it is not necessary that entire membership of the Louisiana Court of Appeals be present or sitting on the bench for en banc cases; “[a]ll that is required is a majority of the complement of the court”
How later courts described this case
- it is not necessary that entire membership of the Louisiana Court of Appeals be present or sitting on the bench for en banc cases; “[a]ll that is required is a majority of the complement of the court”
- A majority of a six-judge court is four
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
SANDERS, Justice
(dissenting).
The majority, in my opinion, correctly holds that the Court of Appeal rendering the judgment in this case was sitting en banc despite the absence of one of its members.
I disagree, however, with the further holding that a judgment in the Third Circuit Court of Appeal must be rendered by a majority of the entire 6-judge court, that is, by four members. Section 26 of Article VII of the Louisiana Constitution is explicit on this point. It provides:
“No judgment shall be rendered by any of the Courts of Appeal unless a majority of the judges sitting in the case have read the record and have concurred in the judgment.”
Hence, in the Courts of Appeal, only a majority of the “judges sitting in the case” are required to render a judgment. For this Court to hold otherwise does violence to the Constitution and upsets the well-established procedures in the intermediate Courts of Appeal.
For the reasons assigned, I respectfully dissent.