Council stays out of JP case

• By DEBRA LEMOINE
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Nov 10, 2009 - Page: 2B

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AMITE — The Tangipahoa Parish Council Monday night did not recommend a replacement for the Robert justice of the peace who resigned last week after receiving national attention for refusing to marry an interracial couple.

The Parish Council instead will wait for the Louisiana Supreme Court to make an appointment, Councilman Carlos Notariano said during the council’s Monday meeting. The council had announced last week it planned to appoint someone, but Notariano explained the council misunderstood and thought they had the authority to appoint.

Any public body can recommend a replacement to the justice of the peace position vacated Nov. 3 by Keith Bardwell, Supreme Court spokeswoman Valerie Willard said in a telephone interview before the meeting. People also can apply to the Supreme Court for the position, she said.

Ultimately, it is the court’s decision on who gets the seat, Willard said.

Bardwell, who is white, resigned Nov. 3 after a firestorm over his refusal to perform a marriage ceremony for an interracial couple. He represented Ward 8, in the Robert area, for 34 years.

In past interviews, Bardwell, 56, has said he has married white couples and black couples but did not marry interracial couples over concerns about the children.

Beth Humphrey, 30, who is white, and Terence McKay, 32, who is black, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in New Orleans over the Oct. 6 incident.

Another justice of the peace did perform the ceremony for the Hammond couple.

In other business, council members listened to residents’ concerns over People’s Health insurance company’s decision not to offer its Choice Plus plan for Medicare recipients.

North Oaks Regional Medical Center’s Chief Operation Officer Michelle Sutton told the council that People’s Health representatives told the hospital it was ending the Choice Plus product in Tangipahoa and Washington parishes on Jan. 1. Choice Plus will continue to be offered for residents in surrounding parishes, she said.

“The Medicare population in Tangipahoa and Washington parishes has a higher utilization of medical services than its surrounding parishes,” People’s Health Chief Executive Officer Carol Solomon wrote in a letter that Sutton gave to the council members and the media at the meeting.

One of the reasons for the heavy usage is because Tangipahoa Parish residents are sicker than their neighbors, Sutton said.

People’s Health will offer three other products for Medicare recipients, Sutton said.