Louisiana Increase the Number of State Supreme Court Justices Amendment (2021)
| Louisiana Increase the Number of State Supreme Court Justices Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date October 9, 2021 | |
| Topic State judiciary | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Louisiana Increase the Number of State Supreme Court Justices Amendment was not on the ballot in Louisiana as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on October 9, 2021.[1]
The measure would have amended the Louisiana Constitution to increase the number of associate justices from six to eight beginning in January 2025. As of 2021, the state supreme court is comprised of six associate justices and a chief justice. The amendment would also have divided the state into single-member districts approximately equal in population to elect each justice. The amendment would have required redistricting after every decennial census. As of 2021, the state constitution allowed for multi-member districts that may be reapportioned through a two-thirds (66.67%) vote of each chamber of the state legislature.[2]
Text of measure
Ballot question
The ballot question would have been as follows:[2]
| “ | Do you support an amendment to reform the Louisiana Supreme Court to require court districts be more equal in population with a court comprised of nine justices?
[ ] Yes [ ] No[3] |
” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article V, Louisiana Constitution
The measure would have amended sections 3 and 4 of Article V of the state constitution. The following underlined text would have been added, and struck-through text would have been deleted:[2]
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
Text of Section 3:
Supreme Court; Composition; Judgments; Terms
(A.) Effective until January 1, 2025, The the supreme court shall be composed of a chief justice and six associate justices, four of whom must concur to render judgment. The term of a supreme court judge shall be ten years.
(B) Effective on January 1, 2025, the supreme court shall be composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices, five of whom must concur to render judgment. The term of a supreme court justice shall be ten years.
Text of Section 4:
Supreme Court; Districts
(A.)The state shall be divided into at least six supreme court districts, and at least one judge justice shall be elected from each. The districts and the number of judges assigned to each on the effective date of this constitution are retained, subject to change by law enacted by two-thirds of the elected members of each house of the legislature.
(B) The legislature shall by law set forth the specific method of transitioning to nine single member supreme court districts to be drawn in accordance with the provisions of this Section. Notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, no supreme court justice in office at the time of the adoption of the amendment to this Section, nor his or her successor, shall, as a result of this amendment, have their term diminished or extended. The initial term for a new justice elected to a district that is drawn without an incumbent justice may be shorter than ten years. Any decision reached by a majority of the supreme court after the passage of this constitutional amendment, but before its full implementation by the legislature, shall be binding and be given full effect.
(C) By the end of the year following the year in which the population of this state is reported to the president of the United States for each decennial federal census, the legislature shall, in the same manner as provided for under Paragraph (A) of this Section, redistrict the supreme court districts to be substantially equal on the basis of population shown by the census.
(D) If the legislature fails to redistrict the supreme court when required by this Section, then redistricting shall occur in the same manner as specified in Article III, Section 6(B) of the Constitution of Louisiana.[3]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Louisiana Constitution
In Louisiana, a two-thirds vote is needed in each chamber of the Louisiana State Legislature to refer a legislatively referred constitutional amendment to the ballot for voter consideration.
This amendment was introduced as Senate Bill 163 (SB 163) on April 12, 2021. On April 27, 2021, the state Senate passed SB 163 in a vote of 36-2 with one absent. The amendment was not passed in the House before the legislature adjourned its 2021 legislative session on July 10, 2021.[1]
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Louisiana State Legislature, "Senate Bill 163," accessed April 28, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Louisiana Legislature, "Senate Bill 163," accessed April 28, 2021
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
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