Louisiana lawmakers this year decided to give judges a one-time pay bump, similar to what they gave public school teachers, but with one significant distinction: Teachers will get a $2,000 stipend; judges will get from roughly $15,000 to almost $17,700 each.
Lemme say right up front that I believe the vast majority of Louisiana’s judges, like the vast majority of teachers, deserve better pay.
Ah, there’s the rub.
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Clancy DuBos
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Photo by Chris Granger / The Times-Picayune
The recent stipend that legislators gave to judges was intended to be paid out over the course of the current fiscal year, as the money is earned — similar to how teachers have received their non-recurring stipends in recent years.
But six of the seven Louisiana Supreme Court justices decided to take their stipends in one lump sum — in advance — this week. Worse, the six justices (all except Chief Justice John Weimer) decreed that all other judges must do likewise or forfeit the stipend altogether. And most galling of all, two of the justices will leave the court in the coming months, and thus pocket a full year’s stipend for no more than a half year’s work.
The decision to jam the lower court judges came in response to a request from several of them to do the right thing and take the stipend incrementally, after it is earned, which is what common sense and the Louisiana Constitution require.
In effect, the six justices are forcing lower court judges to join their money grab in order to give themselves cover, the law be damned.
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Public opinion of the judiciary is already low. The six Supremes’ decision to take the money and run will only make things worse.
One-time “bonuses” to Louisiana public employees are outlawed by our state constitution — unless the payments are made after future services are rendered. They cannot be extra compensation for past services already rendered and paid for.
That’s not my opinion. It’s from a 2010 Louisiana Attorney General’s opinion, citing a landmark Louisiana Supreme Court decision known as the Cabela’s case. It’s why teachers get their stipends periodically, typically after each semester.
It’s also what lawmakers intended when they voted to give the judges a pay bump.
“The legislative intent was to spread it out over the year, but I guess we should have been more specific in the language,” state Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Winnfield, told The Times-Picayune | The Advocate. McFarland chairs the House Appropriations Committee and authored the bill that included the stipend.
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Lawmakers also added a condition for judges receiving the stipend: participation in a “workpoint study” designed track the workloads and output of judicial districts and potentially individual judges. The study would help lawmakers decide which courts need to be expanded and which should be reduced in size.
Which explains why some judges don’t want to see such a study happen.
State Rep. Jerome “Zee” Zeringue, R-Houma, has pushed for a workpoint study for years, to no avail. Zeringue, who previously chaired the appropriations panel for four years, confirmed McFarland’s comment on legislators’ intent regarding the stipend being paid out periodically.
The justices are not the only ones flouting the clear legislative intent, however. Gov. Jeff Landry line-item vetoed the workpoint study requirement — but left the stipend intact.
That means taxpayers will foot the roughly $6 million cost of the judicial stipend, but we’ll never know which judges actually earn the extra dough. We can, however, identify some who definitely won’t earn it.
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Associate Supreme Court Justice James Genovese will pocket $15,280 up front but leave the court by mid-September, when he will become Landry’s hand-picked president of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. By leaving early, Genovese will technically earn less than 20% of the stipend. He’ll also will get a handsome pay raise at Northwestern, plus housing and other perks, on top of his enhanced judicial retirement.
Associate Justice Scott Crichton likewise will take the same $15,280 in advance but not serve past Dec. 31, when his current term expires. Crichton has already reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. He’ll earn only half of his stipend.
Several other judges likewise are set to receive the full stipend but only work half a year.
It’s a shame that the avarice of a few jurists will reflect badly on all judges, most of whom work hard to uphold the notion of an independent judiciary. They deserve better.
The Legislature, through the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, should correct this abuse by ensuring that judges who rightly decline to take the up-front money still get it periodically, as the law requires, after they’ve earned it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Louisiana voters will participate in a revamped and stripped-down state primary Saturday and decide the political fate of an embattled Republican U.S. senator targeted for defeat by President Donald Trump.
Sen. Bill Cassidy is running for a third term but first must overcome a Republican primary field that includes state Treasurer John Fleming and U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who was endorsed by Trump in January.
WATCH: Amy Walter and Jasmine Wright on Trump’s control of GOP lawmakers
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The primary is the president’s latest opportunity to exact retribution from his perceived political enemies, including fellow Republicans he considers disloyal. Cassidy has been near the top of that list since his vote more than five years ago to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial following the insurrection by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump was acquitted.
Louisiana is not among the states Democrats are targeting in their effort to retake the U.S. Senate. A Cassidy defeat in the primary would likely result in a Senate GOP caucus even more unified behind Trump and further demonstrate the strength of the president’s grip on the party.
Voters will also decide primary contests for state Supreme Court, Public Service Commission and state school board, along with five proposed state constitutional amendments.
Louisiana’s primaries for U.S. House were postponed after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s current congressional map, which includes a majority Black district that favors Democrats. U.S. House races will still appear on ballots, but any votes cast in those contests will not be counted.
WATCH: Louisiana’s redistricting rush ignites debate over race and representation
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In another key departure from previous Louisiana primaries, contenders in Saturday’s contests will run in separate party primaries, rather than in one jungle primary in which all candidates appear on the same ballot. State lawmakers adopted the new system for certain offices in 2024, but the law didn’t go into effect until 2026.
U.S. House races were originally slated to use the new primary system under the 2024 law, but state Republicans on Thursday adopted legislation to reinstate the jungle primary for U.S. House races, citing a compressed schedule after the Supreme Court decision. Just as in previous cycles, the jungle primary will be held on Nov. 3 alongside the general election.
East Baton Rouge Parish, home to Baton Rouge, and Jefferson and Orleans Parishes in the New Orleans area are the most populous in the state, but St. Tammany Parish, north of New Orleans along the Mississippi border, contributed the most votes in the 2016 and 2024 Republican presidential primaries.
Caddo Parish in the northwest, home to Shreveport, and Lafayette Parish also tend to play a bigger role in Republican primaries than in Democratic ones.
Trump narrowly won a four-way primary in 2016, powered in part by a large margin in Jefferson Parish and overcoming losses in East Baton Rouge and Caddo Parishes to Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. He swept the state eight years later in the 2024 primary against former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who had dropped out of the race by the time of the primary but was still posting stronger-than-expected showings in other states.
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Cassidy’s previous victories in 2014 and 2020 were under the old primary system, in which his main opposition on the ballot came from Democrats.
Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:
When do polls close?
Polls close at 8 p.m. local time (CT), which is 9 p.m. ET.
What’s on the ballot?
The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. Senate, state Supreme Court, state Public Service Commission and state school board, as well as five statewide ballot measures.
Who gets to vote?
Registered party members may vote only in their own party’s primary. In other words, Democrats can’t vote in the Republican primary or vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters may participate in either primary. Voters registered with other parties may only vote on nonpartisan contests.
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How many voters are there?
As of May 1, there were about 3 million registered voters in Louisiana. Registered Democrats and Republicans numbered about 1.1 million each, with registered Democrats at a slight advantage. About 813,000 voters were not registered with any party. The remainder were registered with other parties.
How many people actually vote?
Louisiana’s new primary system is closer in format to the 2024 presidential primaries than to previous state primaries. About 192,000 votes were cast in the Republican primary and about 167,000 in the Democratic contest. Each primary represented about 6% of registered voters.
How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?
About 41% of the Republican primary vote and about 45% of the Democratic primary vote in 2024 was cast before primary day.
As of Thursday, about 255,000 ballots had already been cast in Saturday’s election, about 44% from Democrats and about 41% from Republicans.
When are early and absentee votes released?
Results from early and absentee voting are usually released by each parish in the first vote update, as separate totals from in-person Election Day vote results.
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How long does vote-counting usually take?
In the 2024 general election, the AP first reported results at 9:32 p.m. ET, or 32 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 11:56 p.m. ET, with more than 99% of total votes counted.
When will the AP declare a winner?
The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
How do recounts work?
There are no automatic recounts in Louisiana, but a candidate may request and pay for a recount of absentee and early votes. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Are we there yet?
As of Saturday, there will be 42 days until the June 27 primary runoff if needed, 171 days until Nov. 3 general election and the rescheduled U.S. House jungle primaries and 210 days until the Dec. 12 runoff.
— Robert Yoon, Associated Press
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A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy.
Oil and natural gas companies are lining up behind Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy as he fights an uphill primary battle.
Cassidy, a senior member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and outspoken ally of oil, has gotten about $120,000 in campaign contributions from donors and political action committees in oil and adjacent industries since the beginning of last year, a review of his campaign disclosures by POLITICO’s E&E News shows.
Rep. Julia Letlow got about $43,500 from industry sources since entering the race in January, disclosures show. Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming got $12,750 from oil and gas.
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Cassidy took in $14,500 from oil and gas in the same period, though many of his donors had already given the maximum allowable amount by then. Fleming got $3,500 of his total in that time period.
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Louisiana will receive $18.9 million in federal grants for hurricane recovery, Sen. John Kennedy announced Thursday (May 14).
Funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will support disaster recovery efforts and repairs in communities impacted by Hurricanes Ida and Francine.
Kennedy said the funding will support Lafourche, Jefferson and Terrebonne parishes, as well as the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
The grants include $8.8 million to the Greater Lafourche Port Commission for permanent repairs from Hurricane Ida.
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Jefferson Parish will receive $5.3 million for management costs from Hurricane Ida.
Terrebonne Parish will receive $2.6 million for debris removal operations from Hurricane Francine.
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development will receive $2.2 million for debris removal operations from Hurricane Francine.
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