State Supreme Court Justice Jeff Victory’s disputed claim to become the next chief justice depends in part on the man he defeated for his high court seat almost two decades ago.
State appellate Judge Henry Brown of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal, is one of three senior Louisiana jurists who will help decide whether Victory, of Shreveport, or Bernette Johnson, of New Orleans, replaces retiring Chief Justice Catherine “Kitty’’ Kimball.
Brown was defeated by Victory in a hotly contested three-man race in 1994 that saw the candidates almost raise a combined $1 million.
Johnson would be the state’s first African-American chief justice. Victory would be the first Shreveport-area chief justice since John A. Dixon Jr., who served in that capacity from 1980 to 1990.
An odd set of circumstances has left the usually automatic seniority-based chief justice post unsettled, meaning the court itself will have to decide the issue. Victory and Johnson have recused themselves, along with the third most-senior justice, Jeannette Theriot Knoll. That led Kimball to draft Brown and two other appellate court judges to help the remaining justices decide the matter.
Johnson and Victory both were elected in 1994, however, Johnson was the first to be seated, taking her oath of office in October of that year, while Victory wasn’t sworn in until Jan. 1, 1995.
The dispute, however, centers on the nature of Johnson’s election. Victory was elected to the Supreme Court’s 2nd District, while Johnson was elected from a temporary sub-district out of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal in the New Orleans area. The special district, which meant for a time the state had eight justices, was prompted by a federal lawsuit challenging the lack of African-American representation on the high court. Johnson wasn’t elected to an actual Supreme Court district until after the 2000 consensus when one of the seven court districts was drawn to ensure a majority of black voters. Johnson won that New Orleans-area seat.
Brown, a former Bossier Parish district attorney, has since become the most senior judge on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal, which is headquartered in downtown Shreveport. A call to him by KTBS wasn’t returned. He and Victory made the runoff in their 1994 race, with Brown actually getting the most primary votes with 37 percent of those cast. But Victory flipped the results in the runoff, getting almost 53 percent of the votes.
The third-place finisher in 1994? Current Caddo District Attorney Charles Scott, who narrowly missed the runoff. Victory had 31.27 percent of the primary vote compared to Scott’s 31.23 percent.
Kimball has set a July 31 filing deadline for briefs on why Johnson should or shouldn’t be chief justice.
If affirmed, Johnson would fill the chief justice role another eight years until her elected term ends. Victory’s 10-year term only has two years left. Because Justice Knoll stands to advance in seniority more quickly if Victory is affirmed, she recused herself to avoid an appearance of any conflict of interest.
The chief justice is the top administrator for the court though many decisions are taken up collectively by the entire panel of justices, said court spokesperson Valerie Willard. The pay for chief justice is just over $157,000 compared to an associate justice’s salary of almost $150,000.