The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1878-06-07
THE AMENDMENTS.
AMENDMENT Nj,

Inc general assembly shall divide
the State into judicial districts, which
shall remain unchanged for four years,
and for each district one judge learned
in the law shall be elected by a plu-
rality of qualified electors thereof For
each district there shall be one district
court, except in the parish of Orleans
in which the general assembly Lay
establish as many district courts as the
public interest may require, not to ex-
coed the number now authorized by
existing laws, except by a two-thirds
vote of all the members by both
branches of the general assembly.
Until otherwise provided by law, the
district courts now existing in the par
ish of Orleans shall have the jurisdic-
tion at present conferred by law. No
redistricting or change shall be made,
SO as to take effect during the incum-
bency of any judge. The number of
districts in the State shall not be less
than 80 nor more than As. The gene
raj assembly shall provide by law for
at least four terms annually of the dis
trict court in every parish. The gen
eral assembly shall have power to Gre
ate circuit courts to be constituted by
grouping the district judges in circuits
and composing the circuit courts with
such circuits. To direct the place or
places of meetings of said circuit courts
with appellate jurisdiction from the
district courts within the circuit when
the amount involved exceeds 800 OK
elusive of interest, and does not exceed
$500 exclusive of interest. The general
assembly shall have power, by a two
thirds vote of all the members elected
to both houses, to restrict the appellate
jurisdiction of the supreme court to
causes where the amount involved ex-
ceeds 81, 900 exclusive of interest, and
in case of such restriction, the circuit
courts so to be created shall have appel
late Jurisdiction of the class of cases
thus excluded from the appellate juris-
diction of the supreme court. The
clerks of the district courts shall be
elected by the qualified voters of their
respective parishes, and shall hold their
Office for four years. (Strike out arti-
cles So, So, Sc, 81, IS, 50, 81 and 1889
This is the most important and the
most Objectionable of the amendments,
and if adopted and put in practice
necessarily supercedes the present judi
ciary system OF the State. The grant
to the legislature s'to create a court"
and "define its powers" can neither be
justified nor defended. If one legisla-
ture can establish the court, another
can destroy it. We must have q fixed
government. "The judicial power
shall be vested in Il supreme court, in
district courts and in justices of the
peace' is the epitome of our judiciary
system, unless the legislature in its
wisdom shall think otherwise. That
such system will be faulty, costly,
cumbersome and disadvantageous can
be demonstrated without fucssc. We
undertake to prove
1. A clerk is constitutional officer,
and not having been created in the
amendment cannot be supplied by the
legislature. Without II clerk, court
can have no seal. To be court of
record, the circuit court must have a
clerk and a seal.
=. The court will have no original
jurisdiction.
| q. Unless the circuit court has some
original jurisdiction it will tighten no
labor, facilitate no business and accom-
plish no good.
4. Its appellate jurisdiction will DIN.
piicate the work of the district court,
] o. 1t will necessitate a perpetual ses-