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'I have been in the shadows of life:' Future state justice-elect speaks on goals at BR Press Club
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BATON ROUGE - Louisiana Supreme Court Justice-elect John Michael Guidry spoke to Press Club on Monday, detailing his goals for the State Supreme Court seat.
Guidry is set to be sworn in in January.
"As a poor boy from the bottoms of South Baton Rouge, raised most of my life by a single mother who went to work every single day," Guidry said. "I understand some of the underlying problems we have that lead to crime and other things. I have experienced poverty. I have been in the shadows of life."
The seat Guidry will take is newly created and is the state's second majority-Black district out of seven Supreme Court districts. The district stretches from Iberville Parish to the Monroe area.
As previously reported, Guidry was initially in a three-person race, but Marcus Hunter and Leslie Chambers were found ineligible and removed from the ballot. This left Guidry as the only candidate in the newly created district.
"I will only be the fourth African American justice in the 211-year history of the Louisiana Supreme Court," he said. "I will be the fourth member and the only one elected outside the parish of Orleans."
Guidry was elected to the First Circuit Court of Appeal in 1997. Before that, he was active in the legislature, serving in both the State House of Representatives and Senate. Guidry said the experience carries over.
In the position, Guidry said he wanted to use technology funds to improve court accessibility, look into expanding specialty courts in the state, and place stronger emphasis on domestic violence cases and training for the judges handling those cases.
"We have a pilot domestic violence court in the 19th (Judicial District Court), we need to make that court permanent. We need to make sure we expand domestic violence courts throughout the state and make sure we have a judiciary that is sensitive and responsive to that issue," Guidry said.
While Guidry's swearing-in is set for January, he said his duties as justice begin in December.
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