St. Tammany Parish Government v. Welsh

Supreme Court of Louisiana
St. Tammany Parish Government v. Welsh, 195 So. 3d 1204 (La. 2016)
2016 La. LEXIS 1596
Grant, Guidry, Johnson, Knoll, Reasons

St. Tammany Parish Government v. Welsh

Opinion of the Court

In re St. Tammany Parish Government; — Plaintiff; Applying for Reconsideration of this Court’s action dated June 17, 2016; Parish of East Baton Rouge, 19th Judicial District Court Div. E, No. 631370; to the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, No. 2015 CA 1152.

Reconsideration not considered.

JOHNSON, C.J., would grant. KNOLL, J., would grant and assigns reasons. GUIDRY, J., would grant and assigns reasons.

Dissenting Opinion

KNOLL, J.,

would grant.

| j Because I find the judgment of the District Court represents a declaration of unconstitutionality, the Court of Appeal’s judgment is an absolute nullity under La. Code Civ. P. art.2002. When the appellate court notices an absolute nullity, the court is empowered to vacate or correct the judgment on its own motion. See Mack v. Wiley, 07-2344 (La.App. 1 Cir. 5/2/08), 991 So.2d 479, 486, writ denied, 08-1181 (La.9/19/08), 992 So.2d 932. Accordingly, I would grant and docket this case as an appeal to this Court.

GUIDRY, Justice, would grant the application for reconsideration for the same reasons given in reference to the original writ application.

Reference

Full Case Name
ST. TAMMANY PARISH GOVERNMENT v. James H. WELSH, in His Capacity as Commissioner of Conservation of the State Of Louisiana, Department of Natural Resources
Status
Published