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News & Announcements

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.
January 30, 2023
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana presents an African American History Month Celebration entitled, “A Dream Deferred?,” Thursday, February 23, 12:00-2:00 pm, in Courtroom 501 and by Zoom Webinar, no charge, 2-hour CLE credit, lunch provided to in-person attendees.  Please register by emailing LAED_RSVP@laed.uscourts.gov.   Please see the Eastern District of Louisiana website, www.laed.uscourts.gov, for additional information and updates.
January 26, 2023
On February 2, 2023, the Honorable Mary Ann Vial Lemmon, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the Honorable Karen Wells Roby, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, will be honored by the American Bar Association’s National Conference of Federal Trial Judges.  The Honorable Martin L.C. Feldman, former U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, will be posthumously honored at the event.  The event will include a recognition ceremony in the ceremonial courtroom of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 5:00-6:00 pm, which will be followed by a reception at The Great Hall of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. 
January 17, 2023
Magistrate Judge Janis van Meerveld of the Eastern District of Louisiana has been appointed as the Magistrate Judge representative from the Fifth Circuit to the Magistrate Judges Advisory Group to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.  Her term of service is through December, 2025. The Magistrate Judges Advisory Group meets at least twice yearly and provides assistance to the Director of the Administrative Office and the Judicial Services Office in supporting the Judicial Conference of the United States Courts.
January 11, 2023
Local Civil Rule 83.2.2(D) requires every attorney admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana to pay an annual fee collected every third year. Beginning January 1, 2023, the Court will collect triennial dues of $45.00 ($15.00 per year for 2023, 2024 and 2025) from all admitted attorneys.  All attorneys admitted to the bar of this Court must pay triennial dues electronically by March 1, 2023.  Instructions for payment of dues can be found here and will be displayed in CM/ECF.
January 4, 2023
The Court’s CM/ECF system experienced intermittent outages January 3-5. The Court has worked with the Administrative Office to resolve the issue. Attorneys experiencing difficulty accessing CM/ECF or filing pleadings are encouraged to continue their attempts and to communicate any issues to the Court. As a result of the outage, the Court’s RSS feed was temporarily disabled for a few days.
January 4, 2023
In accordance with the authority conferred by 28 U.S.C. 631 et seq., and the further authority granted and action taken by the Judicial Conference of the United States, and a resolution adopted by a majority of the active judges of this court;  An Order has been entered reappointing Magistrate Judge Karen Wells Roby for a term of eight (8) years, subject to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. 631(e) effective February 22, 2023.  View this PDF
January 2, 2023
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information page for the U.S. District Court and the Hale Boggs Building, including links to all pandemic Orders and Notices and News Announcements, has been removed from the website banner. Going forward, that summary page can be found here. 
December 20, 2022
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana has named Tracy L. Coleman as the district’s Chief United States Probation Officer. Chief Coleman has served as the acting chief of the district’s probation office since February 2022 and previously served as Deputy Chief Probation Officer, Supervisory United States Probation Officer, and Senior United States Probation Officer in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Chief Coleman also served as a Probation Officer for the State of Louisiana.

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