The retirement of Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Bernette Johnson raises questions on how well civil justice reform initiatives will hold up under a new court.
Lana Venable, from Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch, told the Louisiana Record that the state still has a clear need for reform, but whether that happens – and whether any legislative reforms are upheld by the court – remains to be seen.
"Given the public discourse and recent changes to state laws, the case for legal reform has clearly been made in Louisiana,” Venable told the Record. “It is important that the state’s high court upholds important civil justice reforms that benefit our businesses and families."
Despite Johnson’s retirement, the political makeup of the state’s highest court is not set to change. Piper Griffin, a Democrat, won election to replace Johnson in Orleans Parish, and in the Fourth District, Republican Jay McCallum won the seat vacated by fellow Republican Marcus Clark last June.
Johnson had served on the court for 26 years, according to a Louisiana Supreme Court press release. She was the first African-American chief justice of the court, and only the second woman in the state’s history to occupy that position.
While Johnson said that she hopes to be recognized for her efforts in exposing the state’s mass incarceration problems, she hopes to be remembered for being "fair and unbiased," according to the release.
“I’ve been a lawyer for over 50 years, a judge for 36 years including 26 at the Supreme Court, and a chief justice for almost eight years. It has been a privilege to serve the citizens of the great state of Louisiana,” Johnson said in the release. “I intend to see what retirement is like before going on to new challenges.”