Lawyers for Republican Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal have challenged a US federal judge’s ruling allowing black justice Bernette Johnson to succeed a white chief justice retiring next year, according to a report in The Chicago Tribune.
The dispute arose over the state constitution which lays down that the longest-serving associate justice gets the job. Johnson served on the state Supreme Court in 1994 while white justice Jeffrey Victory joined in 1995, according to the newspaper report.
Racial discrimination
Johnson’s was originally appointed to the Supreme Court, not elected like the others, as part of a state settlement with the federal government over racial discrimination. The other members of the all white court contend that Johnson does not have the seniority to be the next chief justice and her first six years should not count.
Efforts to resolve the case failed and Johnson has taken her case to federal court asking that the 20 year old voting rights case be reopened and that her full tenure on the Supreme Court be reaffirmed.
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