Le Blanc v. Michel

Citations

• 122 La. 339
• 47 So. 632
• 1908 La. LEXIS 458

Syllabus

<p>Appeal and Error (§ 488*) — Courts (§ 475*) —Injunction Suit — Subjects op Protection and Relief — Elections.</p> <p>Joseph E. Le Blanc, Jr., and Calvin K. Sehwing were opposing candidates for nomination by the Democratic party for the judgeship of the Twenty-First judicial district of Louisiana at an eleetiipn held on the 1st of September, 1908. The judicial Democratic committee for the Twenty-First judicial district was the special tribunal which was assigned by law as that to which should be referred and by which should be determined who was the person who had received the nomination for the judgeship. After the election had taken place the returns of the election were referred to it, and that body did as a matter of fact not only take action in the matter and declare C. K. Sehwing to be the nominee, but its finding was forwarded to the Secretary of State for action by him. Under this condition of things the law declared what his action should be. It is conceded by all parties that the district court for the parish of West Baton Rouge, where the committee held its sessions, was the proper court to which should be submitted all contests raised by candidates as to the action of that committee. Le Blanc, conceiving that he was aggrieved by the action of the committee, had recourse to that court for relief. The district court rendered judgment in his favor, and adverse to the action taken by the committee. The Secretary of State was not a party to that suit. The committee and Sehwing applied for and obtained a suspensive appeal to the Supreme Court from that judgment. Thereupon, and pending that appeal, Le Blanc left the West Baton Rouge court and instituted an independent suit in the court for East Baton Rouge, wherein he prayed for an injunction restraining the Secretary of State from placing Schwing’s name on the official ballot as the nominee of the Democratic party for the judgeship of the Twenty-First district. Neither the committee nor Sehwing were made par