Fifty-seven percent of likely voters across the country can’t name one U.S. Supreme Court justice, according to a Penn Schoen Berland poll commissioned by C-SPAN and released earlier this year, Jeremy Alford notes in his latest column.
“The entire poll focused on issues related to the Supreme Court and there’s no better time than now to review those findings,” Alford writes. “While most politicos in D.C. watch The Supremes from gavel to gavel, the justices probably don’t come to mind for many in Louisiana until this time of year.”
That’s because the national media always covers the annual Red Mass for justices at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, he notes. The Mass is celebrated on the first Sunday of each October, with the Supreme Court beginning its new session the next day.
In its new term, the Supreme Court will hear one case that could directly influence Louisiana’s legislative elections for generations to come, Alford writes. There’s also a case—which originated in Louisiana—that will drill down into how defendants and attorneys can concede guilt.
“This may be the first time you’re hearing about these cases. If so, don’t sweat it too much,” Alford writes. “The C-SPAN poll identified 43% of likely U.S. voters who said they weren’t getting enough news about the inner workings of the U.S. Supreme Court. Another 53% claimed they had heard the ‘right amount’ and 4% went with ‘too much.’”
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in Gill v. Whitford, a case that has roots in Wisconsin, where Republican legislators seized control about a decade ago and redrafted the state’s legislative election maps. Now Democrats are arguing that they’ve been squeezed out by an act of “partisan gerrymandering.”
Meanwhile, in the McCoy v. Louisiana case, Robert McCoy, who’s been sentenced to death, is asking the Supreme Court to decide whether it’s unconstitutional for an attorney to concede guilt without their client’s approval.
Defense Attorney Larry English told a Louisiana jury that McCoy was guilty of the 2008 triple murder of his ex-wife’s child, mother and stepfather. McCoy disagreed with the decision and maintains his innocence.
“The fact that The Supremes are getting involved with this case could move a brighter spotlight on Louisiana, where there have been at least five such instances of attorneys conceding guilt in the past 17 years,” Alford writes.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
