Justice cautions on appointing judges
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Critics of the judiciary should pause before assuming that appointed judges would be an improvement over Louisiana’s elected system, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Pascal F. Calogero Jr. said Tuesday.
“My experience has been that the electorate, for the most part, has made wise and deliberate choices of those who are elected to serve in the state judiciary,” Calogero told a joint session of the Legislature.
“I am also concerned that replacing an elective system with a selection or appointive system only takes away the choice from the people and places it in the hands of a few,” he said.
“It does not in any way remove the politics from the process, as some have argued,” Calogero said.
Calogero’s 25-minute address was his final State of the Judiciary speech to the Legislature after 18 years as chief justice.
He is retiring at the end of the year after 36 years on the state’s high court.
Justice Kitty Kimball of New Roads will be the new chief justice.
Calogero said that, while he was elected to the court four times, he would welcome a debate on the issue of elected or appointed judges.
Calogero also told lawmakers that, over the past two decades, judicial discipline has been a top priority of the court.
He said six judges and two justices of the peace have been removed from the bench since 2002. Suspensions and other discipline have been handed down in 31 other cases.
Calogero said that, since 2003, the state’s top court has ordered an attorney be disbarred in 104 cases, including 66 that were permanent.
He said that, while he is concerned about declining confidence in the judiciary, most of Louisiana’s judges are talented, hard working and honest.
The court last month toughened its rules on ethics issues under pressure from Gov. Bobby Jindal and legislative leaders.
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