List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Louisiana

This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Louisiana. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are men who achieved other distinctions such as becoming the first in their state to obtain a law degree or become a political figure.

Firsts in state history
Ernest Morial: First African American male Judge of the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal (1970)
Ivan L.R. Lemelle: First African American male U.S. Magistrate of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (1984)

Lawyer
  • C. Clay Morgan (1860):[1] First African American male lawyer in Louisiana

State
  • Israel M. "I.M." Augustine:[2][3][4] First African American male judge in Louisiana (1969)
  • Ernest "Dutch" Nathan Morial:[5][6][7] First African American male to serve as a juvenile court judge in Louisiana (1970)
  • Don Johnson (1982) and Ron Johnson (1984):[8] First set of (African American) twins to serve simultaneously as judges in Louisiana
District Court
  • Israel M. "I.M." Augustine:[2][3][4] First African American male to serve as a district court judge in Louisiana (1969)
  • Freddie Pitcher (1973):[9][10] First African American male appointed as a Judge of the Nineteenth Judicial District of Louisiana (1987)
Circuit Court of Appeal
Supreme Court

Federal
District Court
  • Ivan L.R. Lemelle (1974):[16] First African American male to serve as the United States Magistrate of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (1984)
  • Ralph E. Tyson (1973):[17] First African American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana (1998)

United States Attorneys
  • Eddie Jordan, Jr.:[18][19] First African American male to serve as a U.S. Attorney in Louisiana (1994)[20]
  • Donald W. Washington:[21] First African American male to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana (2001)

Assistant United States Attorney

District Attorney
  • Charles Shropshire:[22] First African American male elected as a District Attorney in Louisiana (1996)

Assistant District Attorney
  • J. Edward "Eddie" Hines Jr.:[23][24] First African American male to serve as an Assistant District Attorney in Louisiana (1979)

Bar Association
  • Wayne J. Lee:[25] First African American male to serve as the President of the Louisiana State Bar Association

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by parish name

Ascension Parish

Assumption Parish

Bossier Parish

Caddo Parish

East Baton Rouge Parish

East and West Feliciana Parishes
  • Charles Shropshire:[22] First African American male elected as the District Attorney for East and West Feliciana Parishes, Louisiana (1996)

Jefferson Parish

Lafourche Parish

Lincoln Parish
  • John Belton:[32] First African American male to serve as the District Attorney for the Third Judicial District in Louisiana [Lincoln and Union Parishes, Louisiana]

Orleans Parish
  • Earl J. Amedee:[33][34] First African American male to serve as the Assistant District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Louisiana (1958)
  • Ernest Nathan Morial:[5][6] First African American male (a lawyer) to serve as the mayor and a judge in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana
  • Okla Jones II (1971):[35] First African American male to serve as the City Attorney for the City of New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana (1986). He would later become a district court judge.
  • Eddie Jordan, Jr: [36][37] First African American male to serve as the District Attorney of Orleans Parish, Louisiana (2003)

Ouachita Parish

Rapides Parish

St. James Parish

Terrebonne Parish

Union Parish
  • John Belton:[32] First African American male to serve as the District Attorney for the Third Judicial District in Louisiana [Lincoln and Union Parishes, Louisiana]

See also

Other topics of interest

References
  1. Emanuel, Rachel L. "History: Black Lawyers in Louisiana Prior to 1950" (PDF). Diversity in the Legal Profession. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. Times, Roy Reed Special to The New York (1971-07-10). "Man in the News". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  3. Flucker, Turry (2012-09-18). African Americans of New Orleans. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-2241-4.
  4. Morial, Marc H. (February 2013). "From Augustine to Johnson: Toward Equal Justice" (PDF). Louisiana Bar Journal. 60: 391–392.
  5. Smith, Jessie Carney (2012-12-01). Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 9781578594252.
  6. "Breaking down barriers for black Terrebonne Parish voters". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  7. Emanuel, Rachel L.; Jr, Alexander P. Tureaud (2011-04-25). A More Noble Cause: A. P. Tureaud and the Struggle for Civil Rights in Louisiana. LSU Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-3942-4.
  8. writer, JOE GYAN JR | Staff. "How twin brothers went from inner city Baton Rouge to making history as judges". The Advocate. Retrieved 2020-03-06.
  9. "A Resolution Honoring Hon. Freddie Pitcher, Jr. for his many years of service as Chancellor of Southern University Law Center and to the Legal Profession of the State of Louisiana" (PDF). Louisiana State Bar Association. 2015.
  10. "Judge Freddie Pitcher, Jr. – CLEO Judges Hall of Fame". cleoinc.org. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  11. "Portrait brings memories of late Civil Rights leader Jesse N. Stone Jr". shreveporttimes.com. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
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  13. "Justice Ortique dies". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
  14. Flucker, Turry (2012-09-18). African Americans of New Orleans. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781439622414.
  15. Morial, Marc H. (May 2009). "More Diversity on Federal Bench: Now is the Time" (PDF). Louisiana Bar Journal.
  16. "Diversity Trailblazers | Eastern District of Louisiana | United States District Court". www.laed.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  17. "Judge Ralph E. Tyson Honored as 2009 Distinguished Alumnus | LSU Law – News". www.law.lsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  18. Woods, Clyde Adrian (2017). Development Drowned and Reborn: The Blues and Bourbon Restorations in Post-Katrina New Orleans. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0-8203-5092-9.
  19. Collins, Allyson (1998). Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 978-1-56432-183-1.
  20. Upon Jordan's appointment as a U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana in 1994
  21. "UNITED STATES ATTORNEY DONALD W. WASHINGTON TO LEAVE OFFICE" (PDF). UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE. January 7, 2010.
  22. "Charles Shropshire passes away". WAFB9. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  23. Sigler, George (March 29, 1979). "Rapides' First Black Assistant DA". The Town Talk. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  24. "State's first black Assistant D.A. dies". The Town Talk. January 26, 1992. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  25. "Diversity & Inclusion". www.stonepigman.com. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
  26. "East Ascension High School inducting two to Wall of Fame, one to athletic Hall of Fame". The Advocate. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  27. "Caddo Parish Elects First Black District Attorney As Spotlight Shines on Death Penalty and Jury Selection Controversies". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  28. Burris, Alexandria. "Stewart wins Caddo DA race". shreveporttimes.com. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
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  30. Morial, Marc H. (May 2009). "More Diversity on Federal Bench: Now is the Time" (PDF). Louisiana Bar Journal.
  31. Writer, Nikki BuskeyStaff. "Lafourche NAACP banquet celebrates community, freedom". Houma Today. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  32. Hilburn, Greg. "Belton became first black DA". thenewsstar.com. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
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  37. Jr, Leonard Pitts. "A lesson on racism they might understand". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  38. "Blacks in History: Charles Jones served as the first black assistant district attorney in Ouachita Parish...". News-Star. February 23, 1999.
  39. Schwartz, Natalie. "State seeks to overturn minority judge ruling". Daily Comet. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  40. DeSantis, John. "The judge has made his ruling; now what next? No easy path ahead". The Times of Houma-Thibodaux. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
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