State chief justice meets with Morgan City High students

Friday is Constitution Day, and 50 Morgan City High students had a day-early chance to ask an expert about the state and nation’s most fundamental documents.
Louisiana Supreme Court Chief Justice John L. Weimer spoke to the dual enrollment U.S. History students Thursday as part of an outreach program to support civics education, part of the Judges in the Classroom/Students in the Courtroom effort.
The students submitted questions in advance, and some were selected to ask their questions at Thursday’s event.
They wanted to know some basic facts, like how many cases the court handles. The answer was 9.58 per day, seven days a week, said Weimer, although the court has dealt with up to 3,500 in a year.
The students also threw some curveballs at the chief justice, like: Can a constitution be unconstitutional?
The answer, Weimer said, is yes. He said state constitutions may have provisions that run counter to the U.S. Constitution.
The state Supreme Court’s chambers may be a livelier than usual place in the months ahead.
Unlike other governmental entities, the Supreme Court isn’t bound by the one-man, one-vote principle that requires redistricting after each census. The seven-member court’s districts have grown out population balance.
Other political subdivisions are generally required to redraw districts every 10 years with only a small variation in population. Before Thursday’s event, Weimer said one Supreme Court district has a population of 400,000, while another has 800,000 people.
It would be up to the Legislature to redraw the districts.
“Interestingly enough,” Weimer said, “if the Legislature can’t draw the districts, it falls to the court.”
The chief justice said he has worked in the executive branch in the Department of Contract Review, and in the legislative branch as an aide.
“I respect their roles,” Weimer said. “And if you respect their roles, they’ll respect your role.
“The bottom line is that it’s going to be an interesting dynamic to try to establish some element of consistency but still reflect the diversity of our state.”
Weimer became the 26th chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court on Jan. 1, 20 years after he was first elected as an associate justice from District 6. That district includes St. Mary, St. Martin and Assumption parishes.
He takes on the new duties at a time when fundamental assumptions about personal rights and freedoms are being debated. Among the debates are those over the new Texas abortion restrictions, new and restrictive voter rules and whether COVID vaccination mandates are proper.
“The courts have been more and more the place where people turn,” Weimer said. “We would hope that people of good will can work out problems among themselves.”
And when they don’t?
“[U.S. Supreme Court] Chief Justice John Roberts said, ‘I am but an umpire. I call balls and strikes,’” Weimer said.
“I would add that it’s not my role to manipulate the strike zone, either.”
Baseball also provides one of Weimer’s connections with Morgan City High.
Principal Tim Hymel was once a pitcher for Weimer’s alma mater, Nicholls State, alongside the chief justice’s brother-in-law, Louis Hymel.
Weimer’s cousin, also named John Weimer, hired Tim Hymel for his first teaching job.
And Weimer was elected to the Supreme Court from the district once represented by Harry Lemmon, a one-time star athlete at Morgan City High.