Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jay McCallum told members of the Minden Lions Club Thursday that Louisiana must demand more from its judiciary, warning against what he called a “judicial competency crisis.”
McCallum, who has served on the state’s highest court since 2020, said he is the only justice living in the northern part of the state. “I’m the only member of that court — one of seven — who lives more than 30 miles north of Interstate 10,” he said, joking that he not only lives north of I-10, but north of I-20 as well.
McCallum said the role keeps him on the road frequently. “Since January 1 of this year, I have been over 48,000 miles within the state,” he said, noting that travel to and from New Orleans consumes much of his schedule.
He illustrated the need for accountability by citing instances of judicial misconduct, including a judge who allowed a dismissed jury to change its verdict, convicted a person of a crime that does not exist, suspended a sentence that cannot by law be suspended, and used racial slurs in open court. “Can you do that? No, you cannot, and you didn’t even have to go to law school to know that. It’s common sense,” McCallum said.
The erudite justice criticized what he described as lenient discipline by the court in that case. “Her punishment was eight months paid holiday. And we the taxpayers paid for somebody to serve in her stead to do her work for those eight months,” he said. “We have a judicial competency crisis in this state. We have what we allow. We have what we tolerate. I don’t think we have to do that. I don’t think we have to settle for mediocrity in this state.”
McCallum urged citizens to take their role in electing judges seriously. “We need our voters to really look at these people. We need competent people who know what the law is,” he said, encouraging voters to file complaints with the Judiciary Commission if they witness misconduct.
He also pointed to recent reforms. “Because you voted for and passed a constitutional amendment last year, we now have seven new members on the Judiciary Commission, which is the disciplinary committee of our system that disciplines judges,” McCallum said. “I don’t think we’ll have a judge get eight months paid vacation again if we have that kind of behavior.”
McCallum, who mixed humor with serious commentary throughout his remarks, described his work as both a profession and a calling. “My profession is the law. That is what God has given me to earn money and put bread on my table. But that is not my purpose in life. My purpose is to let other people know that God can strike a mighty blow, even with a crooked stick,” he said.
The Minden Lions Club meets Thursdays at noon at the American Legion Memorial Home, located at 119 W. Pine Street in downtown Minden.