City asks U.S. Supreme Court to review the state's nullification of a certified election
The city filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to review the Louisiana Supreme Court decision upholding Act 15, which abolished the elected Clerk of Criminal District Court after voters elected Calvin Duncan.
NEW ORLEANS: The City of New Orleans has filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Louisiana Supreme Court decision upholding Act 15, the state law that abolished the elected office of Clerk of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court after voters had elected a candidate to that office and transferred its duties to another officeholder.
The petition asks the justices to address whether a state legislature can void the results of a completed election after voters cast their ballots, and whether the legislature can prevent those voters from electing the official who will exercise the duties of the newly combined clerk office.
The city argues the case presents federal constitutional questions under the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment.
The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled June 1 that Chelsey Richard Napoleon will keep her job as clerk of court in Orleans Parish, finding the law did not create a new position but abolished the criminal clerk position, which Calvin Duncan was to hold after winning a 2025 election.
City Council members and Mayor Helena Moreno had argued the consolidation created a new role, for which they appointed retired judge Calvin Johnson as interim clerk and called for a special election. Napoleon argued the move was "illegal," and the court upheld an injunction barring the city or anyone else from interfering with the new law.
"While I am disappointed in today's ruling, we stood up for the voters of Orleans Parish and defended what many believed was their constitutional right to have the results of an election respected," Moreno said in a statement after the June ruling. "The Louisiana Supreme Court has now provided final clarity on the legality of Act 15 and the consolidation of the Clerk of Court offices."
Attorney General Liz Murrill, who had sought the transfer of the criminal clerk duties to the civil clerk, said after the June ruling: "As I stated from the beginning, the Legislature had the constitutional authority to consolidate these offices, and Act 15 clearly transferred all duties and responsibilities to Orleans Parish Clerk of Court Chelsey Richard Napoleon. The Louisiana Supreme Court got this right."
The dispute has moved through the City Council, the Legislature, and state and federal courts since the spring, when a federal judge briefly halted the state from eliminating the position and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals later granted a stay. The Supreme Court filing is the latest, and highest, stop.
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