Armed barricade suspect shot and killed by deputies
November 11, 2017
Vandebilt roars to State Championship win
November 15, 2017
The 5th Circuit U.S. Court Of Appeals has denied a request by state officials to stay proceedings in the case brought by the Terrebonne Parish NAACP, which seeks to eliminate at-large voting for judges in the parish.
A three judge panel ruled that Gov. John Bel Edwards and Attorney General Jeff Landry were premature in filing their appeal of since judicial elections do not occur until 2020.
U.S. District Judge James Brady found that the at-large system currently used in Terrebonne violates the U.S. Voting Rights Act and the Constitution. Brady invited both sides to file remedies to the problem. Only the plaintiffs have done that thus far. Neither the governor nor the attorney general can change how judges are elected. But the legislature can. The local legislative delegation can.
They are still learning about the process, to determine whether any of them can or should file a bill that would make a change.
In the current voting scheme, all five of Terrebonne’s state district court judges are elected by all eligible voters who cast ballots in the parish. Judge Brady found that this diluted black votes, thus making it impossible for black people in Terrebonne to elect a candidate of their choice.
The NAACP has proposed that the parish be broken up into five sub-districts, with one a majority black district.
If the state does not present its own remedy, the judge can decide on one of his own, and order it. If that happens, because Brady ruled that the discrimination is intentional, he can also order federal judicial elections in Terrebonne to be federally monitored for ten years.
Last week Judge Brady denied a request by the defendants to stay the proceedings.
