Donald "Chick" Foret Suspended

The Louisiana Supreme Court suspended 24th Judicial District Judge Donald "Chick" Foret for 30 days without pay after the Louisiana Judiciary Commission found a pattern of profanity, discourtesy, apparent bias, and disparaging remarks from the bench. In March 2022, during the murder trial of defendant Pedro Monterroso, Foret became angry and used profanity when an assistant district attorney simply asked for a table to publish evidence to the jury. Two months later, presiding over a class-action lawsuit against nursing home owner Bob Dean, Foret made derogatory comments and used an expletive to describe an attorney who wasn't even involved in the case, and showed the courtroom a video of that attorney's car accident. The Commission also found Foret failed to recuse himself from a case despite clear indications of possible bias. The Louisiana Supreme Court found the conduct amounted to willful misconduct relating to his official duties, in violation of both the Code of Judicial Conduct and the state constitution, and ordered Foret to pay $7,488.67 to cover the cost of the Commission's investigation.