Gambit: “Four years ago I recalled in this space Gov. Earl K. Long’s masterful put-down of then-state Attorney General Jack Gremillion — “If you want to hide something from him, put it in a law book.” I jokingly speculated that the same might be said of current Louisiana AG Jeff Landry.
Now, after watching Landry lose yet another court fight against Gov. John Bel Edwards, I’m beginning to wonder if the joke is on us — Landry clearly has no grasp of the law. And yes, he really might be as dumb as he appears.
Landry’s latest courtroom defeat occurred on Nov. 12 in Baton Rouge, where Judge William Morvant declared unconstitutional a 2003 state law that 65 Republican House members relied on to try to overturn one of Edwards’ emergency declarations amid the spiking COVID-19 pandemic.
That Landry lost in court — again — should come as no surprise; he has run up an impressive string of courtroom defeats. Several weeks ago a judge in St. Martin Parish (Landry’s political backyard) summarily rejected the AG’s attempt to bar local and state election officials from accepting private, nonprofit funds to help them run elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Immediately after losing the St. Martin case, Landry insulted the presiding judge (and may have violated the Code of Professionalism and the Rules of Professional Conduct) by speculating that Judge Lewis Pitman “was a little confused” because issues like those raised by the AG “can sometimes become complicated.”
Nobody likes to lose, but even freshmen law students know that the rules of ethics and professionalism frown upon lawyers publicly dissing judges.”