Reposted by Aaron Littman
There’s an earlier tradition in British law of commuting a sentence or even releasing the condemned if the execution (hanging) didn’t work. I doubt that custom was always strictly followed, but there were several notorious examples over the centuries.
![D. Closing Note
The Court emphasizes in closing the limited nature of its holding. The Court is not ruling
that the state lacks the authority to abolish an agency or office writ large. Rather, the Court is
simply holding that, in doing so in the manner in which Louisiana did here with SB 256—that is,
abolishing this particular office, creating a new office to replace it, and then appointing someone
for that office, all when the Louisiana Constitution requires an election—Defendants have violated
the Plaintiff’s federally protected constitutional rights to due process and to vote. As a result, the
Court holds that SB 256 is unconstitutional. See Anderson, 460 U.S. at 806 (“our primary concern
is not the interest of [this particular] candidate . . . , but rather, the interests of the voters who chose
to associate together to express their support for [his] candidacy and the views he espoused. Under
any realistic appraisal, the ‘extent and nature’ of the burdens [the State] has placed on the voters’
freedom of choice and freedom of association . . . unquestionably outweigh the State’s minimal
interest in imposing” the restriction at issue); Duncan, 657 F.2d at 700 (“the due process clause of](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mnigemxnozmuwtpllkefa4sc/bafkreif2e2koxocaf66r47r5vdkz6va4nnro6fo6nyrsfa2mivtkha4heq)
![the fourteenth amendment prohibits action by state officials which seriously undermine the
fundamental fairness of the electoral process.”).
V. CONCLUSION
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order (Doc. 2)
filed by Plaintiff Calvin Duncan, in his official capacity as Clerk-Elect of Orleans Parish Criminal
District Court, and in his personal capacity as an Orleans Parish voter is GRANTED IN PART
AND DENIED IN PART. The motion is GRANTED in that the Court finds that Senate Bill 256,
Act No. 15, is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. As a result, Defendants Governor Jeff Landry and
Secretary of State Nancy Landry are ENJOINED from (1) enforcing SB 256; (2) certifying the
appointment of the Clerk of Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans as the Clerk of Court for
the Parish of Orleans; and (3) issuing the Clerk of Civil District Court a commission for the
position of Clerk of Court for the Parish of Orleans.
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Case 3:26-cv-00460-JWD-SDJ Document 13 05/03/26 Page 48 of 49](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mnigemxnozmuwtpllkefa4sc/bafkreig5j36gm4tyyeo2cawidxlt5ubj6o5as4m7xmjmofjaabba6zykjm)
