The Reality Check 10 14 26
Oct 14, 2026 · 1 hr 38 min · 17 segments
Cohost Suzette Bagneris
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- Suzette BagnerisHostGerod StevensHost
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- SuitabilitySensitiveBiasLeans leftAudience≈860 followers
Oct 14, 2026 · 1 hr 38 min · 17 segments
Cohost Suzette Bagneris
You know, I think that last night was an excellent presentation of two candidates for the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court bench.
A very unique and historical moment where we're seeing two sitting judges running against each other for one seat.
It is historic because it's usually a lawyer running against an incumbent sitting judge for a sitting position.
But here, because of the actions of the legislature in 2026, which eliminated three judges, judicial seats over there at Criminal District Court, it has put judges who are sitting already that the public has already elected to serve in a position of having to run against one another for two seats.
And it really changed the nature of the debate because usually I would be asking people what they think they're going to do when they take the bench.
What is going to be your judicial philosophy? What is going to be your management doctrine? Document movement philosophy.
How will you handle these things if you are elected? But here we had two seasoned judges that have been sitting for a while who had who had to answer for a record that they had already established.
Mm hmm.
OK, a record that shows how long cases sit on their docket without or with movement.
So instead of asking, what would you do? You're asking, what have you done? Right, right.
You know, they had a record before them that could not be changed with regard to reversal rates, with regard to how long it takes a case from the moment it's placed in their docket to its disposition.
They already had a record of how they treat the witnesses, the victims, the defendants that come before them.
They already had a record in terms of granting continuances or denying continuances.
So they had to stand on their records last night and they had to defend their records last night.
I mean, a really excellent job in answering very difficult, substantive questions that I put before them.
They were not the typical questions that, you know, people who aren't lawyers would ask in a debate, right? These were very...
You know, I think that last night was an excellent presentation of two candidates for the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court bench.
A very unique and historical moment where we're seeing two sitting judges running against each other for one seat.
It is historic because it's usually a lawyer running against an incumbent sitting judge for a sitting position.
But here, because of the actions of the legislature in 2026, which eliminated three judges, judicial seats over there at Criminal District Court, it has put judges who are sitting already that the public has already elected to serve in a position of having to run against one another for two seats.
And it really changed the nature of the debate because usually I would be asking people what they think they're going to do when they take the bench.
What is going to be your judicial philosophy? What is going to be your management doctrine? Document movement philosophy.
How will you handle these things if you are elected? But here we had two seasoned judges that have been sitting for a while who had who had to answer for a record that they had already established.
Mm hmm.
OK, a record that shows how long cases sit on their docket without or with movement.
So instead of asking, what would you do? You're asking, what have you done? Right, right.
You know, they had a record before them that could not be changed with regard to reversal rates, with regard to how long it takes a case from the moment it's placed in their docket to its disposition.
They already had a record of how they treat the witnesses, the victims, the defendants that come before them.
They already had a record in terms of granting continuances or denying continuances.
So they had to stand on their records last night and they had to defend their records last night.
I mean, a really excellent job in answering very difficult, substantive questions that I put before them.
They were not the typical questions that, you know, people who aren't lawyers would ask in a debate, right? These were very...
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