Louisiana

Louisiana Supreme Court issues new guidance to judges about legislator-lawyers seeking delays • Louisiana Illuminator

Published

1 year ago

November 1, 2024

Louisiana Supreme Court issues new guidance to judges about legislator-lawyers seeking delays • Louisiana Illuminator

by Julie O’Donoghue, Louisiana Illuminator
November 1, 2024

The Louisiana Supreme Court issued guidance to state judges Wednesday encouraging them to grant state lawmakers who are attorneys extensions on court proceedings during legislative sessions in most cases.

The court’s new rule comes less than a week after the justices declared unconstitutional a law that gave lawyers who legislators a similar but much broader benefit. The defunct statute had granted such lawmakers automatic delays in court actions when they interfered with a wider range of legislative duties, including travel to the State Capitol.

The justices were troubled the legislative continuance mandate had essentially no wiggle room. It did not give opposing counsel or judges the discretion to challenge a lawmaker’s request for a delay in a court case.

The Supreme Court’s new rule this week hems in the previous privilege for legislators in court while also instructing judges to err on the side of allowing legislators’ delays.

The guidance was issued somewhat urgently because the lawmakers are headed into a special legislative session Wednesday that is expected to last almost three weeks. Legislators who are attorneys have said they have court proceedings that will conflict with the special session calendar.

Votes during the session, which will be focused on tax policy, are also expected to be unusually close. This means parts of Gov. Jeff Landry’s tax package could fail if just one or two lawmakers are absent.

“It’s fair to say that the session did result with us moving with more deliberation than we would normally do,” Chief Justice John Weimer said about the rule in an interview Thursday.

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Under the new legislative continuance rule, opposing attorneys will now have the right to challenge when a lawmaker wants to reschedule court proceedings if they suspect it would cause an “unnecessary delay” or “increase the cost of litigation.” They can also ask for it to be denied if it would cause their client “substantial and immediate irreparable harm.”

Attorneys who are lawmakers will also face a new requirement when asking for a legislative continuance. They will have to provide an affidavit showing they will be attending the legislative session that causes a conflict with their court proceedings. The lawmaker will also have to demonstrate that he or she is an attorney actively working on the case in question.

Outside of legislative sessions, lawmakers will also only be able to obtain continuances if they present an affidavit that shows “good cause” for the delay. In the past, judges had no choice but to grant a legislative continuance, regardless of when it was requested.

The new restrictions the justices have imposed are supposed to address concerns raised by attorneys who aren’t lawmakers in recent years. They include that legislators sometimes enroll as counsel on cases where they don’t do much work to allow their side to take advantage of automatic delays. Another frustration is that cases drag on for years because lawmakers ask for multiple extensions.

The lawmaker complaining in the loudest, most public way about the Supreme Court overturning the state legislative continuance law also happens to be an attorney whose conduct led to the supreme court’s ruling.

“I think a working knowledge of civics is not required to serve on the Louisiana Supreme Court,” Sen. Alan Seabaugh said in an appearance on KEEL-AM in Shreveport. “The ruling that the court passed down last week is absolutely nonsensical.”

Two plaintiffs attorneys asked the state Supreme Court to throw out the legislative continuance statute after struggling to close an automobile accident lawsuit where they faced off against Seabaugh and state Rep. Michael Melerine, Shreveport Republicans who are partners in the same law practice.

The plaintiffs lawyers said Seabaugh and Melerine’s legislative extensions had unreasonably delayed resolution of their client’s lawsuit over six years. The court sided with the plaintiffs attorneys after describing Seabaugh’s unusual delays in the lawsuit as reprehensible.

Seabaugh has been a state lawmaker since 2012, including 12 years in the Louisiana House of Representatives before he was a stte senator. Melerine took Seabaugh’s seat in the House in January.

In the radio interview, Seabaugh alleged the court ruling was payback for lawmakers scuttling a new Louisiana Supreme Court district map some of the justices had favored.

“The fact of the matter is it was retaliation because of their redistricting plan, which the Senate killed twice,” Seabaugh said. “This was the Supreme Court flexing their muscle to the Legislature.”

“This was judicial activism at its worst,” he added

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Weimer said Seabaugh is “entitled to say whatever he wants,” but the justices didn’t throw out a law because they were upset about the Supreme Court district map.

“We don’t sit around anxiously waiting to strike down a law as unconstitutional,” Weimer said. “I make decisions based on logic and reason and not emotion.”

Though the ruling is less than a week old, Seabaugh and Melerine have already run into personal problems getting at least one trial rescheduled based on the newfound discretion to reject legislative extensions.

Judge Nicholas Gasper of the 42nd Judicial District Court in DeSoto Parish denied their motion to move a jury trial scheduled to start Monday because of the special session, which gets underway two days later, according to court filings.

Seabaugh and Melerine are appealing Gasper’s decision to Louisiana’s 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal.

Other legislators plan to try to resolve the legislative extension issue over the next few weeks. Bills will be filed in the special session to establish a new continuance law, said Sen. Greg Miller, R-Norco, who is an attorney.

“I want to keep the framework that we had but address the Supreme Court’s concerns” about abuses, Miller said in an interview Thursday.

Miller said he didn’t think the court’s new rule fully covers the problems that arise from conflicting legal and legislative schedules. For example, under the new rule, a judge could schedule a trial for the day after a legislative session ends, which would give an attorney who is a lawmaker little time to prepare.

“We are at the mercy of the courts,” he said.

Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, said the Supreme Court’s rule also doesn’t address scheduling conflicts the Legislature’s staff attorneys might have during session. Some work on private cases to supplement their incomes outside of the regular legislative session, he said.

The law declared unconstitutional also granted those legislative staff attorneys access to legislative continuances, but the court’s recent rule doesn’t, said Luneau, who is also a lawyer.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on Facebook and X.

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Louisiana

Louisiana man on death row for 27 years released on bail after conviction is overturned

Published

15 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Press Room

Louisiana man on death row for 27 years released on bail after conviction is overturned

A Louisiana man who spent 27 years on death row was released on bail after his murder conviction was overturned earlier this year in the 1993 death of his girlfriend’s toddler, his lawyers said.

The release Wednesday of Jimmie Duncan, 57, marked a “significant step forward in his long fight for justice,” one of his attorneys, Chris Fabricant, said in a statement.

Fabricant noted the role of what he called “fraudulent forensics” in Duncan’s conviction and described his incarceration as “a gross miscarriage of justice.”

“His execution would have been a moral outrage,” Fabricant added.

Duncan, who was convicted of first-degree murder in 1998 and had been incarcerated at Angola state prison, was released on $150,000 bond, The Associated Press reported.

The Innocence Project, whose attorneys have represented Duncan, said in a news release that 4th Judicial District Judge Alvin Sharp’s ruling finding Duncan “factually innocent” of the murder was appealed to the state’s high court and is set for oral arguments early next year.

The district attorney’s office that prosecuted Duncan could not be reached for comment Friday. In a statement cited by NBC affiliate KTVE of West Monroe, Louisiana, 4th District Attorney Steve Tew said his office is preparing to challenge the ruling.

Twenty three-month-old Haley Oliveaux died on Dec. 18, 1993, after Duncan briefly stepped away from the bathtub, according to the Innocence Project. When Duncan found her unconscious, he tried to perform CPR and sought help from neighbors who called 911.

She died shortly afterward at a hospital.

Duncan was convicted of the killing in part through forensic evidence. Experts for the prosecution linked what they described as bite marks found on the girl’s body to Duncan’s teeth, according to the Innocence Project.

In an April ruling, Sharp cited an expert for Duncan who rejected that conclusion and described bite mark analysis as “junk science” that is “not scientifically defensible.” Two experts who testified for Duncan said the toddler appeared to have died by accidental drowning and not homicide, according to the ruling.

The ruling from Sharp also found that Duncan’s trial attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel.

According to the Innocence Project, at least 39 wrongful convictions and indictments across the United States have been attributed to the forensic techniques used in Duncan’s case. The group said that of the nearly 3,800 cases that have been documented by the National Registry of Exonerations since 1989, false or misleading forensic evidence has played a role in a quarter of them.

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Lake Charles hosts Turkey Trot 5K to benefit Southwest Louisiana Law Center

Published

1 day ago

November 28, 2025

Press Room

Lake Charles hosts Turkey Trot 5K to benefit Southwest Louisiana Law Center

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – Runners laced up their sneakers at Prien Lake Park Thursday morning for the Turkey Trot, a 5K fun run that brought the popular Thanksgiving tradition to Lake Charles.

The event combined movement, music and community while serving as a fundraiser for the Southwest Louisiana Law Center, a nonprofit that provides affordable legal services to families who fall between legal aid and private attorneys.

“The turkey trot is to benefit the SWLA Law center, we’re a nonprofit. We’ve been around since 1867. We exist to offer our services on a sliding scale income based structure, and so we do fundraisers like this to raise money and help us continue to provide affordable legal services to the community,” said organizer Misty Williams.

Participants said starting the day with a run provided both fun and health benefits. Doctors at the event said getting blood pumping early can help offset the big Thanksgiving meal many families look forward to later.

“We all know were gonna eat a good bit today, we’re gonna enjoy our days, our meal, and our families. So getting out before you start to eat helps you not feel bogged down, get that exercise in, and get those steps in. Keeping our blood pressure controlled, our weight controlled, even blood sugar and cholesterol,” said Dr. Donald Higgins, a participant and family medicine specialist.

Beyond the health benefits and fundraising, organizers said the goal was to bring people together, celebrate community and reflect on gratitude.

“I just love spending time with my favorite people, and with Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for these amazing girls I surround myself with,” said participant Mina Le.

Karen Seal said her visiting family members were eager to participate in the tradition.

“My brother and sister in law came into town for Thanksgiving, and they wanted to run a turkey trot, they were willing to drive to Beaumont to do so, but we found this one, so we came out here and ran and had a great time,” Seal said.

Organizers hope to build the same Thanksgiving morning tradition found in bigger cities, with the Turkey Trot quickly becoming a holiday staple at Prien Lake Park.

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Louisiana’s most notorious prison hosts daddy-daughter dance

Published

2 days ago

November 27, 2025

Press Room

Louisiana’s most notorious prison hosts daddy-daughter dance

Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, in partnership with God Behind Bars, hosted a father-daughter dance on Saturday.

God Behind Bars is an organization that partners with churches and ministries nationwide to help meet the needs of incarcerated individuals and their families. The organization said the first annual Daddy Daughter Dance inside the Angola facility reunited fathers who had not seen their daughters in years.

“When I turned around and saw my baby in that dress and she busted out crying…I sobbed, man, and I ain’t no crier. We slow-danced and she was crying again. I said, ‘Baby, why you crying?’ and she said, ‘Dad, I finally get a chance to dance with you for the first time.’” I told my brothers, ‘Look, brother…this’ll make you want to do right. If you ain’t doing right, bro, you got to do right,’” Leslie, an incarcerated father, said in a statement sent to Newsweek.

Why It Matters

God Behind Bars said the dance gave incarcerated fathers the opportunity to reconnect with their daughters.

“Children with incarcerated parents are among the most vulnerable in America. Events like this matter deeply. Research shows that fatherless daughters face higher risks of low self-esteem, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and incarceration,” God Behind Bars said.

Louisiana State Penitentiary Assistant Warden Anne-Marie Easely said in a statement sent to Newsweek, “It is so important for fathers to be involved in their daughters’ lives no matter where they are in order to break the cycle of incarceration, instill self-confidence and so many other things that fatherless daughters are more susceptible to.”

What To Know

A total of 37 daughters, from ages 5 to 20, and 29 fathers attended the dance. Professional makeup artist Jessica Haynes and others helped the daughters get ready for the event. Volunteers painted the daughters’ nails and touched up their hair.

The fathers were fitted in custom tuxedos donated by Amor Suits months before the event.

The prison’s Seminary Lecture Room transformed into a dance venue with decor and floral arrangements. Families shared a Thanksgiving meal together.

The fathers also prepared a choreographed dance for their daughters.

Each daughter received a gift bag with hair and beauty products donated by T3 Micro and a bible donated by Hosanna Revival.

What People Are Saying

Kevin, an incarcerated father, in a statement sent to Newsweek: “We’re supposed to be the worst of the worst and the hardest of the hardest…and we walk around like that sometimes. Seeing all of us together with our kids, the loves of our lives, with no masks…that was cool.”

Jake Bodine, founder of God Behind Bars, in a statement sent to Newsweek: “It’s hard to put into words what took place at the first ever Daddy Daughter Dance inside Angola prison. I watched a group of men stand with pride and dignity, shedding every label the world had ever put on them. For one night they were not inmates. They were Dad. And the empty places in every heart were filled with joy, laughter, and a love only God can author.”

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