Changes

==Consideration for chief justice==

==Consideration for chief justice==

Meanwhile, Victory sought unsuccessfully to succeed Catherine D. Kimball of Ventress in Pointe Coupee Parish as the chief justice of the court. Kimball retired on February 1, 2013, 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 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. The state Supreme Court declared Johnson the judge with the greatest seniority, and she succeeded Kimball.<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 Town Talk]],'' June 24, 2012|access date=June 26, 2012}}</ref>

Meanwhile, Victory sought unsuccessfully to succeed Catherine D. Kimball of Ventress in Pointe Coupee Parish as the chief justice of the court. Kimball retired because of health problems on February 1, 2013. 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 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. The state Supreme Court declared Johnson the judge with the greatest seniority, and she succeeded Kimball.<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 Town Talk]],'' June 24, 2012|access date=June 26, 2012}}</ref>

Victory's Supreme Court seat was taken by another Republican, District Judge Scott Crichton, who was elected without opposition in the 2014 election. A former Democrat born in 1954, Crichton was an assistant district attorney in Caddo Parish from 1981 to 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20130430/ELECTION02/304290035/Crichton-announces-Louisiana-Supreme-Court-bid|title=Crichton announces Louisiana Supreme Court bid|publisher=''Shreveport Times'', April 30, 2013|accessdate=May 1, 2013}}</ref>

Victory's Supreme Court seat was taken by another Republican, District Judge Scott Crichton, who was elected without opposition in the 2014 election. A former Democrat born in 1954, Crichton was an assistant district attorney in Caddo Parish from 1981 to 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20130430/ELECTION02/304290035/Crichton-announces-Louisiana-Supreme-Court-bid|title=Crichton announces Louisiana Supreme Court bid|publisher=''Shreveport Times'', April 30, 2013|accessdate=May 1, 2013}}</ref>