Changes

==Consideration for chief justice==

==Consideration for chief justice==

Meanwhile, Victory is seeking to succeed Catherine D. Kimball of Ventress in Pointe Coupee Parish as the chief justice of the court. Effective February 1, 2013, Kimball is retiring because of health problems. Victory and another justice, Bernette Joshua Johnson, an African American from New Orleans, claim the right to succeed Kimball under the Louisiana Constitution, which directs that the longest-serving associate justice becomes the chief justice if a vacancy occurs in the higher position prior to the next regular election. Johnson's service dates to 1994 when she was elected to a circuit judgeship but was instead appointed to the Supreme Court under a federal consent decree which temporarily increased the number of justices from seven to eight. Victory maintains that he is the legitimate successor because he was elected to the Supreme Court in 1994 while he was already a circuit court judge for nearly four years. If the state Supreme Court is unable to resolve the issue of Kimball's successor, federal courts will decide the outcome.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/viewart/20120624/NEWS01/206240333/Race-tinges-debate-over-next-La-chief-justice|title=Race tinges debate over next La. chief justice|publisher=''Alexandria Daily Town Talk'', June 24, 2012|access date=June 26, 2012}}</ref>  

Meanwhile, Victory sought to succeed Catherine D. Kimball of Ventress in Pointe Coupee Parish as the chief justice of the court. Effective February 1, 2013, Kimball is retiring because of health problems. Victory and another justice, Bernette Joshua Johnson, an African American from New Orleans, claimed the right to succeed Kimball under the Louisiana Constitution, which directs that the longest-serving associate justice becomes the chief justice if a vacancy occurs in the higher position prior to the next regular election. Johnson's service dates to 1994 when she was elected to a circuit judgeship but was instead appointed to the Supreme Court under a federal consent decree which temporarily increased the number of justices from seven to eight. Victory maintained that he is the legitimate successor because he was elected to the Supreme Court in 1994 while he was already a circuit court judge for nearly four years. When the state Supreme Court was unable to resolve the issue of Kimball's successor, federal courts designated Johnson as the new chief justice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/viewart/20120624/NEWS01/206240333/Race-tinges-debate-over-next-La-chief-justice|title=Race tinges debate over next La. chief justice|publisher=''Alexandria Daily Town Talk'', June 24, 2012|access date=June 26, 2012}}</ref>