Opinion ID: 1953344
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Act 512 of 1992: Origins and Purpose

Text: In the 1992 Regular Legislative Session, Senator Charles D. Jones filed Senate Bill 1255, proposing to divide the first and third districts of the Court of Appeal, Second Circuit into two elections sections, each having one section with a majority black population and voter registration. In this original form, SB 1255 was read for the first and second time by title and referred to the Senate Judiciary A Committee, which discussed the bill in open committee on June 2, 1992. Senator Jones, together with Judge Bill Roberts, testified before the committee, and proposed a sweeping amendment to the bill which placed it largely in the posture that it finally passed the legislature and became Act 512. The clear purpose of the amendment, reflected by hearing transcripts, was to draft and pass legislation to aid in effectuating settlement of the Chisom case then pending before the Fifth Circuit. Before the committee, Judge Roberts explained: Senator Kelly: Does this settle the Chisom case? .... Judge Roberts: This is part of it. We then have to have a Consent Decree approved by the Fifth Circuit and Judge Schwartz. This is a part of it, but we felt that we needed to get the bill out and on the floor so thatbecause it's going to take us a few more days. We have worked on drafts, we have met with the Supreme Court a couple of times. I've had conversations with lawyers for the plaintiffs. We have not yet agreed on any exact wording on Chisom. If we do not agree, this bill is ineffective. If you notice there is a provision in the amendment that provides that unlessif the matter is not settled, then this bill is null and void. Minutes at 55, Louisiana State Senate, Judiciary A Committee (June 2, 1992). The exigency that Judge Roberts alluded to was prompted by the fact that while the legislature was in session, all parties involved in Chisom were attempting to settle the lengthy Chisom litigation. Senator Jones later explained to the committee that during the month of June 1992, the Justice Department was going to review drafts of the consent decree and this bill, and the person who's [sic] over the entire Civil Rights Division for the Department of Justice is going to pass on it. Id. Therefore, the bill's sponsor was attempting to place this legislation on the fast track to aid in effectuating settlement. Thus, the parties sought concurrent enactments to effectuate the case's settlement: (1) a legislative act, and (2) a federal consent judgment memorializing such act. With that backdrop, the substantive amendments to SB 1255, converting the second circuit reapportionment bill to a supreme court reapportionment bill, consisted of a two-fold enactment. First, the bill would enact La.R.S. 13:101.1, relative to reapportionment of supreme court districts. Section 101.1 created a supreme court district comprised of Orleans Parish for the purpose of electing a justice, which justice would take office in the newly created district on January 1, 2000, or earlier if a vacancy occurred in the first supreme court district before January 2000. The section also instructed the legislature to reapportion the supreme court into seven districts in the 1998 Regular Session based on the most current census data. [7] These new districts would become effective on January 1, 2000 for elections occurring on or after January 1, 2000. Lastly, section 101.1 provided that the justices holding office on the effective date of the Act, June 22, 1992, would not be affected by section 101.1. In addition, retirement benefits provided by La.R.S. 11:558 (A)(5)(a)(ii) were extended to each justice holding office as of June 22, 1992. [8] The second substantive amendment to SB 1255 proposed in committee was the enactment of La.R.S. 13:312.4. In short, section 312.4 created the  Chisom seat. [9] Section 312.4 would create an additional judgeship for the Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit. The section provided that an election to this seat would take place in the 1992 congressional primary election, with the term of office commencing January 1, 1993. The section provided that pursuant to the power vested in the supreme court by LA. CONST. art. V, § 5(A), the judge elected to the fourth circuit seat would immediately be assigned by the supreme court to sit on the supreme court. While assigned, the section instructed that the judge would participate and share equally in the cases and duties of the justices of the supreme court during the period of assignment. Further, the judge shall receive the same compensation, benefits, expenses, and emoluments of office as are now or as may hereafter be provided by law for justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Section 312.4 contained an expiration provision that would dissolve the  Chisom seat on the first of two occurrences: (1) once a justice takes office in the new Orleans Parish district before January 2000 upon a vacancy in the first district, or (2) once a justice takes office in the new Orleans Parish district after being elected in the regular supreme court election held in the year 2000. Finally, the amendments to SB 1255 provided that the legislation would be voided and of no effect if a consent decree in the Chisom case was not entered into in federal court. The Act would become effective on the governor's signature. On June 2, 1992, the Senate committee approved SB 1255 as amended. The full Senate called the bill out of its regular order and passed it by a vote of 36 yeas, 2 nays, and 1 abstention on June 4, 1992. The House and Governmental Affairs Committee held hearings on the bill on June 9, 1992. The House committee reported the bill favorably, and with only a technical amendment, by a 12-0-1 vote. The full House called SB 1255 out of its regular order and passed it on June 16, 1992 by a 85-14-6 vote. The Senate concurred in the House amendments by a vote of 38-0-1 on June 18, 1992. The bill was signed into law on June 22, 1992 by Governor Edwin W. Edwards and became Act 512. On August 21, 1992, all parties involved in the Chisom case, as well as the federal district judge, signed a Consent Judgment in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The district court's order stated that the Consent Judgment memorializes La. Acts 1992, No. 512 and effectively closed the Chisom case. That same day, the Fifth Circuit remanded the case to the federal district court to effectuate settlement. In October 1992, with the Consent Judgment having been approved, the Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeal in the Chisom case, which was on remand from the United States Supreme Court.