Back to the bayou: UPDATE III

One of the problems with maintaining three law licenses is taking care of the continuing legal education in each state. Compounding the problem is that Louisiana, much like everything else, requires some different CLE requirements than other states. That means that I take an annual trip down here just before the end of the year deadline to get my 12.5 hours. It's particularly difficult right now with the approaching session.

I signed up for a legislative update at the Louisiana Capitol in Baton Rouge for today and tomorrow, and this one is appealing in part because it's free to legislators. I figured that meant "free to Louisiana legislators," but the woman on the other end of the line in Baton Rouge told me to come on and that "something will work itself out." Not sure what that means, so I brought a check anyway. The first program starts in a couple of hours in the Capitol and will cover recent developments to both code (patterned after the French Code Napoléon) and what is termed "non-code."

It's actually snowing down here, so I'm glad I made the drive down last night rather than waking up early and coming in. As dry as the subject matter may be, I'll post some updates periodically. Plus, as peculiar as the law may be, it's always good to keep tabs on the work of other legislatures. As you probably know, Louisiana law is based on civilian law rather than the English common law. Civilian law is based on the drafting of legal code which is passed into law by the legislative branch. It is then the judge's job to interpret that intent more than to follow judicial precedent. In other words, a judge in Louisiana decides a case based on his or her own interpretation of the code and not those of prior courts. The other forty-nine states use a system of English common law based on court precedent. Laws and statutes are interpreted, and the ruling of one judge may influence or even control the ruling of another judge. With the passage of uniform laws in Louisiana, though, we're beginning to see fewer differences between the two court systems. Still, so long as the Louisiana Code is derived from civilian law, it will remain unique to the American legal system.

Update: Here's a picture taken this morning:



A word about the Capitol: it was commissioned by Gov. Huey Long -- the Kingfish -- to be the tallest Capitol building in America. He had it built in nine months. Four years later, he was assassinated in it. You can still see a bullet hole on the first floor of the Capitol.

It's apparent that these cajuns aren't used to driving in this weather (of course, I'm not either). The roads are parking lots, and not unlike southern Arkansas, there are plenty of guys in four wheel drives driving around hoping to find someone stuck to give them an excuse to use their winch -- even though this would be considered a dusting of snow in most places of the country. Here's the House committee room where the legislative CLE is taking place. For those of you familiar with our committee rooms, this is quite a contrast:



A few things of note: (1)the SWEPCO rate increase request in Arkansas made the scroll bar here on Baton Rouge morning television; (2) Congressman Mike Ross sent out a release this morning outlining his position on the auto bailout legislation in the wake of its passage in the U.S. House: Click here.

Update II: Here's the Louisiana House Chamber:



Update III: Bobby Jindal's crib:



Catching up on some e-mail, I see that I forgot to mention the two sales tax proposals that were on the ballot earlier in the week. Incoming Rep. James McLean (D-Batesville) notes a larger turnout than expected in Independence County, where the increase passed easily. Here's more on that vote. A similar vote in Jefferson County failed, and much of the leadership in Pine Bluff were against that proposal.