You are here

News & Announcements: 2023-02

Check this page, or the News and Announcements box on the homepage, for the latest official news and announcements released by the court. You can also access archived news and announcements from this page.

February 28, 2023
On February 23, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana celebrated African American History Month with a panel discussion entitled, “A Dream Deferred?: The Civil Rights Movement, Its Success, Its Failures, and the Current State of the Movement.”  The Honorable Nannette Jolivette Brown, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, served as moderator of the panel.  The Honorable Bernette Joshua Johnson, retired Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court; Kim Boyle, Vice-Managing Partner of Phelps Dunbar’s New Orleans office; Cashauna Hill, Executive Director of the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center; Alanah Odoms, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana; and Will Snowden, Director of the Vera Institute’s New Orleans office and Founder of The Juror Project served as panelists.  The program was planned with the help of the Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, New Orleans Bar Association, New Orleans Federal Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association, U.S. Attorney’s Office (EDLA), Federal Public Defender’s Office (EDLA), and U.S. Probation Office (EDLA).  To watch a recording of the panel discussion, please select this link.
February 13, 2023
On January 5, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana held a naturalization ceremony in which 23 petitioners became new United States citizens.  The Honorable Lance M. Africk, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, presided over the ceremony.  Lilian Pascone, Chief Deputy Clerk for the Eastern District of Louisiana, served as keynote speaker.  Ms. Pascone spoke of her own family’s immigration story, and she applauded the petitioners for the sacrifices they made to obtain citizenship.  Sandra Gutierrez, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, certified the petitioners’ eligibility for citizenship and announced their names.  Petitioners then took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States and received Certificates of Naturalization.  Afterwards, petitioner were invited to take advantage of their new-found citizenship by registering to vote at a table staffed by volunteers from the New Orleans League of Women Voters.  To view photographs from the ceremony, please select this link.