WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Letter of the Law: Louisiana's Case for Civil Law

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

This week on Letter of the Law, host Megan Pidcock dives into why Louisiana is the only state to use civil law rather than common law for private court cases.

Court is in session with Letter of the Law on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. You may know that France influenced just about everything in Louisiana, from the Beny's to the dialect of its residents. But did you know that this includes everything down to its court system? Louisiana is the only state in America whose private court system is based on civil law rather than common law. Civil law has its roots in Roman law, which was then adopted by the Spanish and French. Louisiana and surrounding lands were French territory before second president Thomas Jefferson famously bought the area from Napoleon in 1803, nearly doubling the size of the United States. Louisiana still maintained the French language, French customs, and French law systems.

Civil law, which governs private law in Louisiana, so persons versus person, relies on a preset legal code. Romans started this with the 12 tables during the Republic, which was posted publicly so that each citizen could look at the laws whenever they wished. this also meant the laws could not be changed without public approval. Napoleon's Napoleonic codes continued the tradition, which then applied to all French territories, including Louisiana. Today, Louisiana private law follows the Louisiana Revised Statutes and Louisiana Civil Code. The state does still use common law in public and criminal cases. Common law relies mostly on precedent set in previous rulings and has its roots in medieval England.

To put it simply, common law explicitly establishes a law code, built by the people, where a civil law relies on a pre-written law code passed by the government. Common law spread across the British Isles and into British territories, including what would become the United States of America. Every other state continues to use common law in private and public court systems. So if you ever have a run-in with a court in Louisiana, just know you're participating in a legal tradition that goes back over 2,000 years. This has been Megan Pitcock on Letter of the Law, and you're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7, M.