NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday afternoon that it will not rehear a case that challenged whether a new state law that reduced the number of Orleans Parish criminal court judges was constitutional.

Orleans Parish Judge John Fuller, who was elected in May for a seat he will hold through the year, filed a lawsuit on June 29 against the state of Louisiana, after a new law was signed, effectively abolishing three of the judge positions in Orleans. In his lawsuit, he argued a supermajority requirement applied to Orleans Parish and that the law abolishing sections of the court had not received enough votes to pass.

The Supreme Court stepped in on July 17, assuming supervisory jurisdiction and staying a lower court proceedings because of the compressed timeline ahead of election qualifying dates.
The Supreme Court's majority said the trial court's declaration went beyond what was permissible in a preliminary injunction hearing and that the order was over broad.

In a ruling on July 31, the court reversed the previous trial court’s judgment that the new state law was unconstitutional, vacated the preliminary injunction against it and lifted the stay.

While the overall application for the rehearing was denied, three justices—John Weimer, John Guidry and Piper Griffin—said they would grant the rehearing.