Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
City of New Orleans, Louisiana, et al. v. Chelsey Richard Napoleon, Clerk of Court, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, et al.
Paid petition · Supreme Court of Louisiana, No. 2026-CD-00594 · judgment June 1, 2026
(petition-stage, structural)
Modestly above the 4.1% base rate. The model weights this up for a state or local-government petitioner, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a petition citing more than ten dissents, and down for a petition of 3,000 to 6,000 words and a petition filed soon after the judgment below.
Questions presented
In 2025, voters in Orleans Parish elected separate Clerks of Court for the Criminal District Court (“Criminal Clerk”) and Civil District Court (“Civil Clerk”). After the Secretary of State certified the results of those elections, the State of Louisiana passed Act 15 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session, which abolished the office of Criminal Clerk and transferred that office’s authority, functions, duties, and property to the Civil Clerk, thereby appointing the Civil Clerk to the consolidated position and nullifying the election of the Criminal Clerk. The questions presented are:
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Whether Act 15 violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by depriving Orleans Parish voters of the effect of their votes?
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Whether Act 15 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth A mendment by depriving Orleans Parish voters, but not the voters in any other parish, of the ability to elect the official that oversees elections and manages the functions associated with criminal proceedings?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Gwyneth Anne O'Neill
City of New Orleans
For respondent
Geraldine Theresa Broussard
Broussard Law Group, LLC
Case
Subject area
Civil Rights (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
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Proceedings
- Oct 08 2026Waiver of right of respondent Chelsey Richard Napoleon, Clerk of Court, Orleans, Parish, Louisiana to respond filed.
- Sep 24 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 28, 2026)