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Jeffrey Victory
Jeffrey P. Victory was an associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.[1] He was first elected to this position in 1994 and he retired from the bench when his term ended in 2014.[2]
Education
Victory received his B.A. in history and government from Centenary College and his J.D. from Tulane University School of Law in 1971.[3]
Career
- 1995-2014: Justice, Louisiana Supreme Court
- 1990-1995: Judge, Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal
- 1981-1990: Judge, 1st Judicial District, Louisiana
- 1971-1981: Attorney, Tucker, Jeter and Jackson[4]
Awards and associations
Associations
- Charter member, Louisiana Sentencing Commission
- Chairperson of the Board and past director, Louisiana Judicial College
- Member, National Lawyers Association[4]
Elections
2004
Victory defeated Stephen B. Beasley in the election for the Louisiana Supreme Court with 61% of the vote.
In his 2004 judicial election, Victory raised $504,431; 95.1% came from the business sector; 4.6% came from the Republican Party, and .3% of contributions came from labor.[5]
| Candidate | Incumbent | Seat | Party | Election % |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jeffrey Victory  |
Yes | 2nd District | Republican | 60.8% | |
| Stephen B. Beasley | No | 2nd District | Democratic | 39.1% |
Election results are from the Louisiana Secretary of State from September 18, 2008.
Noteworthy cases
Death penalty
Justice Victory wrote the majority opinion (6-1) in a 2007 case involving the rape of an 8 year-old girl. Victory defended his stance despite a Supreme Court ruling in 1977 that said a convicted rapist could not be sentenced to death because the punishment outweighed the crime. "Justice Victory said the death penalty in this case was particularly warranted by the brutality of the crime, in which the victim was so badly injured that she required surgery."[6]
In the opinion, Justice Jeffrey Victory wrote, "Our state Legislature and this court have determined this category of aggravated rapist to be among those deserving of the death penalty, and, short of a first-degree murderer, we can think of no other non-homicide crime more deserving." Victory wrote that the Louisiana law meets the U.S. Supreme Court test requiring an aggravating circumstance--in this case the age of the victim--to justify the death penalty.[7]
State ex rel. A.T.(2006)
The majority opinion, written by Justice Jeffrey P. Victory, held, over the dissent of Justices Chet D. Traylor and Jeannette Theriot Knoll, that the State of Louisiana Department of Social Services was required to "make reasonable efforts to assist [a] parent in finding suitable housing before it may seek to terminate parental rights."
Political outlook
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Victory received a campaign finance score of 0.79, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.35 that justices received in Louisiana.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[8]
See also
External links
- Louisiana Supreme Court Biography
- Project Vote Smart biography of Jeffrey Victory
- State of Louisiana v. Patrick Kennedy
Footnotes
- ↑ Louisiana Supreme Court, "Official biography of Justice Victory," accessed January 21, 2015
- ↑ The Times Picayune, "Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Victory will not seek re-election," August 2, 2013
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Associate Justice Jeffrey P. Victory (LA)," accessed January 21, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Louisiana Supreme Court, "Justice Victory," accessed January 21, 2015
- ↑ Followthemoney.org, "Justice Victory's Follow the Money Page," accessed January 21, 2015
- ↑ New York Times, "Louisiana Court Backs Death in Child Rape," May 23, 2007
- ↑ Fox News
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
