by TChris

Louisiana seems to be having a difficult time keeping judges on the bench. First the Louisiana Supreme Court removed Criminal District Judge Sharon Hunter for "administrative incompetence" (among other problems, she misplaced the trial transcripts of a murder case). Then, as TalkLeft recently reported, the supreme court tossed Civil District Judge C. Hunter King for trying to extort campaign contributions from court employees.

Now the supreme court has shown the door to Judge Yvonne Hughes, who ran for judge a dozen times before being elected in 2001. The judicial commission concluded that Judge Hughes abandoned her private practice clients (without refunding their retainers) when she assumed the bench and was equally inattentive to her duties as a judge. The supreme court was also disturbed that Judge Hughes hired felons to work in the courtroom (which the AP says is a violation of Louisiana's Constitution) and gave some of them access to confidential juvenile records.