louisian

LOUISIANA. The name of one of the new states of the United States of 
America. This state was admitted into the Union by the act of congress, 
entitled "An act for the admission of the state of Louisiana into the Union, 
and to extend the laws of the United States to the said state," approved 
April 8, 1812, 2 Story's L. U. S. 1224; the preamble of which recites and 
the first section enacts as follows, namely: 
     2. Whereas the representatives of the people of all that part of the 
territory or country ceded, under the name of "Louisiana," by the treaty 
made at Paris, on the thirtieth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and 
three, between the United States and France, contained within the following 
limits; that is to say: beginning at the mouth of the river Sabine; thence, 
by a line to be drawn along the middle of said river, including all islands 
to the thirty-second degree of latitude; thence, due north, to the 
northernmost part of the thirty-third degree of north latitude, thence, 
along the said parallel of latitude, to the river Mississippi; thence, down 
the said river, to the river Iberville; and from thence, along the middle of 
the said river, and lakes Maurepas and Ponchartrain, to the gulf of Mexico; 
thence, bounded by the said gulf, to the place of beginning; including all 
islands within three leagues of the coast; did, on the twenty-second day of 
January, one thousand eight hundred and twelve, form for themselves a 
constitution and state government, and give to the said state the name of 
the state of Louisiana, in pursuance of an act of congress, entitled "An act 
to enable the people of the territory of Orleans to form a constitution and 
state government, and for the admission of the said state into the Union, on 
an equal footing with the original states, and for other purposes: And the 
said constitution having been transmitted to congress, and by them being 
hereby approved; therefore, 
     3.-1. Be it enacted, &c. That the said state shall be one, and is 
hereby declared to be one of the United States of America and admitted into 
the Union on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects 
whatever, by the name and title of the state of Louisiana: Provided, That it 
shall be taken as a condition upon which the said state is incorporated in 
the Union, that the river Mississippi, and the navigable rivers and waters 
leading into the same, and into the Gulf of Mexico, shall be common 
highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said state as 
to the inhabitants of other states, and the territories of the United 
States, without any tax, duty, impost, or toll, therefor, imposed by the 
said state; and that the above condition, and also all other the conditions 
and terms contained in the third section of the act, the title whereof is 
hereinbefore recited, shall be considered, deemed, and taken, fundamental 
conditions and terms, upon which the said state is incorporated in the 
Union. See 11 M. R. 309. 
     4. By the present constitution of the state of Louisiana, which was 
adopted in 1845; the powers of the government of the state of Louisiana, are 
divided into three distinct departments, each of them confined to a separate 
body of magistracy, to wit: The legislative to one, the executive to 
another, and the judicial to a third. Title I. 
     5.-1st. The legislative power is vested in a general assembly, which 
consists of a senate and house of representatives. 
     6.-1. The senate will be considered with reference to the 
qualification of the electors; the qualification of the members the length 
of time for which they are elected and the time of their election. 1. In all 
elections by the people, every free white male, who has been two years a 
citizen of the United States, who has attained the age of twenty-one years, 
and resided in the state two consecutive years next preceding the election, 
and the last year thereof in the parish in which he offers to vote, shall 
have the right of voting: Provided, That no person shall be deprived of the 
right of voting, who, at the time of the adoption of this constitution, was 
entitled to that right under the constitution of 1812. Absence from the 
state for more than ninety consecutive days, shall interrupt the acquisition 
of the residence required in the preceding section, unless the person 
absenting himself shall be a housekeeper, or shall occupy a tenement for 
carrying on business, and his dwelling house or tenements for carrying on 
business, be actually occupied during his absence, by his family or 
servants, or some portion thereof, or by some one employed by him. No 
soldier, seaman, or marine in the army or navy of the United States, no 
pauper, no person under interdiction, nor under conviction of any crime 
punishable by hard labor, shall be entitled to vote at any election in this 
state. 2. No person shall be a senator, who, at the time of his election, 
has not been a citizen of the United States ten years, and who has not 
attained the age of twenty-seven years and resided in the state four years 
next preceding his election, and the last year thereof, in the district in 
which he may be chosen. The number of senators shall be thirty-two. 3. The 
members of the senate shall be chosen for the term of four years. 4. Their 
election takes place on the first Monday in November, every two years, so 
that one half of their number are elected every two years, and a perpetual 
rotation thereby kept up. 
     7.-2. The house of representatives will be treated of in the same 
manner as that of the senate. 1. The electors are qualified in the same 
manner as those of the senate. 2. No person shall be a representative, who, 
at the time of his election, is not a free white male, and has not been for 
three years a citizen of the United States, and has not attained the age of 
twenty-one years, and resided in the state for three years next preceding 
the election, and the last year thereof in the parish for which he may be 
chosen. The number of representatives shall not be more than one hundred, 
nor less than seventy. 3. They are chosen every two years. 4. Their election 
is on the first Monday in November, every two years. Title II. 
     8.-2d. The supreme executive power of the state shall be vested in a 
chief magistrate, who shall be styled the governor of the state of 
Louisiana. He is elected by the qualified electors at the time and place of 
voting for representatives; the person having the greatest number of votes, 
shall be declared elected. But if two or more persons shall be equal in the 
highest number of votes polled, one of them shall immediately be chosen 
governor by the joint vote of the members of the general assembly. 2. No 
person shall be eligible to the office of governor, who shall not have 
attained the age of thirty-five years, been fifteen years a citizen of the 
United States, and a resident within the state for the same space of time 
next preceding his election. 3. He shall hold his office during the term of 
four years, but shall be ineligible for the succeeding four years after its 
termination. 4. His principal functions are as follows: He shall be 
commander-in-chief of the army and navy of this state, and of the militia 
thereof, except when they shall be called into the service of the United 
States. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. From time 
to time give to the general assembly information respecting the situation of 
the state, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem 
expedient. Shall have power to grant reprieves for all offences against the 
state. With the consent of the senate, have power to grant pardons and remit 
fines and forfeitures, after conviction, except in cases of impeachment. In 
cases of treason, may grant reprieves until the end of the next session of 
the general assembly, in which the pardoning power shall be vested. Shall 
nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint all 
officers established by this constitution, whose mode of appointment is not 
otherwise prescribed by the constitution, nor by the legislature. Have power 
to fill vacancies during the recess of the senate, provided he appoint no 
one whom the senate have rejected for the same office. May, on extraordinary 
occasions convene the general assembly at the seat of government, or at a 
different place, if that should have become dangerous from an enemy or from 
an epidemic; and in case of disagreement between the two houses as to the 
time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he may think 
proper, not exceeding four months. He shall have the veto power. Title III. 
     9.-3d. The judicial power is vested by title IV of the constitution, 
as follows: 
    10.-1. The judicial power shall be vested in a supreme court, in 
district courts, and injustices of the peace. 
    11.-2. The supreme court, except in cases hereinafter provided, shall 
have appellate jurisdiction only, which jurisdiction shall extend to all 
cases when the matter in dispute shall exceed three hundred dollars, and to 
all cases in which the constitutionality or legality of any tax, toll, or 
impost of any kind or nature soever, shall be in contestation, whatever may 
be the amount thereof; and likewise to all fines, forfeitures, and penalties 
imposed by municipal corporations, and in criminal cases on questions of law 
alone, whenever the punishment of death or hard labor may be inflicted, or 
when a fine exceeding three hundred dollars is actually imposed. 
    12.-3. The supreme court shall be composed of one chief justice, and 
of three associate justices, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. 
The chief justice shall receive a salary of six thousand dollars, and each 
of the associate judges a salary of five thousand five hundred dollars 
annually. The court shall appoint its own clerks. The judges shall be 
appointed for the term of eight years. 
    13.-4. When the first appointments are made under this constitution, 
the chief justice shall be appointed for eight years, one of the associate 
judges for six years, one for four years, and one for two years and in the 
event of the death, resignation, or removal of any of said judges before the 
expiration of the period for which he was appointed, his successor shall be 
appointed only for the remainder of his term; so that the term of service of 
no two of said judges shall expire at the same time. 
    14.-5. The supreme court shall hold its sessions in New Orleans, from 
the first Monday of the month of November, to the end of the month of June, 
inclusive. The legislature shall have power to fix the sessions elsewhere 
during the rest of the year; until otherwise provided, the sessions shall be 
held as heretofore. 
    15.-6. The supreme court, and each of the judges thereof, shall have 
power to issue writs of habeas corpus, at the instance of all persons in 
actual custody under process, in all cases in which they may have appellate 
jurisdiction. 
    16.-7. In all cases in which the judges shall be equally divided in 
opinion, the judgment appealed from shall stand affirmed; in which case each 
of the judges shall give his separate opinions in writing. 
    17.-8. All judges, by virtue of their office, shall be conservators of 
the peace throughout the state. The style of all processes shall be, "The 
State of Louisiana." All prosecutions, shall be carried on in the name and 
by the authority of the state of Louisiana, and conclude, against the peace 
and dignity of the same. 
    18.-9. The judges of all the courts within this state shall, as often 
as it may be possible so to do, in every definite judgment, refer to the 
particular law in virtue of which such judgment may be rendered, and in all 
cases adduce the reasons on which their judgment is founded. 
    19.-10. No court or judge shall make any allowance by way of fee or 
compensation in any suit or proceedings, except for the payment of such fees 
to ministerial officers as may be established by law. 
    20.-11. No duties or functions shall ever be attached by law to the 
supreme or district courts, or to the several judges thereof, but such as 
are judicial; and the said judges are prohibited from receiving any fees of 
office or other compensation than their salaries for any civil duties 
performed by them. 
    21.-12. The judges of all courts shall be liable to impeachment; but 
for any reasonable cause, which shall not be sufficient ground for 
impeachment, the governor shall remove any of them on the address of three-
fourths of the members present of each house of the general assembly. In 
every such case the cause or causes for which such removal may be required, 
shall be stated at length in the address, and inserted in the journal of 
each house. 
    22.-13. The first legislature assembled under this constitution shall 
divide the state into judicial districts, which shall remain unchanged for 
six years, and be subject to reorganization every sixth year thereafter. The 
number of districts shall not be less than twelve, nor more than twenty. For 
each district one judge, learned in the law, shall be appointed, except in 
the districts in which the cities of New Orleans and Lafayette are situated, 
in which the legislature may establish as many district courts as the public 
interest may require. 
    23.-14. Each of the said judges shall receive a salary to be fixed by 
law, which shall not be increased or diminished during his term of office, 
and shall never be less than two thousand five hundred dollars annually. He 
must be a citizen of the United States, over the age of thirty years, and 
have resided in the state for six years next preceding his appointment, and 
have practised law therein for the space of five years. 
    24.-15. The judges of the district courts shall hold their offices for 
the term of six years. The judges first appointed shall be divided by lot 
into three classes, as nearly equal as can be, and the term of office of the 
judges of the first class shall expire at the end of two years, of the 
second class at the end of four years, and of the third class at the end of 
six years. 
    25.-16. The district courts shall have original jurisdiction in all 
civil cases when the amount in dispute exceeds fifty dollars, exclusive of 
interest. In all criminal cases, and in all matters connected with 
successions, their jurisdiction shall be unlimited. 
    26.-17. The jurisdiction of justices of the peace shall never exceed, 
in civil cases, the sum of one hundred dollars, exclusive of interest, 
subject to appeal to the district court in such cases as shall be provided 
for by law. They shall be elected by the qualified voters of each parish for 
the term of two years, and shall have such criminal jurisdiction as shall be 
provided for by law.