NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court expressed extreme displeasure with Sen. Alan Seabaugh for leveraging his role as a state lawmaker to prolong an automobile accident lawsuit for years.
But the justices didn’t appear convinced the law allowing legislators who are attorneys, like Seabaugh, to delay court proceedings should be declared unconstitutional.
The seven-person court heard oral arguments Thursday over whether Seabaugh and Rep. Michael Melerine, partners in a Shreveport law firm, violated the rights of Caddo Parish resident Theresa Fisher.
Fisher is suing for money to cover her medical expenses after an automobile accident in 2018.
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Sen. Alan Seabaugh
Seabaugh and Melerine represent the driver who hit Fisher, Steven Harder Jr., his father Steven Harder Sr. and the father’s insurance company, Hanover Insurance Group.
Fisher’s attorneys have alleged Seabaugh and, more recently, Melerine unreasonably delayed resolution of the lawsuit, first filed in 2019, by demanding numerous extensions related to their legislative work. After five years, the case is finally expected to go to trial next month.
Seabaugh has served in the Legislature since 2011, including 12 years in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Melerine took his seat in the House in January.
Under law, state judges must postpone deadlines and court appearances for attorneys who are lawmakers if the proceedings will interfere with their legislative work.
The question before the Louisiana Supreme Court is whether those automatic extensions represent an unchecked power for lawmakers.
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Legislators who are attorneys contend it would be difficult for them to continue to serve in public office if they had to worry about their law practice and clients while in their lawmaking sessions. Twenty-nine other legislators, Democrats and Republicans who are mostly attorneys, signed a brief to the Supreme Court backing Seabaugh and Melerine in the case.
“[Fisher and her lawyers] want to throw the baby out with the bath water,” said Larry Frieman, a former lawmaker and the state’s chief deputy attorney general, who defended the law in court Thursday.
‘Disappointing’ delay
The justices made it clear they were unhappy with Seabaugh and, to a lesser extent, Melerine’s conduct in the Fisher case. Justice Jay McCallum referred to it as “disappointing” and “repugnant.” Jeannette Theriot Knoll, a former justice who has been temporarily appointed to fill the seat vacated by James Genovese, called it “egregious” and “unconscionable.”
“I don’t think you’ll find anyone that likes what’s going on here,” McCallum said.
Justice William Crain was aghast that Seabaugh had allegedly agreed to a trial court date in May 2023, a month that is the height of the regular legislative session every year. Seabaugh later backed out and asked for a legislative extension, according to Fisher’s attorneys.
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“He should never agree to a trial date during the session unless he intends to show up,” Crain told Frieman.
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The justices also appeared frustrated that Seabaugh, while in the middle of this legal dispute, authored legislation that would have saddled Fisher and her attorneys with extra legal expenses for challenging him.
Senate Bill 185 would have required attorneys who fight legislative continuances to pay the court costs and legal expenses for opposing state lawmakers. It also would have prohibited lawmakers from using the extensions for cases involving protective orders, stalking, domestic violence and sexual assault.
Lawmakers passed the legislation unanimously, but the measure didn’t become law. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry vetoed the proposal over concerns that it would give lawmakers too much authority over legal extensions. Justice Piper Griffin, a Democrat from New Orleans, agreed with Landry’s sentiment Thursday.
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“Every single legislative session, there’s an attempt to make [the legislative continuance law] more draconian,” Griffin said, later adding: “It’s causing problems.” When it comes to the Fisher lawsuit, the delays have caused so much frustration that even one of Seabaugh and Melerine’s clients in lawsuit, Steven Harder Sr., sided with Fisher’s attorneys. He is also asking the justices to limit or throw out the legislative continuance law.
Vernon Richie, a new attorney for Steven Harder Sr., said the lack of resolution to the lawsuit causes stress for his client’s family. They aren’t sure how much they will have to pay Fisher if she wins the case, and the uncertainty has put them in financial limbo for years. “They need closure,” Richie told the justices.
Frieman, who worked closely with Seabaugh as a legislator, also tried to distance himself from his former colleague while defending statute. “I really don’t want to talk about whether Sen. Seabaugh was right or wrong. I’m not here to defend him,” Frieman said at the hearing. In an unusual move, Seabaugh and Melerine did not appear in person Thursday or file a brief for the justices to review ahead of time. Instead, they asked in early August to be removed from the case altogether.
Their pending withdrawal appeared to strengthen Frieman’s push to keep the law in place. He said the justices no longer had to rule on legislative continuances because the lawmakers would not be involved in the lawsuit moving forward.
In a legal brief, Fisher’s lawyers described Seabaugh’s and Melerine’s decision to drop out as cynical and a “blatant attempt to sidestep this court’s review of the statute.”
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Law limitations
Attorneys J. Cole Sartin and Joseph Gregorio, who also represent Fisher, argued the current legislative extension law is an overreach of the Legislature into judicial matters. It prohibits judges from being able to manage their docket and move trials along, Sartin said.
They did not suggest doing away with legislative continuances completely but want to see more guardrails in place. The law should be more specific about when a lawmaker who is an attorney can request a postponement, and opposing counsel should also be able to challenge continuations, Sartin said.
The statute is written broadly. Lawmaker attorneys can seek an extension from the court for any time 30 days before until 30 days after a legislative session, as well as for travel and other meetings they attend as an elected official. One justice who served as a state lawmaker, McCallum, questioned whether the law, while sometimes abused, reached the level of being unconstitutional.
The Legislature passes other statutes that tie the hands of judges, McCallum said. For example, lawmakers have imposed mandatory life sentences in prison with no option of parole for people convicted of murder. Judges aren’t given discretion to change those punishments, he said.
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Nevertheless, McCallum said there may also be “remedies” to limit misuse. He suggested it might clear problems up if extension requests were sent to the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, which could then monitor whether the benefit was being abused. Limiting the number of legislative continuances that can be granted per case would be another option, Knoll said.
Wider problem
Seabaugh and Melerine aren’t the only lawmakers who have been accused of abusing this privilege. In a legal brief supporting Fisher’s arguments, attorney Jennifer Prescott alleged she handled a civil lawsuit that took too long to resolve because the opposing attorney, Rep. Kyle Green, used 10 legislative continuances to delay proceedings over two and half years. Democratic Rep. Edmond Jordan angered a judge last year and lost a case when he filed legislative continuances and did not appear in court.
Perhaps most seriously, Barron Bailey of Webster Parish said he has been stuck in jail for the past five years without a trial in part because his attorney, Democratic Sen. Katrina Jackson, has used legislative extensions.
“I’ve been represented by Ms. Jackson since December 2019. I feel that she has only filed one motion in my case,” Bailey told KTBS-TV last month. “They say no news is good news, but she is not representing me to the best of her ability. She works mainly through paralegals and a private investigator.”
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Bailey faces second-degree murder and first-degree feticide charges in the 2019 death of Na’Toyedre Barrow, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death. Bailey says he is innocent.
Prosecutor Hugo Holland, who works for district attorneys across the state, also blamed Jackson’s legislative extensions for the Baily’s trial delay. “I cannot get it to trial because the defense attorney is constantly using the legislative continuance statute,” he told the television station.
Jackson did not respond to an interview request from KTBS-TV.
The Louisiana high school football playoffs are heating up, with underdogs defying the odds, powerhouse teams flexing their dominance, and individual stars shining under the bright lights. This week’s matchups offered everything from nail-biting finishes to unexpected blowouts, setting the stage for high-stakes quarterfinal showdowns. As the race to the state championships narrows, these eight key takeaways capture the action, drama, and standout performances defining this season’s playoff intensity.
In Division I nonselect, No. 6-seeded Southside rolled to a 47-0 shutout of No. 22 Walker and can reach the semifinals for the first time if the Sharks can upset the reigning state champs.
The Sharks (9-2), who will travel to No. 3 Ruston next, are led by running backs Ramon Singleton and Justin Williams. Singleton has rushed for 1,239 yards on 187 carries with 13 TD. Williams has 1,074 yards on 161 carries with 10 scores. Quarterback Parker Dies is averaging 8.2 yards per carry with six TD. The Sharks were 4 of 5 passing for 82 yards and a TD against Walker.
Three lower seeds advanced to the quarterfinals: No. 24 Chalmette upset No. 8 Hahnville, No. 21 West Monroe took down No. 5 Mandeville and No. 10 Destrehan blew out No. 7 Northwood-Shreveport, 63-21.
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Malachi Dabney scored six touchdowns in Destrehan’s win, according to Ryan Arena of The St. Charles Herald Guide. Receiver Jabari Mack left the game with an injury after scoring an early TD. The Wildcats (9-3) travel to No. 2 Airline (11-0) in the quarterfinals.
John Curtis Christian finished with a sub-.500 regular-season record for the first time since 1969, but the No. 19-seeded Patriots are doing Patriot things in the Division I select playoffs.
John Curtis, which lost its last three regular season games, beat No. 14 Brother Martin and No. 3 Acadiana to advance to the quarterfinals. Quarterback Reggie Johnson marched the Patriots, who were trailing by five points, 77 yards with less than two minutes remaining and threw a TD pass to freshman Jarvis Stevenson for a 28-27 win, according to Nick Fontenot of The Acadiana Advocate. Stevenson has five catches for 77 yards on the season with the huge touchdown.
The Patriots (6-5) travel to No. 6 Teurlings Catholic (10-1), which defeated No. 11 Jesuit, 31-23. John Curtis lost to Jesuit during district play, 17-10.
Cecilia and Opelousas, who met in the Division II nonselect final last year, defeated higher seeds to keep the chances of a rematch alive. The No. 18 Bulldogs and No. 14 Tigers will meet in the semifinals if both can win on the road again.
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No team had scored more than 20 points all season against undefeated No. 2 Lutcher before Cecilia visited on Friday, according to Reed Darcey of The Baton Rouge Advocate.
The Bulldogs topped that total in the first half of a wild 49-41 shootout. Senior quarterback Diesel Solari accounted for five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing). Sophomore Braylon Calais rushed for 113 yards on 15 carries with two TD.
Two UL Ragin’ Cajun commits went head-to-head with Cecilia’s Brent Gordon and Lutcher running back Trenton Chaney, who ran for 194 yards on 24 carries with three TD.
Opelousas kept its end of the bargain by eliminating No. 3 Jennings, 30-19. The Tigers (8-3) travel to No. 6 Plaquemine (11-1), which knocked out No. 11 Northwest, 49-34.
Cecilia (9-3) visits No. 7 North DeSoto (10-2).
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No. 1 Archbishop Shaw hosts No. 8 John F. Kennedy in a highly anticipated Division II select quarterfinal. The Eagles (9-2), who beat No. 16 Loranger 49-14, got three rushing touchdowns in the first half from Michigan commit Jasper Parker.
Parker, the district MVP, finished the regular season with 1,501 all-purpose yards and 22 TD.
John F. Kennedy (7-4) is a dangerous No. 8 seed that lost three games by forfeit. The Cougars got a scare from No. 9 Lake Charles College Prep but held on to win 51-37. JFK had allowed only 20 points during its last six games.
The No. 2 seed in Division III nonselect was ousted when No. 15 Loreauville defeated No. 2 Erath, 28-7, in a rematch of Week One won by Erath. Loreauville exerted control from the outset, stopping Erath on its first possession and taking a 7-0 lead on a 48-yard pass from Hayden Benoit to Gavin Judice.
Maddox Savoy didn’t reach the end zone, but he moved the chains with 155 yards on 27 carries for an offense that had 23 first downs and outgained the Bobcats by 200 yards.
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Loreauville (6-5), which began the year 0-4, travels to No. 7 Jena (9-3). Blake Delcambre relieved Benoit at quarterback during a drive and capped it off in two plays, completing a long pass to Blaise Romero and keeping the ball himself for a 30-plus yard TD run.
Lafayette Christian, like John Curtis, worked its way through a sub-.500 regular season. The Knights faced a challenging schedule that included Archbishop Rummel, Archbishop Shaw, Central-BR, Evangel Christian and a Westgate team that was fully loaded with Jaboree Antoine at the time.
The No. 9 Knights avenged an earlier loss by beating No. 8 Notre Dame in Division III select, 35-28. Ball-hawking defensive back Chris Helaire and LCA will have to upset No. 1 Dunham (11-0) and five-star QB Elijah Haven to keep their streak of consecutive title game appearances alive.
Junior quarterback Braylon Walker dissected the Notre Dame defense for 103 yards on 11 carries with four TD. He completed 14 of 17 passes for 187 yards and a score.
In the regular season loss to Pioneers, Walker rushed for 44 yards on 15 carries with a TD. This is the third time in eight years the Knights have lost a district game and avenged it in the playoffs, according to statistician Hayden Lessard. LCA did it in 2017 (Vermilion Catholic) and 2022 (Teurlings Catholic), beating both in the semifinals.
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No. 7 Catholic-New Iberia (10-1) and QB Luke Landry travel to No. 2 Isidore Newman (9-0) in another marquee D3 matchup. Landry has passed for 31 TD with only one interception. The Greenies will counter with QB Eli Friend.
Jeanerette pounded No. 13 Grand Lake, 46-24, in Division IV nonselect. Sophomore running back Devine Duhon, who was sidelined by injury late in the regular season, returned and accounted for 261 yards and six TD. The No. 4 Tigers (8-2), who host No. 12 General Trass in the quarterfinals, were also without quarterback Zyon Colar for a loss to Central Catholic.
The nation’s top running back, five-star LSU commit Harlem Berry, and the ninth-seeded St. Martin’s Episcopal Saints were handled by a St. Edmund offense that has produced zany numbers all year.
Quarterback Kane West completed 12 of 14 passes for 237 yards and two TD and rushed for 73 yards on 11 carries with five TD. But that’s not all. The strongman converted eight two-point conversions in the 78-37 win.
Tailback Henry Summerlin went over the 1,600-yard mark for the year with a 326-yard effort for the No. 8 Blue Jays (10-1), who travel to No. 1 Vermilion Catholic (11-0) and 2,100-plus yard rusher Jonathan Dartez in the Division IV select quarterfinals.
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West, who threw touchdowns on approximately half of his regular season completions, has 14 rushing TD. He scored five two-point conversions in a win over Opelousas Catholic.
With upset wins, stellar individual performances, and underdogs rewriting expectations, this year’s Louisiana high school football playoffs are shaping up to be unforgettable. The stakes only get higher as the quarterfinals loom, promising more drama and excitement ahead.
Louisiana burst out to a 20-point halftime lead and then tacked on two late scores to beat Troy 51-30 on Saturday at Cajun Field in Lafayette, La.
The Trojans (3-8, 2-5 Sun Belt Conference) led 14-7 after one quarter but allowed 27 straight points in the second to fall behind 34-14 at halftime. After Troy cut the lead to 37-30 in the fourth quarter, Louisiana (9-2, 6-1) scored the final 14 points of the game to pull away.
“As crazy as this game was and the ride this season has been, I could not be more proud of the way that the team came out in the third quarter to get us back into this football game,” Troy coach Gerad Parker said. “There are so many good things, but there weren’t enough good things early. They got up on us, and then, some self-inflicted things made it so we could not get up on them in the second half.”
Troy’s four possessions in the second quarter ended in two interceptions, a three-and-out/punt and a turnover on downs. Louisiana, meanwhile, scored five straight times — three touchdowns and two field goals — in the quarter.
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Matthew Caldwell threw for 230 yards, four touchdowns and a pair of 2-point conversions for Troy, but was intercepted twice. His 1-yard TD pass to Trae Swartz and 2-point pass to Devonte Ross with 11:31 to play made it a 7-point game, but Robert Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to put the Ragin’ Cajuns back up by 14.
Louisiana’s Bill Davis added a 1-yard touchdown run — his third of the game — with 1:09 left to set the final score. Chandler Fields passed for 323 yards and two TDs for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who can clinch the Sun Belt West championship by winning at Louisiana-Monroe next Saturday.
Kenneth Almandares also kicked three field goals for Louisiana, while Fields threw scoring passes of 20 yards to Tavion Smith and 44 yards to Lance LeGendre. Keyon Martin had a pair of interceptions to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns’ defense, which broke up nine Troy passes.
In addition to the 1-yarder to Swartz, Caldwell’s touchdown passes covered 30 yards to Ross, six yards to Brody Dalton and four yards to Jackson Worley. Caldwell also threw two-point passes to Ross and Landon Parker.
Troy finishes the season at home next week vs. Southern Miss, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The game will stream live via ESPN+.
It’s the final home game of the season for the Arkansas Razorbacks as they host the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in a pivotal matchup at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
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With kickoff set for 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+, the stakes couldn’t be higher for the Razorbacks, who are eyeing bowl eligibility in their final push of the 2024 season.
Jonas Nantze #60 of the Arkansas Razorbacks runs onto the field before a game against the Texas Longhorns at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on November 16, 2024 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Jonas Nantze #60 of the Arkansas Razorbacks runs onto the field before a game against the Texas Longhorns at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium on November 16, 2024 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
How to Watch Arkansas vs Louisiana Tech:
Date: Saturday, November 23, 2024
Time: 4:00 PM ET
Channel/Stream: ESPN+
Stream: ESPN+ (watch now)
For Arkansas, this game is about seizing an opportunity to secure bowl eligibility after falling short in two previous attempts. The Razorbacks enter the matchup at 5-5, fresh off a 20-10 loss to Texas where offensive struggles and costly turnovers proved to be their undoing. With only two games left in the regular season, this matchup is a must-win for Arkansas to punch their ticket to the postseason.
On the other side, Louisiana Tech is playing spoiler while clinging to its slim bowl hopes. The Bulldogs are 4-6 but riding high after a gritty 12-7 victory over Western Kentucky last week, where their defense served the Hilltoppers their first conference loss of the year. This will be a battle on Saturday, make sure to tune in.
WATCH: Arkansas vs. Louisiana Tech on ESPN+
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