Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice to Resign?

Rumors are swirling that the Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Pascal Calogero, may be about to resign because of accusations of corruption.

Judges in Louisiana have recently come under fire from Vernon Valentine Palmer, a Tulane law professor, whose research appears to suggest a correlation between campaign contributions and judges’ decisions. Palmer’s full research is due to be published in the Tulane Law Review shortly, but for a summary of his findings read this article from the New York Times.

Remember, Louisiana’s judiciary fought hard for an exemption from the state’s newly enacted financial disclosure law and promised to regulate themselves. Although the financial disclosure law does not apply to campaign contributions, in light of Palmer’s findings, one has to wonder why the judiciary was quite so insistent on securing an exemption.