2015 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 142
BY SENATOR CLAITOR
A RESOLUTION
To commend and congratulate Sue Bernie upon the occasion of her retirement from the East
Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office and to recognize her exemplary public
service during the many years of her extraordinary career.
WHEREAS, Ettie Sue Bernie has announced her retirement as the East Baton Rouge
Parish assistant district attorney, closing the extraordinary prosecutorial career of a woman
who has demonstrated unparalleled ability in her many years of public service to the people
of East Baton Rouge Parish and to the state of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, she graduated from H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College with a
bachelor of arts degree and from the University of Florida Law School, being admitted to
the Florida bar in 1978; and
WHEREAS, Sue Bernie was admitted to the Louisiana bar on October 17, 1980,
worked for three years at the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office before joining the
staff of the East Baton Rouge District Attorney's Office in 1986, and has been the section
chief of the office's sex crimes division since 1988; and
WHEREAS, she has come in contact with thousands of children and adults
victimized by sexual and physical abuse, from as young as age three to as old as age
ninety-nine, during her more than three-decade career of seeking justice for victims of sexual
and physical assault; and
WHEREAS, having handled thousands of sex crimes cases in her career and tried
more such jury trials than any other sex crimes prosecutor, Sue Bernie has been a tireless
champion for sexual assault victims in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, she blazed a path previously untraveled, and her expertise and skill in
the realm of sex crime prosecution is such that people from all over the state look to her for
advice and guidance in sexual assault-related matters; and
WHEREAS, Sue Bernie played a large role in the creation of the Baton Rouge
Children's Advocacy Center in 2002, a "child-friendly" environment where young victims
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can be interviewed by law enforcement and child protection workers, and to which, in recent
years, more therapy services have been added for children and their families; and
WHEREAS, she has testified numerous times before the Legislature and was
instrumental in having the spousal exception removed from the state's rape statute in 1990;
she has been a district attorney representative on the Children's Advocacy Center board and
will continue as an ad hoc member in her retirement; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault annually presents the
Sue Bernie Justice Award to deserving recipients; and
WHEREAS, the people of East Baton Rouge Parish and the state of Louisiana have
benefitted from the service of Sue Bernie, whose fine legal mind and distinctive
accomplishments have brought immense pride not only to her state but to all those who have
been fortunate to have had the benefit of her knowledge and commitment to justice; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana to take
proper notice of the accomplishments of Sue Bernie and to express the appreciation of the
members of the Senate for her exceptional public service.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend and congratulate Sue Bernie upon the occasion of her retirement from
the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office and acknowledge with tremendous
gratitude her outstanding contribution to the administration of justice in her community.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana does
hereby extend to her all the best wishes for success and happiness in her future endeavors.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to Sue
Bernie.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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