Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Clerk Calvin Duncan
The Louisiana Supreme Court has upheld the legality of a new state law that abolished the clerk of criminal court’s position in Orleans Parish just days before the candidate elected to the post was to take office.
In a split 4-3 decision, the high court said on June 1 that Act 15, which passed the state Legislature earlier this year, was a valid exercise of legislative authority and that the measure did not violate either the U.S. Constitution or the Louisiana Constitution.
Although candidate Calvin Duncan handily won his election in November to serve as the criminal court clerk, state lawmakers voted to eliminate the criminal clerk office and transfer the duties of the office to the clerk of the parish’s civil district court, Chelsey Richard Napoleon.
Duncan had spent nearly three decades in prison as a result of a crime that he was eventually exonerated for. He earned a law degree after his release.
New Orleans City Council members took issue with the state’s actions, declaring that state officials had in effect created a new clerk of court position. The council sought to appoint an interim clerk and to schedule a special election to fill the post. But Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office sent letters to five council members that challenged their actions, warning that they could face serious consequences, including forfeiture of office, due to a triggering of the state’s “usurper laws.”
Murrill’s office said the council members were attempting to improperly displace the current civil court clerk in violation of the intent of Act 15.
Lawsuits over the Act 15 controversy were filed in the 19th Judicial District Court, but the state Supreme Court stepped in to resolve the matter.
The high court’s majority concluded that the state constitution gives state lawmakers “the express and unconstrained control” of Orleans court offices.
“(The state constitution’s) Section 32 grants the Legislature unfettered authority over those offices or any legislatively designated successor office,” the opinion states. “It was free to add to the duties of the clerk of the civil district court or alter its nomenclature. The Legislature also had full authority to abolish the office of clerk of the criminal district court.”
The court’s majority recognized that legislative actions did cause confusion, however.
“In reaching this conclusion, we acknowledge that the timing of the legislation was perhaps unfortunate,” the opinion states. “A policy argument can be made that the Legislature should have acted prior to the fall election. … Nonetheless, it is not our place under our constitutional tripartite system to question the wisdom of the Legislature in adopting this statute, or its timing.”
And the majority emphasized in a footnote that no violation of a state usurper law took place during the dispute over Act 15.
“... Due to the obvious confusion surrounding the implementation of Act 15, we foreclose any implication that Chapter 3 of Title 42 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, relating to the usurpation of office, should be found to have been violated here,” the court said. “Any actions taken prior to this court rendering this judgment shall not be considered a violation of that chapter.”
In a dissent, Chief Justice John Weimer said the implementation of Act 15 was unconstitutional and violated the people’s right to choose their elected officials.
“The action by the Legislature to abolish a public office before the person elected to that office can assume the duties of the office makes a mockery of the electoral process by completely obliterating the constitutional effectiveness of the people’s vote,” Weimer said.
New Orleans City Council President JP Morrell said he would support efforts to seek a rehearing before the high court on the Act 15 dispute.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Murrill said she agreed with the high court’s opinion.
“As I stated from the beginning, the Legislature had the constitutional authority to consolidate these offices, and Act 15 clearly transferred all duties and responsibilities to Orleans Parish Clerk of Court Chelsey Richard Napoleon,” she said.
Caption: The abolishment of the New Orleans clerk office that Calvin Duncan was elected to in November was legal, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled.
Credit: Calvinforclerk.com
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