Minority judgeship could head to court

The Terrebonne Parish Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People vows to file a federal suit seeking to have one seat on the 32nd Judicial District bench designated for minorities after a similar measure suffered defeat last Tuesday on the state House floor.

House Bill 582, sponsored by state Rep. Damon Baldone (D-Houma), failed in a 51-40 vote. Baldone, Reps. Jerome “Dee” Richard (I-Thibodaux) and Karen St. Germain (D-Pierre Part) voted in support of the bill, while the Tri-parishes’ other two representatives, Joe Harrison (D-Gray), Gordon Dove (R-Houma) and Jerry “Truck” Gisclair (D-Larose) voted against it.

State Rep. Sam Jones (D-Franklin) was absent from the vote.

The anti-H.B. 582 crowd also included Terrebonne’s sitting judges and First Circuit Court of Appeal Judge James Gaidry, who represents the parish. The judges penned letters to the House accusing the bill of being short on details and asking lawmakers to oppose it.

The bill would have converted one seat, likely the Division C judgeship, into a minority-held post and made three of the four remaining seats at-large positions. The fourth judgeship would have been designated a non-minority division.

Terrebonne Parish’s five district seats are all currently considered at-large positions. As such, voters decide each seat.

Since the 32nd Judicial District’s inception, all five seats have been held by white men.

Following last week’s failure of H.B. 582, Terrebonne NAACP President Jerome Boykin said the local chapter, with help from the organization’s national office, will file a federal lawsuit in the coming days.

“It is unfortunate that our Terrebonne and surrounding area lawmakers were apparently not encouraged to support the bill last week,” said Michael Billiot, a member of the United Houma Nation and local attorney. “But I guess it might have been too much to hope for, considering the entire Terrebonne Parish delegation looks exactly like the current crop of Terrebonne’s judiciary, white, middle-aged males.”

To Billiot, creating a minority judgeship district in Terrebonne is a question of representation, not race.

The measure, he said, is tied to redistricting and the federal law, namely the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which specifically prohibits discriminatory voting and election practices.

According to the 2010 Census, 70 percent of Terrebonne Parish is comprised of whites, 20 percent blacks, six percent Native Americans and four percent Hispanic. Billiot said the numbers suggest 30 percent of the community, minorities, should have a seat on the 32nd Judicial District’s bench.

“The Voting Rights Act has been interpreted to require that our elected bodies of government reflect the racial makeup of the community they serve,” Billiot said. “There is no dispute as to the economical, social, cultural and other vast benefits of a diverse society.

“The public should not confuse the issue with race when it’s really representation.”

Billiot contends Terrebonne’s “antiquated voting and election practice” of voters selecting five judges in an at-large jurisdiction has “had the effect of producing white male judges exclusive to all other races.”

“It would seem that voting and election practices that made minority representation more likely at all levels of government and in each branch, including judiciary, is a no-brainer,” he said.

But last week’s House vote came as little surprise to Billiot and other supporters of the measure. “Historically in Louisiana, minority groups have achieved compliance with the Voting Rights Act and specifically redistricting by winning a federal lawsuit claiming the district’s voting practice or ‘effect is discriminatory and not by agreement or support of the ruling class,” he said.

Attorney Anthony Lewis, who is black, is the only minority to ever seek a seat on the 32nd Judicial District bench in the history of the court. He campaigned in 1994, but lost the Division B seat to former district judge John Walker. Lewis garnered 10 percent of the vote.

“Why can’t we as African-Americans face someone who looks like us when we enter a Terrebonne Parish courtroom?” he asked.

After the vote, state Rep. Baldone expressed hope “that the stakeholders can all sit down together and resolve their differences and concerns.”

But local NAACP leader Boykin sees more fighting ahead.

“There is no need to rejoice. This is not over,” he said. “Terrebonne Parish will have a minority judgeship.

“Through this process, we were able to see who our friends are and are not because racist heads were raised,” Boykin said. “All of this has left us with no other recourse but to file suit and, of course, to prepare and inform everyone on the right candidate who will represent their needs and the needs of their families before they vote this fall in the 2011 parish and state elections.”

Terrebonne Parish attorney Michael Billiot, a member of the United Houma Indians, speaks before state House Government Committee members prior to last week’s vote on House Bill 582. Billiot favored the measure, which failed by a 51-40 vote. HOWARD J. CASTAY JR.