NEW ORLEANS — A judge who signed a recall petition against the mayor of New Orleans and was later involved in lowering the signature threshold needed to trigger a recall election is asking the state's highest court to rule on whether she should recuse herself from the case.
A New Orleans advocacy group called Voice of the Experienced as well as several other individuals filed a motion on Tuesday to recuse Orleans Parish Civil District Judge Jennifer Medley from the recall case. Medley responded days later asking the Louisiana Supreme Court to appoint an ad hoc judge to determine whether she should be recused.
On Thursday, Medley wrote that she is "confident that any judicial duties performed in this proceeding have been and would be performed without bias or prejudice to any party. However, out of an abundance of caution, to ensure that any concerns that all parties may have addressed, this court will make a request for the Louisiana Supreme Court to appoint an ad hoc judge pursuant to La. CCP Article 155."
Medley approved a deal between recall organizers seeking to remove LaToya Cantrell and the Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin's Office to lower the number of named needed to recall the mayor by 5,000 signatures.
Legal experts have argued that Medley should have recused herself for not disclosing that she signed the petition, even though she had no legal obligation under Louisiana law to do so.
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