The Louisiana Free Enterprise Institute has launched a new website to provide voters more information about Louisiana judges and the court system.
The Free Enterprise Institute is run by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI), whose president and CEO Stephen Waguespack said it will bring more transparency to the Louisiana judiciary.
“...As the state’s chamber of commerce, we have found this branch of government has an equally profound impact on Louisiana’s business climate as our Legislature has,” Waguespack said in a press release.
The website features a clickable map of all the judicial districts in the state. Louisianans elect the state’s judges, yet many people are not familiar with the court system and how it works, the website says. “Take time to explore your judiciary, from the Louisiana Supreme Court down to your district judges,” the introduction on the website says. It includes district by district maps, statistics, biographies, news and research.
Lauren Chauvin, director of LABI’s Judicial Program, said in a statement that voters can use the website to learn more about their elected judges and the people who are running against them. The website also shows how each level of the court overlaps and interacts, she said.
“This is an essential third branch of government that we feel warrants the same level of transparency and public access as our legislative and executive branches,” her statement said.
LouisianaJudiciary.com is the only website where comprehensive information on who Louisiana judges are, what their terms are, and how judicial boundary lines are drawn can be found in an easy-to-use location, LABI says.
“This is just phase one of an effort to shed light on the judiciary," Waguespack said. "Phase 2 of the website is in development. It willl give people access to “more detailed maps of election sections, public records, a searchable database of court records for select jurisdictions and analysis of how Louisiana courts operate,” LABI said in the press release.
“The business community has never sought specific outcomes from the court,” Waguespack said in the release. “We only seek a system that presents a level playing field to ensure equal justice, with fair and independent arbiters of the law. Transparency is the first step toward reaching that goal."