New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-03-30

State. The gratuitous "opinion" Of Judge
Cooley, therefore. inasmuch as his court is
not Supreme Court and he is
not a Supreme Judge. becomes su-
premely ridiculous, not TO say
anything worse, from tie fact
that he is giving an opinion "
las IS al opinion without being asked
for it. 1t may be, however, that the
Judges Of the Supreme Court, when the
matter of the constitutionality of the law
in question, establishing the Eighth Court,
is brought before them to be passed upon,
feeling grateful for the flood of judicial
light thrown upon this great constitutional
question by the very lucid and lengthy
''opinior" Of the very able Judge who
presides with so much dignity, Judgment
and GOODNESS over the Sixth District Court,
will at once proceed to pass him vote OF
thanks and recommend his Judicial
promotion. The very fact that a
Judge can write four columns of
an opinion as is an opinion" sus-
tanning his right 10 ignore plain duty in
his own court, and to usurp the powers of
another and higher court, is enough in
this age OF Democratic progress to estab-
Esh him as q bright light--one that should
be followed-and if the Supreme Court of
this State fails to see Judge Cooley in this
light. it will no doubt be said it is be-
cause its judges are Republican, and are
incapable Of keeping up with the spirit of
the age. But whether the Supreme
Court accepts this "opinion' or not,
we are satisfied will make very little diff
ference with Judge Cooley. He is not a
man, like potter's clay, to be moulded into
any form that man would have him take.
He is made Of sterner stuff aud when his
strong and luminous mind has formed an
"opinion,' and be has given it to the
world, he means it shall 60 for what is
worth and nothing less. If, therefore, the
Supreme Court should decide that the law
est ablishing the Eighth Court is constitu-
tional and that Judge Dibble and Clerk
Lynne have a valid existence, we shall
be prepared to hear that Judge Cooley
still maintains his "opinion. the Supreme
Court to the contrary notwithstanding, for
he is Just the kind of man to stick up to
his ''opinion."
The idea that the Judiciary power of this
State shall be vested in a Supreme Court,
and such inferior courts as the Legislature
may from time to time order and establish,
does not seem to have entered into Judge
Cooley's head, and, therefore. must be
wrong. For nobody would suspect the
Judge of being wrong. And the
idea, too, that the Legislature should
undertake to remedy the yexatious,
and to the State, costly conflicts OF
jurisdiction that have constantly arisen
between the courts for want of law pro-
perly defining the same-so that judges
claiming to have equal iurisdic ion could
not interfere with the acts of one another
and set them aside at pleasure-is some
thing that evidently conf cts with Judge
Cooley's notion of right. This matter of
contention and the laws delay seems to
please him, if not the people; and he evil
IDENTIFY thinks they have no right to have
such a lamentable farce in the courts
remedied, if the remedy conflicts with the
interest of the Sixth District Court, which
in fact is Judge Cooley. 1t is to be hoped,
however. that if the Supreme Court, in its
wisdom, should conclude to clash against
the "opinion' Of this most learned Judge
by deciding that the law establishing the
Eighth Court is valid, that he will &C
knowledge there is something of the court
LETT, and respect it accordingly.