Louisiana Supreme Court

Louisiana Supreme Court
Court Information
Justices: 7
Founded: 1813
Location: New Orleans
Salary
Associates: $193,227[1]
Judicial Selection
Method: Partisan election
Term: 10 years
Active justices
James Genovese Jay B. McCallum Jefferson Hughes John L. Weimer Piper Griffin Scott Crichton William J. Crain

Founded in 1813, the Louisiana Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is John L. Weimer.

As of September 2021, there were five Republican and two Democratic judges on the court.

The Louisiana Supreme Court meets in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[2]

In Louisiana, state supreme court justices are elected in partisan elections. There are eight states that use this selection method. To read more about the partisan election of judges, click here.

Jurisdiction[edit]

The court, which has its judicial roots in the 18th century French and Spanish governments of Louisiana, has discretionary jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. Prior to 1980, criminal appellate jurisdiction was within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, however, with a constitutional amendment that became effective on July 1, 1982, this jurisdiction was transferred to the courts of appeal. The only exception to this is in cases where the death penalty has been imposed.^[3]

Justices[edit]

The table below lists the current judges of the Louisiana Supreme Court, their political party, and when they assumed office.

Judicial selection[edit]

See also: Judicial selection in Louisiana

The seven justices on the Louisiana Supreme Court are selected through partisan elections. Justices are elected to 10-year terms, and must face re-election if they wish to serve again.^[4]

Unlike most states, supreme court justices in Louisiana are elected to represent specific districts. The seven justices are divided evenly among seven supreme court districts (not to be confused with the 42 divisions of the district courts) and are voted into office by the residents of their respective regions.^[5] Only the states of Illinois, Kentucky, and Mississippi use a similar system.

Qualifications[edit]

To serve on this court, a judge must be:

• licensed to practice law in the state for at least ten years;
• a resident of the district representing for at least one year;
• under the age of 70 at the time of election (judges who turn 70 in office may serve until their term expires)^[4][6]

Chief justice[edit]

The chief justice is the justice on the court with the most seniority. When he or she retires, the justice with the next most seniority becomes chief justice.^[4]

Vacancies[edit]

See also: How vacancies are filled in state supreme courts

Per Article V of the Louisiana Constitution, midterm vacancies are to be temporarily filled by the remaining members of the supreme court. Within one year of the opening, a special election (called by the governor, preferably on the date of a preexisting gubernatorial or congressional election) is to be held. If the supreme court has appointed a successor, that appointee may not run for the seat in the special election.^[4][7] The justice elected at the special election will serve the remainder of the unexpired term.^[8][9]

The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.

Elections[edit]

See also: Louisiana Supreme Court elections

2024[edit]

See also: Louisiana Supreme Court elections, 2024

The term of one Louisiana Supreme Court justice will expire on December 31, 2024. The one seat is up for partisan election on December 7, 2024. The primary is November 5, 2024. The filing deadline was July 19, 2024.

Judges with expiring terms[edit]

This is a list of the justices who must stand for partisan election in 2024 in order to remain on the bench. Justices may choose not to stand for election. The list is subject to change if justices retire or are appointed.

■ Scott Crichton

Candidates and results[edit]

Note: The following list of candidates is unofficial. The filing deadline for this election has passed, and Ballotpedia is working to update this page with the official candidate list. This note will be removed once the official candidate list has been added.

2nd District[edit]

Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. John Guidry (D) won the election without appearing on the ballot.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Marcus Hunter (D)
• Leslie Chambers (D)

2022[edit]

See also: Louisiana Supreme Court elections, 2022

The term of one Louisiana Supreme Court justice expired on December 31, 2022. The one seat was scheduled to be up for partisan primary election on November 8, 2022. The election was not necessary after only one candidate filed for the race. A general election was scheduled for December 10, 2022.

Candidates and election results[edit]

Weimer's seat[edit]

Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. John L. Weimer (Independent) won the election without appearing on the ballot.

2020[edit]

See also: Louisiana Supreme Court elections, 2020

The term of one Louisiana Supreme Court justice expired on December 31, 2020. A special election also took place to replace Justice Marcus Clark (R) who retired June 30, 2020. The two seats were up for partisan election on December 5, 2020. A primary was scheduled for November 3, 2020.^[10]

Candidates and election results[edit]

District 4: Clark vacancy[edit]

Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

Nonpartisan primary election

Special nonpartisan primary for Louisiana Supreme Court 4th District

Jay B. McCallum won election outright against Shannon J. Gremillion in the special primary for Louisiana Supreme Court 4th District on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jay B. McCallum (R)	56.7	122,458
		Shannon J. Gremillion (R)	43.3	93,569

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 216,027
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

District 7: Johnson vacancy[edit]

Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

General election

The general election was canceled. Piper Griffin won election in the general election for Louisiana Supreme Court 7th District.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Terri Love (D)

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Louisiana Supreme Court 7th District

Piper Griffin and Terri Love defeated Sandra Cabrina Jenkins in the primary for Louisiana Supreme Court 7th District on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Piper Griffin (D)	43.9	78,603
✔		Terri Love (D)	31.5	56,387
		Sandra Cabrina Jenkins (D)	24.6	43,949

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 178,939
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Justices not on the ballot[edit]

• Marcus Clark (R)^[11]

• Bernette Johnson (D)

2019[edit]

See also: Louisiana Supreme Court special elections, 2019

The District 1 seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court was up for special election on October 12, 2019. Elections for the court are partisan. The filing deadline for interested candidates was August 8, 2019.^[12]

The seat was left vacant after Justice Greg Guidry was appointed to a spot on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. On January 17, 2019, President Donald Trump (R) nominated Guidry to a seat on this court. The U.S. Senate confirmed Guidry on June 19, 2019, by a vote of 53-46, and he received commission on June 21, 2019.^[13]

2018[edit]

See also: Louisiana Supreme Court elections, 2018

The terms of two Louisiana Supreme Court justices expired on December 31, 2018. Both stood for partisan election by voters in 2018 in order to remain on the bench. The general election took place on November 6, 2018. Greg Guidry and Jefferson Hughes won re-election.

Candidates and results[edit]

District 1: Guidry's seat[edit]

Primary candidates

• Greg Guidry  (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔

Did not make the ballot:

• Richard Ducote

District 5: Hughes' seat[edit]

Primary candidates

• Jefferson Hughes  (Incumbent) (Republican Party) ✔

2016[edit]

See also: Louisiana Supreme Court elections, 2016

Candidates[edit]

Election results[edit]

November 8 primary election[edit]

Louisiana Supreme Court 2016, Third District, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	James Genovese	50.91%	133,389
	Republican	Marilyn Castle	49.09%	128,598
Total Votes (538 of 538 reporting: 100%)				261,987
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State Official Results

Louisiana Supreme Court 2016, Fourth District, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	Marcus Clark Incumbent (unopposed)
Source: Louisiana Secretary of State Official Results

• Election history, 2008-2014 (click to expand)

  2014[edit]

  See also: Louisiana judicial elections, 2014

  Scott Crichton ran for election to the 2nd District of the Louisiana Supreme Court. As an unopposed candidate, he was automatically elected without appearing on the ballot.

  2012[edit]

  See also: Louisiana judicial elections, 2012

  Candidate	Incumbency	Party	Place	Primary Vote	Election Vote
  HughesJefferson Hughes   A	No	Republican	Fifth District	21.2%A	52.8%   A
  SanfordJeffry L. Sanford	No	Libertarian	5th District	1.0%
  WelchJewel Welch	No	Republican	5th District	11.1%
  GuidryJohn Guidry	No	Democratic	2nd District	27.5%A	47.2%   A
  WeimerJohn L. Weimer   A	Yes	Democratic	Sixth District		A
  PiersonMary Olive Pierson	No	Democratic	5th District	14.8%
  KelleyTim Kelley	No	Republican	5th District	3.1%
  HigginbothamToni M. Higginbotham	No	Republican	5th District	10.8%
  MorvantWilliam Morvant	No	Republican	5th District	10.7%

  2010[edit]

  See also: Louisiana judicial elections, 2010

  Louisiana Supreme Court 2008 General election results
  Candidates		Votes	Percent
  Bernette Johnson (D)		n/a	100%

  2008[edit]

  See also: State Supreme Court elections, 2008

  Greg Guidry and James E. Kuhn ran to fill the seat left vacant by Pascal Calogero. Guidry defeated Kuhn 60% to 40%.

  Louisiana Supreme Court 2008 General election results
  Candidates		Votes	Percent
  Greg Guidry (R)		n/a	60%
  James E. Kuhn (R)		n/a	40%

  Incumbent Catherine Kimball defeated challenger Jefferson Hughes to retain her seat.

  Louisiana Supreme Court 2008 General election results
  Candidates		Votes	Percent
  Catherine Kimball (D)		n/a	65%
  Jefferson Hughes (R)		n/a	35%

Caseloads[edit]

The table below details the number of cases filed with the court and the number of dispositions (decisions) the court reached in each year.^[14]

*Disposition data not available for 2020

Analysis[edit]

Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters (2021)[edit]

See also: Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: Determiners and Dissenters, a study on how state supreme court justices decided the cases that came before them. Our goal was to determine which justices ruled together most often, which frequently dissented, and which courts featured the most unanimous or contentious decisions.

The study tracked the position taken by each state supreme court justice in every case they decided in 2020, then tallied the number of times the justices on the court ruled together. We identified the following types of justices:

• We considered two justices opinion partners if they frequently concurred or dissented together throughout the year.
• We considered justices a dissenting minority if they frequently opposed decisions together as a -1 minority.
• We considered a group of justices a determining majority if they frequently determined cases by a +1 majority throughout the year.
• We considered a justice a lone dissenter if he or she frequently dissented alone in cases throughout the year.

Summary of cases decided in 2020[edit]

• Number of justices: 7
• Number of cases: 47
• Percentage of cases with a unanimous ruling: 68.1% (32)
• Justice most often writing the majority opinion: Justice Crichton (5)
• Per curiam decisions: 24
• Concurring opinions: 18
• Justice with most concurring opinions: Justice Weimer (9)
• Dissenting opinions: 30
• Justice with most dissenting opinions: Justice Johnson (7)

For the study's full set of findings in Louisiana, click here.

Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)[edit]

See also: Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship

Last updated: June 15, 2020

In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.

The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation, based on a variety of factors. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on the political or ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. To arrive at confidence scores we analyzed each justice's past partisan activity by collecting data on campaign finance, past political positions, party registration history, as well as other factors. The five categories of Confidence Scores were:

• Strong Democrat
• Mild Democrat
• Indeterminate^[15]
• Mild Republican
• Strong Republican

We used the Confidence Scores of each justice to develop a Court Balance Score, which attempted to show the balance among justices with Democratic, Republican, and Indeterminate Confidence Scores on a court. Courts with higher positive Court Balance Scores included justices with higher Republican Confidence Scores, while courts with lower negative Court Balance Scores included justices with higher Democratic Confidence Scores. Courts closest to zero either had justices with conflicting partisanship or justices with Indeterminate Confidence Scores.^[16]

Louisiana had a Court Balance Score of 2.14, indicating Republican control of the court. In total, the study found that there were 15 states with Democrat-controlled courts, 27 states with Republican-controlled courts, and eight states with Split courts. The map below shows the court balance score of each state.

Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)[edit]

See also: Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores of state supreme court justices, 2012

In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan outlook of state supreme court justices in their paper, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns." A score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology while scores below 0 were more liberal. The state Supreme Court of Louisiana was given a campaign finance score (CFscore), which was calculated for judges in October 2012. At that time, Louisiana received a score of 0.35. Based on the justices selected, Louisiana was the 13th most conservative court. The study was based on data from campaign contributions by judges themselves, the partisan leaning of contributors to the judges, or—in the absence of elections—the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice but rather an academic gauge of various factors.^[17]

Noteworthy cases[edit]

For a full list of opinions published by the court, click here. Know of a case we should cover here? Let us know by emailing us.

Ethics[edit]

The Louisiana Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Louisiana. It consists of seven canons:

• Canon 1: A judge shall uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary
• Canon 2: A judge shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities
• Canon 3: A judge shall perform the duties of office impartially and diligently
• Canon 4: Quasi-Judicial Activities: A judge may engage in quasi-judicial activities to improve the law, the legal system, and the administration of justice
• Canon 5: Extra-Judicial Activities: A judge shall regulate extra-judicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with judicial duties
• Canon 6: A judge may accept reasonable compensation and expenses for quasi-judicial and extra-judicial activities; a judge may not accept gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, favors or other things of value except under restricted circumstances; a judge must report compensation, gifts, loans, bequests, benefits, favors and other things in some circumstances
• Canon 7: A judge or judicial candidate shall refrain from inappropriate political and campaign activity^[18]

The full text of the Louisiana Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

History of the court[edit]

'The Cabildo' (circa 1900), home of the Louisiana Supreme Court from 1868-1910

Under French rule[edit]

Before 1712, only the existential rule of explorers existed--but in that year, a French charter created, and bestowed, a Superior Council with executive and judicial powers. Four years later, the court reorganized and became a court-of-last-resort for civil and criminal cases. In 1802, France would regain the Louisiana territories (after 33 years of Spanish rule), but sell them to the United States via the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

Under Spanish Rule[edit]

French rule gave way to Spanish control in 1769, when the territorial rule of the French Superior Council was replaced by the Spanish establishment of Cabildo. Cabildos consisted of executive judicial officers, falling into one of two categories: regidors or alcaldes. Even though Spain "legally possessed" Louisiana from 1769-1800, its control over the region extended until 1803.^[19] During the American Revolution, Spain reluctantly entered on the side of the Revolutionaries, but made it known that they joined the fray as an ally of France--not the United States.^[19]

Alcaldes[edit]

The alcaldes were judges who had general jurisdiction over New Orleans. They were selected by regidors. In minor cases, they were final arbiters; for appeals cases, two regidors and one alcalde would preside.

Regidors[edit]

Regidors were superior judges who appointed alcaldes. Neither elected, nor appointed, they purchased their judgeships.

As a United States entity[edit]

LA State Court Seal

W.C.C. Claiborne was the first judicial appointment by federal leadership (Claiborne had even been one of Jefferson's chosen commissioners to receive the territories within the Louisiana Purchase from the French). Claiborne replaced the Cabildo in New Orleans, and established a Court of Pleas (consisting of seven judges) in its stead. Judges on the Court of Pleas had limited civil and criminal jurisdiction, while Claiborne reserved for himself jurisdiction over more serious cases and appellate jurisdiction over the Court of Pleas.

Courts in Louisiana[edit]

See also: Courts in Louisiana

In Louisiana, there are 3 federal district courts, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

• Federal courts
• State supreme court
• State court of appeals
• Trial courts

The image below depicts the flow of cases through Louisiana's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of Louisiana's state court system.

Party control of Louisiana state government[edit]

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. A state supreme court plays a role in the checks and balances system of a state government.

Louisiana has a Republican trifecta. The Republican Party controls the office of governor and both chambers of the state legislature.

See also[edit]

Louisiana	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in Louisiana Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal Louisiana Supreme Court	Elections: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 Gubernatorial appointments Judicial selection in Louisiana	Federal courts State courts Local courts

External links[edit]

• Louisiana Supreme Court official site
• Map of Louisiana's judicial districts
• Louisiana law blog

Footnotes[edit]

v • e Louisiana Supreme Court Judicial selection in Louisiana • 2024 elections • Courts in Louisiana
Current	Chief Justice: John L. Weimer   •  James Genovese  •  Scott Crichton  •  Jefferson Hughes  •  Jay B. McCallum  •  William J. Crain  •  Piper Griffin
Former	John Fournet  •  Pascal Calogero  •  Jeffrey Victory  •  Jeannette Theriot Knoll  •  Chet Traylor  •  Bernette Johnson  •  Susan Chehardy  •  Greg Guidry  •  Catherine D. Kimball  •  Revius Ortique, Jr.  •  Marcus Clark (Louisiana)  •  Peter Beer  •  E. Joseph Bleich  •