U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana is a United States district court, a federal trial court where most federal civil and criminal cases are first heard. It lies within the Fifth Circuit, which reviews its decisions on appeal. This page lists every judge to serve on the court, current and former, with who appointed them and whom they succeeded.
| Judge | Appointed by | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Sarah S. Vance | Clinton (D) | 1994 |
| Eldon E. Fallon | Clinton (D) | 1995 |
| Mary Ann Vial Lemmon | Clinton (D) | 1996 |
| Carl J. Barbier | Clinton (D) | 1998 |
| Ivan L. R. Lemelle | Clinton (D) | 1998 |
| Lance M. Africk | Bush (R) | 2002 |
| Jay C. Zainey | Bush (R) | 2002 |
| Nannette Jolivette Brown | Obama (D) | 2011 |
| Jane Margaret Triche Milazzo | Obama (D) | 2011 |
| Susie Morgan | Obama (D) | 2012 |
| Barry Weldon Ashe | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| Greg Gerard Guidry | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Wendy Baldwin Vitter | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| Brandon Scott Long | Biden (D) | 2023 |
| Darrel James Papillion | Biden (D) | 2023 |
| William Jerrol Crain | Trump (R) | 2025 |
| Anna Elizabeth Wagner St. John | Trump (R) | 2026 |
How a judge gets here. Each judge is nominated by a president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, then holds a numbered seat, for life, until they take senior status, or until they leave the bench. Open any judge to see who appointed them, how the Senate voted, and whom they succeeded, a chain that runs back to 1823.
Source: FJC Biographical Directory. Data last verified 2026-06-28. Verify against the primary source before relying.