Louisiana

:For other senses of this word, see Louisiana (disambiguation).

Law and government

The capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge. Its governor is Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (Democrat) and its two U.S. senators are Mary Landrieu (Democrat) and David Vitter (Republican). Louisiana has seven Members of Congress, five Republicans and two Democrats.

Related Topics:
Capital - Baton Rouge - Kathleen Babineaux Blanco - Democrat - Mary Landrieu - David Vitter - Republican

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Louisiana is the only state whose legal system is based on Roman, Spanish, and French civil law as opposed to English common law. Technically, it is known as "Civil Law," or the "Civilian System." It is often incorrectly referred to as the "Code Napoléon" or The Napoleonic Code. It is important to note that the Louisiana Civil Code and the French Civil Code, often referred to as the Napoleonic Code, came into existence at roughly the same time. Louisiana was never governed by the Napoleonic Code.

Related Topics:
Civil law - Common law - Napoléon - Napoleonic Code

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Great differences still exist between Louisiana Civil Law and the Common Law found in her 49 sister states. While most of the differences are now found in verbiage,http://www.kinsellalaw.com/publications/kinsella_civil-common-law-dictionary.pdf it is important to note that the "Civilian" tradition is still deeply rooted in all aspects of Louisiana law. Property, contractual, and family law are still mostly based on traditional Roman legal thinking and have little in common with English law.

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Louisiana is unique among U.S. states in its method for state, local, and congressional elections. All candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run in an open primary on Election Day. If no candidate has more than 50% of the vote, the two candidates with the highest vote total compete in a runoff election approximately one month later. This runoff does not take into account party identification; therefore, it is not uncommon for a Democrat to be in a runoff with a fellow Democrat or a Republican to be in a runoff with a fellow Republican. All other states use the First Past the Post electoral system to elect Senators, Representatives, and statewide officials.

Related Topics:
Open primary - First Past the Post electoral system

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See: list of Louisiana Governors, Napoleon Bonaparte

Related Topics:
List of Louisiana Governors - Napoleon Bonaparte

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In 2001, Louisiana had the highest incarceration rate in the world, with 1% of the population of Louisiana imprisoned (1013 inmates per 100,000 people).

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