Kernan "Skip" Hand

Last updated
Kernan "Skip" Hand
Kenner City Council in Jefferson Parish
In office
1979–1982
Preceded byTommy LeBlanc
Succeeded byForest "Bucky" Landry
Louisiana State Representative for
District 79 (Jefferson Parish)
In office
1984–1994
Preceded byN/A
Succeeded by Danny Martiny
Division H Judge in Jefferson Parish
In office
1994–2008
Preceded byHubert A. Vondenstein
Succeeded byGlenn Ansardi
Personal details
Born
Kernan August Hand

(1945-12-30) December 30, 1945 (age 73)
New Orleans
Political party Republican
Spouse(s)(1) Missing
(2) Kelly Hand
ChildrenFrom first marriage;

Kernan Hand, Jr. Shannon Hand
Jennifer Hand
David Michael Hand
From second marriage:
Olivia Hand

William Hand

Contents

Residence Kenner, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, USA
Alma mater Jesuit High School, University of New Orleans, Loyola Law School
Occupation Attorney
In 1994, Hand vacated the Louisiana House of Representatives after a decade of service to launch a nearly 15-year career as a Jefferson Parish state district court judge. On the bench, Hand participated in a number of cases which received extensive media attention.

Kernan August Hand, Sr., known as Kernan "Skip" Hand (born December 30, 1945), is a retired state court judge of the 24th Judicial District from Kenner in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. A Republican, Hand served in the "Division H" judgeship from the spring of 1994 until his retirement on December 31, 2008. Previously, he was a member of the Kenner City Council from 1979 until 1982 and of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 79 from 1984 until he stepped down ten years later [1] to assume his judicial position.

Judge official who presides over court proceedings

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and, typically, in an open court. The judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility and arguments of the parties, and then issues a ruling on the matter at hand based on his or her interpretation of the law and his or her own personal judgment. In some jurisdictions, the judge's powers may be shared with a jury. In inquisitorial systems of criminal investigation, a judge might also be an examining magistrate.

Kenner, Louisiana City in Louisiana, United States

Kenner is the seventh-largest city in the U.S. State of Louisiana following New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette, Lake Charles and Bossier City. It is the largest city in Jefferson Parish and the largest incorporated suburban city of New Orleans. The population was 66,702 at the 2010 census.

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Parish in the United States

Jefferson Parish is a parish in the state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 432,552. The parish seat is Gretna.

Republican politics

Judge Hand began his political career serving on the Kenner City Council from three years.

Hand won the District 79 legislative seat from Jefferson Parish in the general election held on November 19, 1983, when he defeated fellow Republican Herb Cammatte, 4,715 votes (55 percent) to 3,852 (45 percent). [2] That previous month former Governor Edwin Washington Edwards, a Democrat, had successfully staged his third-term comeback against the incumbent Republican David C. Treen, then from Jefferson Parish. On October 24, 1987, Hand won a second legislative term, when he defeated the Democrat Sal Lejarza, 10,128 votes (82.4 percent) to 2,160 (17.6 percent). [3]

During general election all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.

Democratic Party (United States) Major political party in the United States

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with its rival, the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party.

In 1991, Hand won his third term in the state House by defeating the Democrat Sherry Schneider, 6,473 (61.5 percent) to 4,047 (38.5 percent). [4] When he left the legislature, Hand was succeeded by a fellow Republican attorney from Jefferson Parish, Danny Martiny, [5] thereafter the state senator from District 10.

Daniel R. Martiny, known as Danny Martiny, is a politician and attorney from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, who has served since January 14, 2008, as a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate from District 10, based in the New Orleans suburbs. Since 2012, he has been the Senate Majority Leader.

Louisiana State Legislature

The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators. Members of each house are elected from single-member districts of roughly equal populations.

Hand won the judgeship in the special election held on March 26, 1994, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge Hubert A. Vondenstein (1931–1993), whose service began in 1986. [6] Hand defeated the Democrat Ronald T. Gracianette of Madisonville, 6,326 (59.2 percent) to 4,363 (40.8 percent). [7] After nearly fifteen years on the bench, Hand was succeeded as judge by the former Democratic State Representative Glenn Ansardi of Kenner, who served in the House from 1986 to 2008. [8]

By-elections, also spelled bye-elections, are used to fill elected offices that have become vacant between general elections.

Madisonville, Louisiana Town in Louisiana, United States

Madisonville is a town in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 748 at the 2010 census. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area. The ZIP code is 70447.

Meanwhile, in 1988, Representative Hand was the Republican candidate in a regional race for the Louisiana Public Service Commission, having been defeated by his legislative colleague and future Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco of Lafayette. Blanco polled 161,270 votes (57.3 percent) to Hand’s 120,392 (43.7 percent). In defeat, Hand still won his own Jefferson Parish and the southeastern coastal parishes of St. Bernard and Plaquemines, [9] formerly the domain of political boss Leander H. Perez.

Louisiana Public Service Commission

Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year terms. Thus the commissioners have large constituencies, long terms, and close involvement with issues of intense consumer interest ; consequently membership on PSC has been known to serve as a springboard to even higher public office, as in the cases of Huey Long, Jimmie Davis, John McKeithen, and Kathleen Babineaux Blanco —PSC members who became governors of Louisiana.

Kathleen Blanco American politician

Kathleen Babineaux Blanco was an American politician who served as the 54th Governor of Louisiana from January 2004 to January 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman elected as the state's governor.

Lafayette, Louisiana City in Louisiana, United States

Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River in the southwestern part of the state. The city of Lafayette is the fourth-largest in the state, with a population of 127,657 according to 2015 U.S. Census estimates. It is the principal city of the Lafayette, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, with a 2015 estimated population of 490,488. The larger trade area or Combined Statistical Area of Lafayette-Opelousas-Morgan City CSA was 627,146 in 2015. Its nickname is The Hub City.

On September 23, 2009, Judge Hand was unanimously named hearing officer by the Jefferson Parish Council. [10] He left that position in 2010.

In 2011, Hand was defeated in a race for a seat on the Jefferson Parish Council by fellow Republican Ben Zahn. [11]

Selected court cases

Judge Hand presided in his Division H courtroom in Gretna, the seat of government of Jefferson Parish. In the 1996 case involving Allen Snyder, an African American former Marine accused of murdering his estranged wife's male companion, Hand permitted the exclusion of two blacks from the jury under the prosecutor's peremptory challenges. [12] After a dozen years, the United States Supreme Court in 2008 ruled 7 to 2 in Snyder v. Louisiana that Hand violated the 1986 precedent, Batson v. Kentucky , which forbids excluding jurors on the basis of race. [12]

In 2007, Judge Hand sentenced 22-year-old Terrell Williams of St. Rose in St. Charles Parish to twenty-five years' imprisonment in exchange for his guilty plea to having caused the death of 14-month-old Tyler Cerise. Williams struck the child and his mother, Erin Cerise, with a stolen vehicle at a Wal-Mart outlet in Kenner. Jason Cerise, father of Tyler and husband of Erin, said that Williams "destroyed our family that day [and while] he will be sentenced to incarceration today, on that day we were sentenced to a life of agony." Hand's courtroom was the scene of such emotion in the Williams case that the judge, courtroom staff, and prosecutors broke into tears. [13]

In 2004, Hand ordered a growth hormone treatment for an eleven-year-old boy who is shorter than 95 percent of his peers. The father, a Tulane professor, said he that was unsure if the treatment, estimated at $20,000 annually, would be covered by insurance. Judge Hand cited reports from three physicians who indicated "overwhelming evidence" to support the treatment. [14]

Judge Hand today

Judge Hand has six children, Kernan Hand, Jr. (born ca. 1970), Shannon Hand (born ca. 1973), Jennifer Hand (born ca. 1974), David Michael Hand (born ca. 1981), Olivia Hand (born ca. 2002), and William Hand (born ca. 2005). Judge Hand is married to Kelly Hand.

Judge Hand practices various types of law in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. Judge Hand also collaborates with James Maher III on some cases. [15]

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References

  1. ↑ "Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2008" (PDF). house.louisiana.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 31, 2010. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Results for Election Date: November 19, 1983". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Louisiana election returns, October 24, 1987". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Louisiana election returns, October 19, 1991". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Louisiana election returns, May 21, 1994". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  6. ↑ "William C. Credo, III, "The Changing Face of the Jefferson Parish Judiciary"" (PDF). lsba.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Results for Election Day: March 26, 1994". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Ansardi Running for Judge". blogofneworleans.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Results for Election Date: November 8, 1988". staticdresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Resolution No. 1113101". jeffparish.net. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Louisiana primary elections, October 22, 2011". staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  12. 1 2 "Paul Purpura, "Supreme Court overturns Kenner man's murder conviction"". New Orleans Times-Picayune , March 19, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Paul Purpura, "Driver gets 25 years in Kenner tot's death: Stolen Jeep hit mom and son at Wal-Mart". New Orleans Times-Picayune, July 11, 2007. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  14. ↑ ""Growth hormone ordered for boy: Judge rules short child should get treatment", March 26, 2004". shortsupport.org. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
  15. ↑ http://jamesmaherlaw.com/
Preceded by
Missing		 Louisiana State Representative for District 79 (Jefferson Parish)
1984–1994		Succeeded by
Danny Martiny
Preceded by
Hubert A. Vondenstein		 Division H Judge, 24th Judicial District
(Jefferson Parish)
1994–2008		Succeeded by
Glenn Ansardi
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