After spat, La. to have 1st black chief justice

[Draggingtree]

Galveston Daily News:

 

 

After spat, La. to have 1st black chief justice

 

 

The Associated Press

 

Published October 16, 2012

 

NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court resolved a racially-tinged power struggle inside its own ranks, ruling Tuesday that Bernette Johnson should be the state's first black chief justice.

 

Johnson's years of appointed and elected service on the high court give her the seniority to succeed Chief Justice Catherine "Kitty" Kimball early next year, the court said in a unanimous ruling. Justice Jeffrey Victory, who is white, argued Johnson's appointed service shouldn't count and he deserved to be chief justice.

Voters elected Johnson in 1994