Originally Posted By skinnerbox <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/08/us-usa-louisiana-race-idUSBRE8870BN20120908" target="_blank">http://www.reuters.com/article...20120908</a> <> Louisiana governor appeals ruling on black supreme court justice By Kathy Finn NEW ORLEANS | Sat Sep 8, 2012 1:15pm EDT (Reuters) - Lawyers for Republican Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal have challenged a U.S. federal judge's ruling that would allow a black state supreme court justice to become the court's next chief justice. Jindal, who is Indian-American, on Friday asked an appeals court to review a lower-court decision to allow black justice Bernette Johnson's to succeed a white chief justice retiring next year. The dispute over whether Johnson should be the first black justice to head the Louisiana court has highlighted long-standing racial tensions in the state. The state constitution stipulates that the longest-serving associate justice takes the top post. Johnson began serving on the state Supreme Court in 1994 while white justice Jeffrey Victory did not join the court until 1995. But Johnson was initially appointed to the Supreme Court, not elected, as part of a state settlement with the federal government over racial discrimination that expanded the court to seven justices from six. The other members of the current court, who are all white, contend that Johnson does not have the seniority to be the next chief justice. Johnson's colleagues on the court say that her first six years as an appointed justice should not count toward her seniority. Current chief justice Catherine Kimball attempted to resolve the dispute by asking members of the court to file briefs arguing the issue and having outside judges rule on succession. But Johnson took her case to federal court, asking that the 20-year-old voting rights case be reopened and that her full tenure on the Supreme Court be reaffirmed. In a statement released by one of his lawyers, Jindal said the matter should be settled by the Louisiana Supreme Court and the federal government should not be involved. "The issue on appeal is not who should serve as the next Chief Justice, but whether the Louisiana Supreme Court should be prohibited by a federal court from interpreting the state's constitution," he said in the statement. A lawyer for Johnson called Jindal's position a throwback to the days when Southern states used the principle of "states rights" as a smokescreen for racism. "That's what the proponents of slavery said during the Civil War. It's an age-old excuse," said attorney James Williams. <> Gee... looks like you don't have to be white to play the race card in the South. Only a teabagging Republican. If the two Justices' positions were reversed and Justice Johnson was the one who took the bench in 1995, arguing that Justice Victory was appointed in 1994 and therefore not eligible, Jindal and his teabagging buddies wouldn't support the argument. They'd make the claim that Justice Victory's appointment does not negate his seniority for time served on the bench. This is unbelievably transparent racism of the worst stripe. It's bad enough when a good ol' Southern white boy pulls this garbage. But an Indian-American whose parents came to America six months before he was born? Makes your head spin.
Originally Posted By barboy The only one I can safely say who is 'playing the race card' is you, skinner. Where is the evidence that Jindal & Co. challenges Jonhson's new elevated position in the state's judiciary due to race?
Originally Posted By skinnerbox The fact that Justice Johnson was appointed by the Feds because Louisiana wasn't properly representing the citizenry lays the foundation for this issue being racial. Johnson is the only African-American State Supreme Justice to serve on that court. Everyone else is white. And it took a Federal appointment to place her there. It was part of a settlement Louisiana state reached with the Federal government to correct the decades of racial discrimination prevalent throughout the state's judicial system. And for Jindal to take sides with all of the white justices who are p*ssed beyond measure that a black woman is going to become the Chief Justice is beyond the pale. It doesn't matter that Justice Johnson was first appointed to the bench. She has sat on the State Supreme Court since 1994. The next most senior justice, serving since 1995, is Justice Victory. And the law clearly states that whomever has sat on the bench the longest, becomes the Chief Justice when the seat is vacated. There is zero mention in the law about being appointed to the bench vs being elected. It's clearly a matter of being a justice and doing the job, regardless of how you got there. And since the Chief Justice who's retiring and stepping down next year is a woman, this issue isn't about sexism. It's obviously about racism and the fact that Justice Johnson is non-white.
