ASSUMPTION PARISH, La. — Governor John Bel Edwards called on a district judge who used racial slurs in reference to two public employees to step down Wednesday.
Edwards said 23rd Judicial District Judge Jessie LeBlanc, a white woman, should step down after she used the n-word in an exchange of angry text messages to refer to an Ascension Parish deputy and a court employee, both of whom are black.
“The admitted and repeated use of racial slurs by a judge who has taken an oath to administer justice fairly and impartially is wrong, period. There is never any circumstance or context in which such derogatory and degrading language is okay," Edwards said in a statement Wednesday.
"Sadly, inequities still exist in society and in our judicial system. Judge LeBlanc has compromised her ability to preside as a judge, and she has damaged the judiciary. She should resign. The people of the 23rd Judicial District and our state deserve better,” Edwards said.
Edwards' calls for LeBlanc's resignation come days after the Louisiana and Baton Rouge chapters of the NAACP filed a complaint for her removal with the state Supreme Court, The Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
Baton Rouge NAACP President Eugene Collins says she should resign.
Similarly, the top prosecutor and lead public defender also filed a court motion asking that she no longer handle criminal cases in Assumption Parish.
The 23rd Judicial District includes Ascension, Assumption and St. James parishes.
LeBlanc initially denied using racial slurs but later admitted to WAFB she used the n-word at least three times in text messages when she was upset over the end of her extramarital affair with a sheriff's deputy.
She says she's profusely sorry, but doesn't believe it should cause any trial verdicts to be overturned.
LeBlanc says she'll stay and run for reelection. She was first elected in 2012 and her term is up at the end of this year, according to The Baton Rouge Advocate.
More Stories
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
