Court Opinion

ID: 9675942
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 05:10:28.57226+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:41.560376
License: Public Domain

SANDERS, Justice
(dissenting).
The majority, in my opinion, correctly holds that the Court of Appeal rendering the judgment in this case was sitting en banc despite the absence of one of its members.
I disagree, however, with the further holding that a judgment in the Third Circuit Court of Appeal must be rendered by a majority of the entire 6-judge court, that is, by four members. Section 26 of Article VII of the Louisiana Constitution is explicit on this point. It provides:
“No judgment shall be rendered by any of the Courts of Appeal unless a majority of the judges sitting in the case have read the record and have concurred in the judgment.”
Hence, in the Courts of Appeal, only a majority of the “judges sitting in the case” are required to render a judgment. For this Court to hold otherwise does violence to the Constitution and upsets the well-established procedures in the intermediate Courts of Appeal.
For the reasons assigned, I respectfully dissent.