NEW ORLEANS – Three major civic groups in Louisiana last week filed an amicus curiae brief with the Louisiana Supreme Court arguing that the Civil District Court’s contempt citation requiring the house arrest of Mayor Mitch Landrieu was a “clear violation of the separation of powers” and would have significant impact on laws across Louisiana. The brief – filed by the Louisiana Municipal Association, the Police Jury Association of Louisiana and the Louisiana Conference of Mayors – also strongly argued that the judgment should ultimately be reversed. These organizations, along with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, have also committed to filing similar amicus briefs supporting the City’s appeal of the District Court ruling.
On Friday, Sept. 4, Civil District Court Judge Kern Reese granted a contempt motion filed by the New Orleans fire fighters’ in a decades-old dispute on fire fighter backpay and ordered Mayor Landrieu to weekend house arrest beginning Friday, Sept. 11. The Louisiana Supreme Court stayed the District Court’s ruling on Sept. 11 keeping Mayor Landrieu from house arrest. On Monday, Sept. 14, the Supreme Court also found that the District Court “abused its discretion” in denying the City’s petition for suspensive appeal and ordered the District Court to grant the petition.
“The District Court entangled itself in a very serious separation of powers issue even in the face of the clear Louisiana constitutional provisions and jurisprudence,” the brief stated. “Nothing has been cited by [New Orleans Fire Fighters] to provide the District Court with any power to turn the relevant constitutional provisions on their head. Thus, it appears such action was only taken out of frustration that this long-standing litigation has not been resolved, in an attempt to force the New Orleans City Council to appropriate money to pay the judgment to [New Orleans Fire Fighters]. This type of forcefulness from another branch of government is exactly the reason why all Louisiana Courts, including the Louisiana Supreme Court, put such emphasis of the principles expressed in Article XII, Section 10 of the constitution and why the District Court erred in granting [New Orleans Fire Fighters’] Motion for Contempt and holding the Mayor, personally, under house arrest if the 2014 Consent Judgment is not paid. There is no clearer case than this to demonstrate a disregard of the separation of powers doctrine and, hence, the reason the District Court must be reversed.”
The amicus brief also argued that the District Court violated the proper Louisiana procedure to enforce a judgment against the City and cautioned that any effort by the judiciary to direct public funds would constitute an “unlawful seizure of public funds.”
The amicus curiae brief was filed by organizations comprised of governmental entities or elected officials throughout the state that were formed for the protection and promotion of the interests of its members and their citizens.
The Louisiana Municipal Association is an association comprised of approximately 300 governmental entities throughout the state.
The Police Jury Association of Louisiana was created in 1924 to improve parish government in the State of Louisiana. All 64 parishes in the State of Louisiana, whether organized as a Police Jury, Parish Council or Parish Commission, are members of the Police Jury Association of Louisiana.
The Louisiana Conference of Mayors is an association whose eligible members include popularly elected Mayors of municipalities with a population in excess of 30,000 people and City-Parish Presidents (CEO) of parishes with a population in excess of 30,000 people or unincorporated population in excess of 100,000 people.
The current members of the Louisiana Conference of Mayors include the mayors and/or parish presidents of the following entities: the City of Alexandria, the City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge, the City of Bossier City, Jefferson Parish, Lafayette Consolidated Government, the City of Lake Charles, the City of Monroe, the City of Natchitoches, the City of New Orleans, the City of Shreveport, and Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government. Associate Members include the mayors of the City of Bogalusa, the City of Opelousas, the City of Slidell, and the City of Westwego.
Read the entire amicus brief here
