Marcus Clark (Louisiana)
Marcus R. Clark was a justice on the Louisiana Supreme Court, representing the Fourth District. He was first elected in a special election on October 17, 2009, to fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Chet Taylor. He was sworn in on November 19, 2009.[1]
Clark was elected to a full ten-year term after running unopposed in the regular general election on November 6, 2016. He retired on June 30, 2020.[2]
Clark previously served as a detective for the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Department and worked in the Ouachita Parish District Attorney's Office.
Education
Clark received his undergraduate degree from Northeast Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana at Monroe) in 1978 and his J.D. from Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center in 1985.[3]
Career
- 2009-2020: Justice, Louisiana Supreme Court
- 1997-2009: Judge, 4th District Court, Section 2
Clark was a detective for the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Department before attending law school. After law school, he served in the Ouachita Parish District Attorney’s Office.[4][3]
Awards and associations
Associations
- Member, Louisiana District Judges Association
- Member, Louisiana District Judges Association Executive Committee
- Past President & Member, Judge Fred Fudicker American Inns of Court
- Member, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
- Member, Louisiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
- Past President, Assistant District Attorney’s Association
- Past 2nd Vice-president, Board of Directors for District Attorney’s Association
- Member, Post-Conviction DNA Testing Advisory Commission
- Member, YWCA S.A.F.E. Task Force
- Member, Alzheimer’s Association[3]
Elections
2016
Clark filed to run for re-election in 2016.[5] He was unopposed.
Election results
November 8 primary election
| Louisiana Supreme Court 2016, Fourth District, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  Marcus Clark Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State Official Results | ||
2009
| Candidate | Incumbent | Seat | Election % |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Marcus Clark  |
No | 4th District | 52.8% | |
| Jimmy Faircloth | No | 4th District | 47.2% |
Noteworthy events
Judge Clark suspended without pay
On February 20, 2004, the Louisiana Supreme Court, on the recommendation of the Judiciary Commission of Louisiana, suspended Judge Marcus Clark from the 4th District Court for thirty days without pay. He was also required to pay the Commission $714 to cover the costs of the investigation. The Commission alleged that Clark "failed to rule timely (within thirty days as required by La. Rev. Stat. 13:4207) in nineteen cases and that the delays in deciding these cases ranged from three months to five years."[6] The Commission also found that he failed to report that certain cases had been taken under advisement and that he had already been warned about delays in his cases.
Judicial conduct violation in 2009 campaign
The Louisiana Judicial Campaign Oversight Committee stated that Judge Clark violated the Code of Judicial Conduct by misrepresenting the cause of his 2004 sanction (detailed above) in his 2009 campaign materials. He included the following quote in a flyer: "Case overload can impact case disposition. As a first time judge, I fell behind on some cases and I was sanctioned."[7]
The Committee, however, pointed out that the reason for the sanction was not overload, but inefficiency. Thus, they said that Clark misrepresented the supreme court's decision. According to the court's 2004 opinion, "Judge Clark himself did not attribute his failure to decide these cases timely to an excessive administrative or judicial workload . . . it was clear that these cases simply fell through the cracks on account of Judge Clark’s own inefficiency, rather than that of the district court or excessive demands upon his time."[8]
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.
Clark received a campaign finance score of 0.23, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was less 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.[9]
See also
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Louisiana Supreme Court Website
- Louisiana's Fourth Judicial District Website
Footnotes
- ↑ WDSU "New Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Lauded," November 20, 2009 (dead link)
- ↑ Nola.com, "Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Marcus Clark to step down in June; election called for fall to fill seat," December 12, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Louisiana Supreme Court, Justice Marcus R. Clark
- ↑ The Ouachita Citizen "Clark formally announces for Supreme Court race" April 27, 2009
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed July 25, 2016
- ↑ Louisiana Supreme Court, "In Re: Judge Marcus Clark," February 20, 2004
- ↑ The Louisiana Supreme Court News, "Public Statement," September 24, 2009
- ↑ The Louisiana Supreme Court News, "Public Statement," September 24, 2009
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, Western District of Louisiana • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, Western District of Louisiana
State courts:
Louisiana Supreme Court • Louisiana Courts of Appeal • Louisiana District Courts • Louisiana City Courts • Louisiana Family Courts • Louisiana Justice of the Peace Courts • Louisiana Juvenile Courts • Louisiana Mayor’s Courts • Louisiana Municipal Courts • Louisiana Parish Courts • Louisiana Traffic Courts
State resources:
Courts in Louisiana • Louisiana judicial elections • Judicial selection in Louisiana
