Judge rules Landry, Ardoin must pay attorneys’ fees for failed election delay

A federal judge has ruled the state must pay a portion of attorneys’ fees for then-Attorney General Jeff Landry’s unsuccessful attempt to halt a Louisiana Supreme Court election. 

The legal showdown is part of a bigger political battle between the current governor and the court’s chief justice that’s likely to be revisited in the upcoming legislative session.    

U.S. District Judge John DeGravelles ruled Wednesday that Landry and former Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin are responsible for part of the legal costs incurred by Chief Justice John Weimer and three sheriffs who joined him to block the attorney general’s move to delay a November 2022 election in which Weimer was seeking reelection. 

Ultimately, tax dollars will cover the court-ordered payment. 

Landry and Ardoin, both Republicans, were defendants in a lawsuit the Louisiana NAACP brought against the state in 2019 to add a second majority-Black seat to the state Supreme Court’s seven districts. Two years ago, Landry effectively switched sides and joined the NAACP in asking the court to pause the election in which Weimer, an independent, would run unopposed. DeGravelles removed the stay order a magistrate judge had put in place in time for Weimer to qualify for his race. 

DeGravelles’ order requires Landry and Ardoin, who’s now the governor’s director of intergovernmental relations, to pay more than $36,000 in opposition attorneys’ fees. Lawyers for Weimer and the sheriffs had sought closer to $60,000, but the judge ruled a lack of itemized billing from attorneys didn’t provide enough specifics to determine a payout. 

Landry’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Now that he’s governor, the conservative Landry has apparently kept the moderate Weimer in his crosshairs. Twice this year in separate special sessions, the Legislature has considered revisions to Louisiana Supreme Court districts that would have largely gutted Weimer’s district and created another with its base in the governor’s Acadiana home where a Landry-backed candidate would be favored to win. Each time, the proposals have died in the state Senate. 

Both maps would have added a second majority-Black district. Although most lawmakers embraced expanding minority representation on the court, some weren’t willing to accept new boundaries that — unlike all other redistricting efforts — originated from outside the Legislature. 

Five of seven justices backed a map the Legislature considered in January; Weimer was one of the two who opposed the reconfiguration. The proposal, which originated in the state House of Representatives, reached the Senate floor but didn’t receive a vote.

Last month, current Attorney General Liz Murrill brought in a map that came out of a settlement with the NAACP in the 2019 lawsuit. She told lawmakers they couldn’t make any adjustments to the boundaries or it would nullify the settlement. Her proposal was shelved in a Senate committee. 

Lawmakers convene Monday to start their three-month regular session, during which another state Supreme Court redistricting proposal is expected to be filed.