Catherine Kimball
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Catherine D. "Kitty" Kimball is an associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. She has served in this capacity since 1992. On Saturday, October 4, she won re-election to a new ten-year term on the court against challenger Jefferson Hughes.[1]
With the retirement on December 31, 2008 of current chief justice Pascal Calogero, Kimball becomes the justice with the most seniority on the court. This means that when the new court assembles in 2009, Kimball will be its Chief Justice, a position that automatically goes to the justice with the longest tenure on the court. She will be the court's first female chief justice. (About 40% of the state supreme courts have a female chief justice.)
Kimball is a Democrat and her re-election means that the Chief Justice position will remain in Democratic control.
Legislative ties
Kimball is married to Clyde W. Kimball, former Louisiana State Representative and former Deputy Secretary for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Legal education and experience
Justice Kimball received her JD from Louisiana State University in 1970. Her work experience has included: Law Clerk, United States District Court, Western District of Louisiana, 1970; Special Counsel, Louisiana Attorney General's Office, 1971-73; General Counsel, Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice, 1973-81.
She opened her own private law practice from 1975-1982. During this time (1978-82), she was Assistant District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District. In December of 1982, she was elected District Judge, Division A, for the 18th Judicial District, and served in that capacity until being elected as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Louisiana in November of 1992. She was re- elected in 1998 without opposition.
Campaign contributions
In the 1992 election, Kimball raised $463,976. The top sector contributor was Lawyers and Lobbyist, and the group as a whole gave $309,516 (66.71%). The second largest giving group, of Finance, Real Estate, and Insurance, contributed $12,965 (2.79%).[2]
For information on Justice Kimball's 2008 financial records, filed with the Louisiana Board of Ethics, see here.
2008 Campaign
"Talk of the Town" Interview
On September 14, 2008, Justice Kimball spoke with Shreeveport, LA's "The Talk of the Town" about her campaign, the role of the judiciary in democracies, and what it would mean for women if she were to become the state's first female chief justice. She said that she and her fellow justices choose cases based upon their relevance to the state of Louisiana. She said they review about 100 cases a week, and that they are required to hear death penalty cases, without exception. She mentioned the recent highly controversial case State v. Patrick Kennedy in which the Louisiana Supreme Court sentenced a child rapist to death; the U.S. Supreme Court would later overturn the case. Their reversal was met with national admonishment, and Kimball said they have recently asked for Louisiana's briefs, suggesting that they may wish to take another look at the case. Kimball said that "They could have investigated it a little closer, quite frankly." She went on to say that the most "critical thing for any society" is to have an independent judiciary, saying: "People truly underestimate the importance of an independent judiciary."
For the entire interview, click here.
The Tulane Study
Other developments during the forum included candidate Jeff Hughes accusing sitting Justice Catherine Kimball--his opponent in this year's election--for being the court's most "activist judge." Justice Kimball responded by saying she was, "[V]ery proud of my, quote, ‘activist designation.'" If she wins, Justice Kimball will automatically become the court's Chief Justice, due to seniority.[3] Justice Kimball's financial statements can be found here.
Tulane study still used against Kimball
Jeff Hughes, Justice Kimball's opponent for the Louisiana Supreme Court, stood by using a study published by the Tulane Law Review to attack Kimball's judicial record; the study claims she is more influenced by campaign contributions than any other member of the court. Hughes has said that the subsequent apologies issued by the University won't "change my campaign one iota....[The apology letter issued by the dean of Tulane University’s School of Law]... [is] blah, blah, blah to me.”[4][5]
Campaign Finances
Through August 25, 2008, Justice Kimball received $566,000 in campaign contributions; notably, she received $5,000 from the prominent Dallas law firm of Baron & Budd[6]; Fred Baron, the firm's co-founder, is known to be a prominent figure in Democratic politics, serving as former presidential candidate John Edwards's finance chair in 2004, and later co-chairing the Kerry Victory '04 committee[7][8]. He is chiefly identified as the man responsible for supplying Edwards's mistress, Rielle Hunter, with a California getaway once the couple's affair became known. He left Baron & Budd in 2002, but will receive payment from them until 2009, per contractual agreement.
For information on Justice Kimball's 2008 financial records, filed with the Louisiana Board of Ethics, see here.
Endorsements
- Louisiana Association of Business & Industry[9][10]
- AFL-CIO
- Louisiana Sheriff's and Deputies' Political Action Committee
- Louisiana Medical Political Action Committee
- Baton Rouge Fire Fighters Local Union #557
Court Impartiality Questioned
Tulane University study
In February 2008, Tulane University Law Professor Vernon Palmer and John Levendis, an economics professor at Loyola University in New Orleans, released a study[11] that concluded that Supreme Court Justices overwhelmingly rendered verdicts that favored people who had made contributions to the justices' election campaigns.[12] "What we show in this study is there is an unusually high correlation between campaign contributions and decisions in favor of contributors, with very little possibility of being in error because it's done statistically," Palmer said. The study concluded that statistically speaking, campaign donors have a favored status among litigants appearing before the court, a sign it says indicates that campaign cash may have eroded the qualities most needed in such a court: independence, impartiality, and adherence to the rule of law. Palmer and Levendis looked at 181 cases over 14-year period of time. If a litigant or attorney had made at least one contribution to a justice the court ruled in their favor 65% of the time. Two of the seven justices had a contributors in-favor percentage of at least 80%.[13]
Palmer told the Business Report.Com, "Associate Justice Kitty Kimball, who represents the Baton Rouge area, sided with the defendant 61% of the time when the defendant made the larger donation. When the plaintiff gave more, Kimball sided with the plaintiff 67% of the time. This 28% shift strongly suggests that it is the donation, and not any underlying philosophical orientation, that accounts for Kimball’s votes," Palmer argues.[14]
Supreme Court chief disputes study
The Louisiana Supreme Court's chief justice lashed out at Tulane University Law Professor Vernon Palmer and Loyola University Professor of Economics John Levendis, who wrote a study that claims the Louisiana Supreme Court has been influenced by campaign donors. Chief Justice Pascal Calogero Jr, called the study a "baseless and unsupported" attack. In a statement posted on the court's Web site, Justice Calogero said the published Tulane Law Review article relied on flawed data and methodology in concluding that some justices have been "wittingly or unwittingly" influenced by donations from lawyers who appear before them.
Tulane apologizes, professors stand by study
On September 10th, 2008, Tulane University Dean of Law Lawrence Ponoroff, sent the Louisiana Supreme Court a letter[15] of apology for what he said were "numerous errors" underlying a recent Tulane Law Review article that concluded that litigants and attorneys that made campaign contributions to justices were highly more likely to receive favorable verdicts.
"Because of the miscalculation in the underlying data, the reliability of some or all of the authors' conclusions in the study as published has been called into question," dean Lawrence Ponoroff said in a Sept. 10 letter to the court.
Study author Prof. Vernon Palmer took full responsibility for the errors found in the study, but during a September 15th, 2008 interview with The Times-Picayune, Palmer stood by the conclusions of his study. "Yet with all the mistakes now corrected, he said, the study's conclusions, broadly speaking, are the same," Palmer said.[16]
Ethics Reform and Financial Disclosures
Supreme Court: 'Let us govern ourselves'
Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice Kitty Kimball, speaking in February 2008 publicly for the first time on Governor Bobby Jindal's ethics proposal, asked lawmakers not to mandate that judges join other elected officials in disclosing their personal financial interests. Instead, Kimball said, the Legislature should ask the Supreme Court, which regulates judges around the state, to adopt rules similar to whatever legislators decide to impose on themselves. "We're not here to oppose the concept of disclosure," Kimball told the House and Governmental Affairs Committee. "We do have concerns about the methods used to obtain that information. ... We would rather have the opportunity to govern ourselves." [17]
State high court adopts ethics rules for judges
Prompted by the recent passage of Governor Jindal's ethics initiatives, the Louisiana Supreme Court in late March 2008 adopted a financial disclosure provision for state judges and justices of the peace and their spouses similar to the laws approved for legislators and other public officials. Jindal launched his ethics law overhaul in a special session in February, but he left judges out of the new disclosure requirements and gift restrictions after the Supreme Court pledged to adopt a similar set of standards. If the judges had not taken up the initiative, lawmakers were prepared to pass restrictions on judges during the legislative session that is scheduled to begin Monday.
The court's new provisions, which will take effect Jan. 1, were signed by Chief Justice Pascal Calogero, who was not available for comment Wednesday. A statement from the court released late Wednesday said the disclosure provisions are "consistent with and comparable to those provisions adopted by the state Legislature earlier this year for legislators and other public officials." The gifts provisions incorporate portions of Louisiana law that apply to other public officials and the American Bar Association's Model Code of Judicial Conduct, the release said.
According to the new court rules, judges will file reports annually revealing sources of income and other personal financial information. The first reports will be filed May 15, 2009, for income in the 2008 calendar year, the same deadline and time frame as in Jindal's new law. Justices of the peace will have a different set of requirements and will begin reporting annually May 15, 2010.
Kimball's Own Words Regarding Federal Courts
In a story that appeared in USA Today pertaining to two cases involving insurance companies and policy holders during the aftermath of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, Kimball was quoted as saying "I'm not really interested in what the federal courts have to say about this, frankly."[18]
Notable Decisions
On Discrimination and Equal Protection
- Justice Kimball concurred in the majority opinion of the Court, which concluded that a mother who exposed her children to her lesbian relationship was not entitled to keep custody of those children.
- Justice Kimball concurred in the majority opinion of the Court, which concluded a white district attorney should have recused himself from the prosecution of "The Jena 6," six African-American high school students who attacked a white student, because his past behavior indicated a bias towards vigorous prosecution of blacks, and insufficient prosecution of whites.
- Justice Kimball concurred in the dissenting opinion of Justice Jeannette Theriot Knoll. In doing so, he dissented from the majority opinion, written by Justice Bernette J. Johnson, which found that a prosecutor consciously and impermissibly took race into account where he, in a death penalty case with a black defendant who was convicted of first degree murder, failed to select a black juror who had filed a discrimination lawsuit against the state for "institutional discrimination."
On Government Accountability
- Justice Johnson dissented from the majority opinion of Justice John L. Weimer, which imposed a 30 day suspension on Justice of the Peace Myrty Alfonso for her extreme abuse of power in having a neighbor against whom she harbored ill-will arrested and incarcerated for a night without probable cause.
On Personal Responsibility
- Justice Kimball concurred in majority opinion of Justice Jeffrey P. Victory, which held, over the dissent of Justices Chet D. Traylor and Jeannette Theriot Knoll, that the State of Louisiana Department of Social Services was required to "make reasonable efforts to assist [a] parent in finding suitable housing before it may seek to terminate parental rights."
On Taxes
- Justice Kimball concurred in the majority opinion of Justice Bernette J. Johnson, which held that a Government Agency Order requiring cell phone providers to pay into a fund for setting up rural phone service was a permissible "fee" rather than an unconstitutionally impermissible "tax," even though the eventual effect of these fees would be to pass on the costs to cell phone users rather than the general public.
- Justice Kimball wrote the majority opinion for the Court, which, over the strong dissenting opinion of Justice Chet D. Traylor, held that a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan (1) did not constitute a gratuitous handout, loan, or donation of public funds to a private entity where it used public funds to construct a retail development and accompanying infrastructure for Cabela's Retail Center; (2) could be funded through the issuance of municipal bonds pursuant to Louisiana's TIF statute; and (3) did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution where it handed out public funds to Cabela's, a private retailer, but not to already-existing, smaller local retailers.
On Term Limits
- The majority opinion of Justice Catherine D. Kimball, which, over the dissent of Bernette J. Johnson held that, under Louisiana's Term Limits law, Article 3, Section 4(E) of the Louisiana Constitution, Democrat state senator Cleo Fields was precluded from running for re-election where he had been elected to finish the term of a resigned predecessor in office, and then elected to two subsequent terms, since he had served long enough to constitute the maximum "two and one-half terms," under Louisiana's term limits laws. In reaching this conclusion, the court explicitly refused to apply a statute, passed by the legislature, intended to circumvent Article 3, Section 4(E) of the Louisiana Constitution and keep Mr. Fields in office.
On Tort Reform
- Over the strong dissenting opinion of Justice Jeannette Theriot Knoll, the majority opinion, written by Justice Pascal Calogero, in which Justice Kimball concurred, held (1) that limitations on the legal liability of Louisiana health care providers, as set forth in the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act could be circumvented by an ordinary negligence cause of action; and (2) that such a cause of action was permissible where a New Orleans hospital lost power during Hurricane Katrina, resulting in the death of a patient on life support.
See Also
External Links
- Louisiana Supreme Court Biography
- Baton Rouge Bar Association Supreme Court judicial forum.
- State of Louisiana v. Patrick Kennedy
- Kimball's campaign website
- Justice Kimball Project Vote Smart bio
- Running for Office: Louisiana Supreme Court District 5, Kimball
References
- ↑ The Advocate, "Kimball crushes competition for court", October 5, 2008
- ↑ Follow The Money
- ↑ Forum hears high court candidates
- ↑ Kimball, Hughes battle over report, meeting
- ↑ Volokh Conspiracy: Law Review Editors, Take Note
- ↑ Kimball, Hughes battle over report, meeting
- ↑ Texas Watchdog Special Report
- ↑ Wikipedia Fred Baron Article
- ↑ Louisiana Politics: Supreme Court Election Huge Battle
- ↑ Supreme Court Justice Kitty Kimball Endorsed By LABI
- ↑ "Palmer/Levendis study"
- ↑ "Money and Judicial rulings"
- ↑ "Looking Anew at Campaign Cash and Elected Judges"
- ↑ "A Common Sense Fix"
- ↑ "Apology Letter"
- ↑ "Tulane Law School issues apology to Louisiana Supreme Court"
- ↑ Supreme Court: 'Let us govern ourselves'
- ↑ USA Today
