less than three and not more than five who were to be appointed by the governor. The court was required to sit in New Orleans and Opelousas.

Constitution of 1845

The 1845 Constitution created a Supreme Court composed of one chief justice and three associate justices appointed by the governor to eight-year terms. The court sat in New Orleans.

Constitution of 1852

The 1852 Constitution increased the number of justices on the court to five, and all became elected by the people. The chief justice was elected at-large by the entire state and the associate justices were elected from four districts throughout the state. The justices served ten-year terms.

Constitution of 1864

In 1864, the justices again became appointed, and their term length was decreased to eight years.

Constitution of 1868

The 1868 Constitution did not change the makeup or terms of the Supreme Court, however, it did change and expand its jurisdiction in civil cases to include nearly all types of cases.

Constitution of 1879

The

post-Reconstruction The nadir of American race relations was the period in African-American history and the history of the United States from the end of Reconstruction era, Reconstruction in 1877 through the early 20th century, when racism in the United States, r ...

Constitution of 1879 substantially modified the organization of the Louisiana judiciary. The Constitution created the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, District Courts and Justices of the Peace. The Supreme Court retained five justices, but they were now appointed by the Governor and served twelve-year terms. For the first time, the Supreme Court was given supervisory power over the inferior courts. It also gave more limitations to the opportunity to vote by people of color.

Constitution of 1898

In 1898, the Supreme Court's jurisdiction was further expanded. The Court was given original jurisdiction over the bar. New Orleans was fixed as the seat of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice was determined by the senior justice in point of service.

Constitution of 1913

The Constitution of 1913 affected the Court by requiring that the members of the judiciary be elected instead of appointed.

Constitution of 1921

In 1921, the Court gained two seats, increasing the number of justices to seven. Due to having a large backlog in its docket, the Court was authorized to sit in panels of three. The Supreme Court was also given the power to remove lower court judges from office.

Constitution of 1974

The current Louisiana Constitution of 1974, as amended in 1980, provides for a Supreme Court composed of a Justice elected from each of seven Supreme Court Districts, serving a term of 10 years. The Chief Justice is not elected separately from the other justices (as is the case in other states, such as with the

Texas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court o ...

); under Article V, Section 6, the "judge oldest in point of service on the supreme court" (i.e., the justice with the longest tenure on the Court) serves as the Chief Justice.

Jurisdiction and appeals

The Court has original jurisdiction over matters arising from disciplinary matters involving the bench and bar pursuant to La. Constitution Article V, section 5 (B). The Court has exclusive appellate jurisdiction (i.e. all intermediate courts of appeals are bypassed) over 1) any case where a law or ordinance of this state has been declared unconstitutional, or 2) when a defendant has been convicted of a capital crime and the death penalty has actually been imposed pursuant to La. Constitution Article V, section 5 (D). In all other matters, the Court has regular appellate jurisdiction from the lower Courts of Appeals. Death penalty appeals are automatic as a matter of right. All other appellate review of lower court decisions in the state is obtained by the

writ of certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of a prerogative writ in England, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

process as provided for by Article V, Section 5 (A) of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, and Rule X of the Supreme Court Rules. The Court has general supervisory and rule making authority over all the lower state courts pursuant to La. Constitution Article V, section 5 (A). On certain questions involving the persons who serve as judges at any level under the constitution of the State of Louisiana, the Louisiana Supreme Court may entertain recommendations from the Judiciary Commission of Louisiana, a nine-member advisory body.

Districts

The Louisiana Supreme Court has seven election districts with each district electing one justice. The districts are composed as follows:

First District

* Jefferson (part) * Orleans (part) *

St. Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

St. Tammany Tamanend ("the Affable"; ), historically also known as Taminent, Tammany, Saint Tammany or King Tammany, was the Chief of Chiefs and Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Lenni-Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley signing the founding peace treaty ...

* Tangipahoa * Washington

Second District

* Allen * Beauregard * Bossier *

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...

* DeSoto * Evangeline * Natchitoches * Red River *

Sabine The Sabines (, , , ; ) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains (see Sabina) of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divided int ...

* Vernon * Webster

Third District

Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...

* Avoyelles * Calcasieu * Cameron *

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

* Lafayette * St. Landry *

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color family and pigment most often used between antiquity and the 19th century from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide). It is synonymous with red orange, which often takes a moder ...

Fourth District

* Bienville * Caldwell * Catahoula * Claiborne * Concordia * East Carroll * Franklin * Grant * Jackson * LaSalle * Lincoln * Madison * Morehouse * Ouachita * Rapides * Richland * Tensas * Union * West Carroll * Winn

Fifth District

* Ascension * East Baton Rouge * East Feliciana * Iberville * Livingston * Pointe Coupee * West Baton Rouge * West Feliciana

Sixth District

* Assumption *

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

* Jefferson (part) * Lafourche * Plaquemines * St. Bernard * St. Charles * St. James * St. John the Baptist * St. Martin *

St. Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

* Terrebonne

Seventh District

* Jefferson (part) * Orleans (part)

Current composition

Seniority of justices

The seniority of the justices on the Louisiana Supreme Court was disputed in the summer of 2012 after Chief Justice Kimball announced her retirement. Th
Louisiana Constitution, Art. 5, § 6
provides that "The judge oldest in point of service on the supreme court shall be chief justice." When Justice Bernette Johnson was elected in 1994, she technically filled a seat on a state appeals court but was assigned to serve on the Supreme Court on a full-time basis under the terms of a federal consent decree. Justice Jeffrey Victory, who was elected to the Supreme Court in 1995, contested Johnson's elevation to Chief Justice, arguing that she only became a full-fledged Supreme Court justice in 2000, when Johnson was first elected to fill a permanent seat on the Court. Justice Johnson filed a federal lawsuit in the matter on July 5, 2012. On September 1, Federal District Court Judge Susie Morgan ruled that Johnson had seniority. Governor Bobby Jindal stated that it should be left to the state to interpret its constitution, and filed an appeal a week later. He then asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the lower court's decisions. On October 16, 2012, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that Johnson would become the next Chief Justice.

Notes

External links

Louisiana Supreme Court OnlineHistorical Archives of the Supreme Court of Louisiana (from the LOUISiana Digital Library)
{{Authority control State supreme courts of the United States Louisiana state courts 1813 establishments in the United States Courts and tribunals established in 1813