NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court on Thursday turned down an appeal from an East Baton Rouge Parish judge who said she shouldn't have been kicked off the bench for lying to voters about her military service during her 2020 campaign and to police officers as they investigated a car burglary.

Justices last month removed Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts from the 19th Judicial District bench and she asked them to reconsider. In a 4-3 vote Thursday, they upheld their previous decision.

Her lawyer says an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court could be warranted on First Amendment grounds: Is Louisiana violating a political candidate's free speech rights?

"There are 13 judges who have been removed from the bench in the history of Louisiana and this is the only one removed for campaign advertising," lawyer Steve Irving after the decision was handed down. Federal appellate courts, he said, have said candidates should be allowed to engage in campaign rhetoric and let voters make their choices.

"Our position is that she had a right to describe her military service in her own words and let voters decide if treating soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital constituted serving in those wars," Irving said. "A writ to the U.S. Supreme Court is being considered."

The justices released their decision Thursday without comment. Last month, Chief Justice John Weimer wrote that the former judge's misconduct "is serious and not isolated. She displayed a pattern of dishonesty."

"The nature of the respondent's misconduct is the most problematic aspect in that it calls into question her honesty and integrity — minimum qualifications the public expects from every judge," Weimer wrote.

Foxworth-Roberts claimed in campaign materials that she was an Army captain, while in fact she failed to reach the rank twice and was required to leave military service as a 1st Lieutenant. 

She also said in campaign material that she had served her country for 13 years, "as both enlisted soldier and Commissioned Officer during Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan Wars." 

"Respondent did not serve in any capacity during Operation Desert Storm, which took place in 1991, when she was only 16 years old," Weimer wrote. Embellishing her credentials "amounts to 'stolen valor.'" 

Investigators also said Foxworth-Roberts misled police officers investigating a burglary, telling them her car was in her driveway when it was actually several miles away at the time of the crime. Investigators said she told police she didn't file a claim on her car insurance, but failed to say she filed a claim against her homeowner's policy.

Foxworth-Roberts began a full six-year term in office Jan. 1, 2021, and the Judiciary Commission received a complaint within five months.

The split among the judges Thursday was the same as it was in December, with justices Piper Griffin, John Michael Guidry and Jeff Hughes voting to take up the case again. 

Because less than a year remains on Foxworth-Roberts' term, the governor would not be required to call a special election to replace her under Louisiana law after the matter is resolved.