Judge Rules With Attorney General Landry Over Governor Edwards

Politics as usual or an elected official carrying out the wishes of the majority that elected him? The issue at hand involves state contracts and who has the ultimate authority on whether they should be approved or not.

Attorney General Jeff Landry  has refused to sign off on at least 40 different state contracts that protect against LGBT discrimination. This refusal is in direct opposition to an executive order issued by Governor John Bel Edwards. As you might imagine the courts had to get involved and yesterday a Baton Rouge judge sided with the Attorney General. 

The judge isn’t saying that these contracts are illegal. He’s simply saying that the Attorney General has the legal discretion of whether to accept any contract.

Those comments by legal analyst Clancy Dubos as reported by the Louisiana Radio Network outline the legal ruling in the case. However, this case appears to  be more about political maneuvering than the exacting words of the way a law is written.

This certainly  won't be the last we will hear about this issue. Judge Donald Johnson admitted that the state law over who has the final word regarding proposed contracts with the state is very  unclear.  This will certainly open a wider avenue for appeal by Governor Edwards.

Governor Edwards filed the lawsuit against the Attorney General in September. After the ruling the Governor's office released a statement suggesting that this ruling is in no way a ruling on the merits of the executive order. The statement said the Governor is considering further legal action but what that action might be is unclear at this time.