Lawmakers call to reform Louisiana’s ‘blatantly unconstitutional’ justice of the peace system

A bipartisan group of senior Louisiana lawmakers have called for reform of the state’s justice of the peace courts after an investigation published by the Guardian revealed systemic due process issues that experts have labeled “blatantly unconstitutional”.

Louisiana’s justices of the peace courts, which oversee thousands of evictions annually, alongside other small claims and civil matters, are uniquely funded by the filing fees that each court generates. The Guardian revealed a system that brings in millions of dollars a year in filing fee revenue – leading to a handful of justices, who are compensated directly from this income, earning lucrative amounts.

One justice in the New Orleans metro area, Chuck Cusimano II, earned in excess of $400,000 in 2025, mostly from eviction filing fees – over $80,000 more than the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts, earns in salary. He is among five justices identified by the Guardian who made more than $220,000 in income from filing fees in at least one year from 2023 to 2025.

Experts say the system creates incentives for justices to rule in favor of landlords who bring in repeat cases to their courts and routinely denies tenants their due process rights in one of the poorest states in the US amid a nationwide affordable housing crisis.

All of that is “an obvious cause for concern, and it needs to be looked at – and addressed”, the Republican state house member Jerome Zeringue said after the Guardian began publishing its reporting on 20 October.

He also argued for setting minimum standards for justices of the peace, who are not required to hold law licenses – and only need a high-school diploma and to be considered of “good moral character”. Referring to the justices generating the most in filing fees, Zeringue said “the compensation … appears to be unfair”.

“I don’t begrudge anybody an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay – but quite honestly, compared to what other justices make or the workload or caseload and the capacity … it needs to definitely be reconsidered and evaluated how we do this,” said Zeringue, a longtime member of the state’s house judiciary committee, which oversees such matters.

The Guardian has asked Cusimano for comment on Zeringue’s calls for legislative scrutiny. In response to the Guardian’s investigation, Cusimano said: “I made a very good living last year. I am not embarrassed for the work I do. And I think that I do the exact same work as every other justice of the peace in this state for each case.”

Cusimano also said he had a high number of cases because there were “a lot of apartments” in his jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, Zeringue confirmed he is considering drafting new legislation to address the system ahead of the state’s legislative session in April.

Many of Zeringue’s legislative colleagues from across the political aisle expressed similar thoughts about the need for changes, a rare instance of bipartisanship among Louisiana lawmakers.

The leader of Louisiana’s state house Democratic caucus, Kyle Green, said: “Every measure should be taken to avoid even the appearance that the [justice of the peace system] operates as a revenue-generating enterprise.

“When a judicial system appears to create financial incentives that call impartiality into question, the legislature has a responsibility to act,” said Green, who is from the New Orleans suburb of Marrero, where a justice of the peace has brought in more than $600,000 in fee revenue since 2020. “We owe every Louisianan a judicial system in which justice is determined by the law and the facts, and those entrusted with administering the law do so with impartiality, integrity and competence.”

Edmond Jordan, a Baton Rouge-area state house Democrat who also sits on the judiciary committee, argued that the Guardian’s reporting showed the justice of the peace system had clear, inherent conflicts of interest.

“The whole system has issues,” said Jordan, who also is considering introducing a reform bill.

State senate member Royce Duplessis – a Democrat who represents parts of the city of New Orleans and the adjacent Jefferson parish, which has some of the highest revenue-generating justice of the peace courts – said: “A system where a judge’s salary or income is tied to the volume of cases … is a perverse incentive.

“That seems flagrantly unethical and problematic,” Duplessis said, adding that he would support reform measures.

Responding to the Guardian’s investigation, Cusimano forcefully denied that landlords repeatedly paying fees to file eviction cases in his court might represent a built-in conflict of interest, stating that landlords pay the fees irrespective of the outcome.

Cusimano’s court in the New Orleans suburb of Harahan processed more than 5,500 eviction cases from June 2025 to May 2026, according to extensive analysis by the Guardian. That represents evictions filed in almost one in five rental households in his jurisdiction, and ranks among the highest eviction filing rates within the 11 states and 43 cities tracked by Princeton University’s eviction lab.

Other Democrats representing the city of New Orleans were also vocal about wanting to see changes to the system. The city is the only Louisiana locale to not have justice of the peace courts, abolishing that system in 1879 and assigning its functions to a more formal municipal court system. Justice of the peace courts are not courts of record and do not need to observe the standard rules of evidence, even allowing for hearsay to be admitted in proceedings.

“We are a poor state and housing is an issue everywhere, and you have people losing their homes without any due process, without any written records,” said state house judiciary committee member Mandie Landry. “It’s kind of repulsive that this is still happening.”

The New Orleans Democrat added: “It’s unethical. It’s unconstitutional. It’s theft.”

Aimee Adatto Freeman, another state house Democrat from New Orleans, said one of her constituents sent her the Guardian’s series, which suggested to her that fixing the system statewide is important to residents of the city even if it isn’t in operation there.

“It’s taking advantage of the everyday person,” Freeman said. “And I don’t like that … I don’t like anybody being subjected to fees that are excessive.”

Republican state house member Mike Bayham, who represents the New Orleans suburb of Chalmette, said he generally agreed with the notion of considering reforms to “excesses” related to justice of the peace courts and thought the resolution to study the system was smart.

“Something like this would be a massive undertaking,” Bayham said.

The calls come as Louisiana’s largest newspaper, the Advocate, published a column echoing many of the lawmakers’ calls for changes, saying the Guardian investigation’s findings “should prompt serious review, and reform, from the legislature”.

“Removing the link between filing fees and income is a common-sense move,” Advocate state affairs columnist Faimon Roberts said in a 24 October column. “And there should be greater oversight and a low-cost appeal option for those who believe they’ve been wronged in one of these courts.

“Tackling this issue is not glamorous work. But it’s important. After all, what does the legal system exist for other than to ensure that one citizen is not taking advantage of another?”

The Guardian wp:paragraph