[4], .votebox { Jeff Hughes case shows how a judge's misbehavior can remain hidden When Hughes filed the lawsuit in 2020 in Iberville Parish, the newspaper's attorneys filed a special motion to strike under the states anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation statute. background-color: #ccc; Recent campaigns for seats on the Louisiana Supreme Court have left little to the imagination when it comes to the special interests involved. Douglas served from April 15, 1939 to November 12, 1975 36years, 209days, which is longer than any other justice in the Court's history. Tom Wine, the commonwealth attorney for Jefferson County since 2012, has died. font-weight: bold; width: 50%; Hughes had been in a romantic relationship with the attorney who represented the boys stepfather and mother. The ruling allows Hughes to continue to pursue his case against the newspaper in district court. .gray_divider{ Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. } .election_results_text { } line-height: 1.5em; color: #0645ad; Setting a password will also claim your account. He first took the bench in the Pelican States 21st judicial district, and was elected in 2004 to the Court of Appeal, where he sat until 2013. Nicholson accused Hughes of jailing her for 11 days out of personal interest in the custody case; Hughes has defended himself by saying that the attorney left the case before he ruled over custody. Read more. He attended LSU on an academic scholarship and received a degree in history with honors. font-weight: bold; More than half the worlds population sees AP journalism every day. The article purported that Hughes had sent secret apology letters to families who had cases before him in the late 1990s. } .widget-row.Republican { position: absolute; line-height: 40px; Lisabeth Hughes, retired Supreme Court justice, worked with Wine for years after meeting him in law school in 1977. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The focus of the stories was a custody case that involved a 5-year-old boy whose stepfather allegedly abused him. The opinion a concurrence by Louisiana Supreme Court . Incumbents are bolded and underlined. .race_header.green { } complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. 2021-O-00771 _ _ _ _ _ _ IN RE: Judiciary Commission of Louisiana - Applicant Other; Justice Jefferson D. Hughes III - Applicant Other; Joint Petition for Consent Discipline; _ _ _ _ _ _ June 30, 2021 . Hughes graduated Denham Springs High School in 1970. font-size: 12px; .inner_percentage.Republican { Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans . font-size: 0.9em; } The underlying lawsuit was filed by husband and wife Jonah and Ashley Keller against Touro Infirmary, Crescent City Physicians, and Dr. Jennifer Lapeyroleerie, though the complaint has not been made public. I have worked effectively, openly, professionally and collegially with all of my colleagues, and I will continue to do so, and they with me as well, Crain said. The Hughes Court began in 1930, when Hughes was confirmed to replace William Howard Taft as Chief Justice. Louisiana's Supreme Court has voted to censure one of its own - Justice Jefferson Hughes. He denied offering Blount money, saying that to suggest that I would personally pay out of my own pocket for any amount to any of these guys was a joke, really.. background-color: green; margin-top: 1em; The boy's paternal grandmother questioned Hughes' decision because the child had been scalded under mysterious circumstances while on his mother's watch. } NEW ORLEANS (AP) Louisiana's Supreme Court voted to censure one of its own Wednesday, saying a conversation that longtime Justice Jefferson Hughes held with a political operative during a 2019 campaign for a seat on the court harmed public confidence in the judiciary. When he or she retires, the justice with the next most seniority becomes chief justice. Hughes, the courts second-longest serving jurist, admitted bringing disrepute on the judiciary when he met with former Hammond City Councilman Johnny Blount on Oct. 30, 2019. text-decoration: none !important; padding-left: 0; background-color: #333333; color: #888; At issue in Wednesday's decree is a meeting Hughes had with the supporter of another elected court member, William Crain, prior to a 2019 Supreme Court election. Hughes was first elected to the court in 2012 to finish the unexpired term of Catherine Kimball (D) after her retirement.
margin: 8px auto; Now that his total unsuitability to sit in judgment of others has been. font-weight: 400 !important; background-color: red; He is a graduate of Georgetown University and New York Law School and previously worked in financial securities compliance and Civil Rights employment law. } In an affidavit, Blount said Hughes offered him $5,000 to switch his support to Liljeberg. } vertical-align: top; height: 5px;} His father, Jefferson Hughes, Jr. (1924-2017), a forester, was an executive for Crown Zellerbach, for which he managed the Department of Environmental Services and Association Affairs, from which he retired in 1986. If we didn't assume that judges are smarter and more honest than the general run of humanity, we wouldn't let them boss us about. width: 50px; overflow: hidden; Louisiana high court leaves abortion bans on hold | AP News color: #fff; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 3px; margin-bottom: 1px; }. [5], In 2004, Hughes, with four years remaining in his district court term, was elected to the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the First Circuit, on which he sat for eight years. } } height: 56px; The Hughes Court issued several notable rulings touching on many aspects of American life. font-size: 12px; } } It is the second time in two years that Justice Hughes has filed defamation lawsuits stemming from publications by The Advocate, and one of several hes filed against news outlets in general. z-index:1; } font-size: .9em; At the time of his election, Louisiana was a Republican trifecta. The Hughes Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1930 to 1941, when Charles Evans Hughes served as Chief Justice of the United States. color: white; [3] .results_row { background-color: #dac113; } Emailus. .infobox p { font-family: 'Libre Franklin' !important; Or to keep it anonymous, click here. The opinion a concurrence by Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice Jefferson D. Hughes III in a case against an obstetrician, her medical practice, and a hospital was issued alongside a majority decision supported by the rest of the seven-justice high court panel. Justices William Crain and Jay McCallum disagreed with Hughes and Chief Justice John Weimer stepped . The ruling said Hughes violated multiple judicial canons, including a prohibition on partisan political activity and that his conduct and subsequent events flowing from it and brought the judiciary into disrepute when Blount took the allegations to The Times-Picayune ' The New Orleans Advocate. Period of the US Supreme Court from 1930 to 1941, longer than any other justice in the Court's history, List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Hughes Court, A.L.A. .widget-key { .Indeterminate { Hughes made headlines in 2020 for filing multiple defamation lawsuits against a handful of media outlets and a legal watchdog group dedicated to stopping abusive lawsuits. If the pregnancy grows inside a fallopian tube as is the case with the vast majority of ectopic pregnancies it can cause the tube to burst, causing major internal bleeding and creating a potentially life-threatening situation for the pregnant woman. float: right; Louisiana Courts of Appeal max-width: 75px; Jefferson Hughes - Conservapedia Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. .non_result_row div { Background Hughes was reared in Denham Springs in Livingston Parish. padding-left: 10px; } Hughes denied an allegation that he offered $5,000 to a former Hammond official to persuade him to switch his support to Crains opponent, Judge Hans Liljeberg, and Wednesdays opinion says that accusation is unsubstantiated., But Hughes accepted a finding that this discussion left Mr. Blount with the impression that respondent was attempting to change Mr. Blounts support from Judge Crain to Judge Liljeberg.. Hughes received his undergraduate and J.D. Election results are from the Louisiana Secretary of State from October 4, 2008. [2] The Four Horsemen consisting of Justices Van Devanter, McReynolds, Sutherland and Butler, were a group of conservative justices who often voted to strike down New Deal programs, while a liberal bloc known as the Three Musketeers, consisting of Justices Brandeis, Stone, and Cardozo, often upheld New Deal programs. .electionsectionheading { text-align: left; Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: You have permission to edit this article. Louisiana's 1st Circuit Court of Appeal ruled Tuesday in favor of state Supreme Court Justice Jefferson Hughes III in an ongoing legal dispute between Hughes and The Advocate | The. background-color: grey; Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal 1st District, Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020), State supreme court judicial selection in Louisiana. .external_links_table { width: auto !important; } Crain beat Liljeberg handily in the runoff for the Supreme Court seat, taking 57% of the vote. The outcome of the past Judiciary Commission investigation into Hughes has remained walled off in secrecy, despite the Supreme Court adopting a rule change last year that allows discussion of commission cases once files have closed. font-weight: bold; The documents describe student sexual assaults, psychiatric hospitalizations, abusive parents even suicide attempts. .percentage_number { Louisiana high court censures one of its own - WBRZ I have come to the conclusion that my actions were inimical to the pursuit of the truth and that, because of my actions, justice suffered. } Louisiana judges often resign while under investigation. He left this business card, saying to call him if I decided to accept his offer.. background-color: #003388; .race_header.democratic { background-color: #003388; } Hughes appears to have used his concurrence to call out the use of the terms ectopic pregnancy precautions and pelvic rest, which are commonly-used medical terms that refer to instructions given to a pregnant patient who is told to avoid having sexual intercourse. After the boys grandmother absconded with him shortly after the hearing, Hughes ordered the boy back to his mothers home, despite objections from child welfare authorities, who argued that the boy was in danger while living in the same home as the stepfather. La. High Court Disciplines Justice For Election Interference width: 250px; Hughes professed sorrow over how he had treated their cases in the letters, which The Advocate | The Times-Picayune reported on in 2019. The U.S. Department of Justice is not in the habit of sticking its nose in backroads Louisiana custody battles. [10], After the Nicholson case came to light, it was found that Judge Hughes had written two other apology letters in another child-custody dispute. Unlike most states, supreme court justices in Louisiana are elected to represent specific districts. All Rights Reserved. The Supreme Court on Wednesday endorsed an agreement between Hughes and the Louisiana Judiciary Commission to publicly censure him over violations of several judicial canons. Ransomware criminals are dumping kids private files online after school hacks, Palestinians inspect damage after Israel ends raid of West Bank camp and warns it was not a one-off, Hope and uncertainty linger as California turns the page on state-run youth prisons, 15 killed by floods in southwestern China as seasonal torrents hit mountain areas, Times-Picayune ' The New Orleans Advocate. The complaint against Hughes was filed by another rival candidate, Richard Ducote, who lost in the primary. .widget-row.value-only.white { The exclamation point at the end of the 13-word concurrence suggests that the judges question is merely rhetorical. Work involves preparation of bench briefs and legal memoranda on upcoming cases following a thorough review of the record, research of pertinent law, and analysis . background-color: #003388; Those who received them were ordered to stay quiet about their Judiciary Commission complaints. background-color: #f4f4f4; .widget-row.heading { At the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, he worked on The Louisiana Law Review. At issue was a meeting Hughes had with former Hammond council member Johnny Blount, who was supporting appellate court Judge William Crain, in a run for an open court seat in 2019, which Crain later won. border: 3px solid #001A9B !important; Biography - Louisiana Supreme Court The newspaper appealed the district courts ruling, and the 1st Circuit heard oral arguments on it and asked no questions in October. The ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing, is a necessity along with skills in word processing. Judicial reform advocates point to special interest spending, alleged font-size: 20pt !important; } background: #4c4c4c; } Please preview our privacy and cookie use policy. Four justices removed Jefferson Hughes, a fellow justice, from two environmental damage cases last year after it came to light that Hughes received contributions from oil companies involved in those cases through political action committees (PAC) during his 2012 campaign. Louisiana high court censures one of its own | AP News In December 2021, the Louisiana's 1st Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that Hughes' suit can proceed. Hughes ruled in March 1999 that the boy should stay with his mother who had been represented for a time by Hughes girlfriend though his stepfather still faced criminal charges over the abuse allegations.