One of the races happening in Louisiana is the First Circuit Court of Appeals race between Kelly Balfour, a Republican, and Democrat Eboni Johnson Rose. Both are – or were – district court judges in the 19th Judicial District, which is in Baton Rouge.

The race was a pretty standard R vs. D affair until last week when some fireworks went off – the Louisiana Supreme Court essentially threw Johnson Rose off the bench for a long train of judicial misconduct…

The Louisiana Supreme Court has removed Baton Rouge Judge Eboni Johnson Rose from the 19th Judicial District Court bench.

The Louisiana Supreme Court majority wrote that Johnson Rose “poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the public and the administration of justice.” The move was approved 5-2.

Johnson Rose was elected to the Division K seat in December 2020. She presides over Criminal Section 4 and Civil Section 33. She is also in the running for a seat on the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana.

Her rulings on several cases have been questioned.

Johnson Rose found a former Baton Rouge Police Department officer not guilty of kidnapping, but guilty of malfeasance in office. One of Steele’s attorneys said that he was convicted of a misdemeanor of malfeasance in office, which doesn’t exist, according to Louisiana state law.

Steele was acquitted after being found guilty of malfeasance in office in March. Johnson Rose said in court that she made a mistake in her verdict. In June, the East Baton Rouge district attorney wanted a not guilty verdict given to Steele overturned in Appeals Court.

District Attorney Hillar Moore also believed that Johnson Rose gave out a wrong ruling in connection to a Texas-based attorney, Christian King, lighting his ex-girlfriend’s Baton Rouge home on fire in January 2023.

Johnson Rose sentenced King to 20 years with 17 of those suspended. King was given credit for time served and was set to be released in September, but that sentence was vacated after the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office took a closer look at the Johnson Rose’s sentencing.

Associate Justice Piper Griffin dissented with the majority, saying disqualification is a “harsh remedy that must be exercised sparingly as it runs counter to the decision of voters.” She said it should be used only in cases where there was willful misconduct, persistent refusal to do the job, public conduct that would make the public lose faith in the judicial office or a felony.

We’ll say the obvious – it isn’t a good look when the state Supreme Court essentially calls you a clear and present danger to the judicial process.

But here’s what’s crazy – Johnson Rose is still in the race for that appellate judgeship. She didn’t drop out, and she can’t be removed from the ballot.

The Louisiana Supreme Court has temporarily disqualified the subject of numerous UWK investigations, Eboni Johnson Rose, from serving as a judge. The disqualified judge, however, can still run for appellate court judge, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

That ruling came down on Aug. 6 from the Louisiana Supreme Court for Eboni Johnson Rose, a 19th JDC judge. The temporary suspension is effective immediately.

IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that respondent, Judge Eboni Johnson
Rose, 19th Judicial District Court, State of Louisiana, be and hereby is immediately disqualified
from exercising any judicial function during the pendency of further proceedings in this matter
based on a finding of probable cause that respondent committed a violation of the Code of Judicial
Conduct and poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the public and the administration of
justice. ~La. Supreme Court Ruling

Johnson Rose remains on the ballot for a spot on the First Circuit Court of Appeal. Because she previously qualified for office by the deadline of July 19, she can remain on the ballot, Joel Watson, Jr., Deputy Secretary of State for Communications, said.

“Candidates who qualify for office will remain on the ballot unless they are disqualified from office through the filing of an objection to candidacy,” Watson told UWK.

An objection can be filed by a proper party or by the parish District Attorney but must be done within seven days after the close of qualifying, he added.

He did not say whether Johnson Rose would be allowed to serve if she wins the election against her opponent Judge Kelly Balfour.

Can you imagine a weirder, more bizarre result than having a judge who was so incompetent and corrupt that the Supreme Court took action to get her off the bench at the district level would win an election to move up to the circuit court?

The seat in question, which is 2nd District, Subdistrict 1, Division C, is currently held by Jewel “Duke” Welch, a white Republican who was first elected to that judicial seat in 2004 and re-elected in 2014 and has now aged off the court. It’s likely a “white Republican” seat.

But three things seem necessary here. First, it’s absolutely shocking that Eboni Johnson Rose hasn’t dropped out of this race. When the governing body of your profession removes you from the bench because they find that you suck at your job so badly you’re an active threat to that profession, it’s time to stop thinking of yourself as a good candidate to move up in that profession and start thinking of how you can better serve the public in a new profession.

Like the old saying goes – you’ve been weighed, you’ve been measured, and you’ve been found wanting.

Second, the Louisiana Democrat Party really ought to publicly endorse Balfour. Sure, he’s a Republican, but the Democrats are for competent judges, aren’t they? After all, if the Republican Party of Louisiana could make an open effort to support Edwin Edwards instead of David Duke when that ridiculous matchup emerged in the runoff of the 1991 gubernatorial election, surely the Democrats can do the right thing here.

No? Or is brute partisanship more important than basic decency? Because if that’s the case then we ought to take it into consideration going forward.

The third thing is that Kelly Balfour is going to need to win this race by a big number, and he ought to win it with a sizable majority of black votes as well as white ones.

Let’s face it – at this point, if you’re black and you vote for Eboni Johnson Rose in this race, that’s a racist vote. When one candidate is in good standing as a judge and the other has been thrown out as a judge because case after case is mishandled, there really isn’t any reason other than identity to vote for the latter.

This isn’t about Balfour winning. He’s clearly going to win. This is about gaining consensus on obvious things: primarily that merit is more important than race or political tribe, particularly when relative merit is not in question.

Judge Johnson Rose ought to make this easy on everybody. Her party should demand it of her. We’re amazed that they haven’t already.