U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
U.S. District Court for the Western 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Donald Ellsworth Walter | Reagan (R) | 1985 |
| James Travis Trimble Jr. | Bush (R) | 1991 |
| Tucker L. Melancon | Clinton (D) | 1994 |
| Robert Gillespie James | Clinton (D) | 1998 |
| Dee D. Drell | Bush (R) | 2003 |
| S. Maurice Hicks Jr. | Bush (R) | 2003 |
| Elizabeth Erny Foote | Obama (D) | 2010 |
| Terry Alvin Doughty | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| Robert Rees Summerhays | Trump (R) | 2018 |
| James David Cain Jr. | Trump (R) | 2019 |
| David Cleveland Joseph | Trump (R) | 2020 |
| Jerry Edwards Jr. | Biden (D) | 2023 |
| Alexander Coker Van Hook | Trump (R) | 2026 |
| Judge | Appointed by | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Joseph Juneau | Trump (R) | 2018–2023 |
| Patricia Head Minaldi | Bush (R) | 2003–2018 |
| Rebecca F. Doherty | Bush (R) | 1991–2020 |
| Richard T. Haik | Bush (R) | 1991–2016 |
| John Malcolm Duhe Jr. | Reagan (R) | 1984–1988 |
| F. A. Little Jr. | Reagan (R) | 1984–2006 |
| John Malach Shaw | Carter (D) | 1979–1999 |
| Earl Ernest Veron | Carter (D) | 1977–1990 |
| W. Eugene Davis | Ford (R) | 1976–1983 |
| Thomas E. Stagg Jr. | Nixon (R) | 1974–2015 |
| Nauman Steele Scott | Nixon (R) | 1970–2001 |
| Richard Johnson Putnam | Kennedy (D) | 1961–2002 |
| Edwin Ford Hunter Jr. | Eisenhower (R) | 1954–2002 |
| Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr. | Eisenhower (R) | 1953–1984 |
| Gaston Louis Noel Porterie | Roosevelt (D) | 1939–1953 |
| Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Sr. | Coolidge (R) | 1924–1966 |
| George Whitfield Jack | Wilson (D) | 1917–1924 |
| Alexander Boarman | Garfield (R) | 1881–1916 |
| Henry Boyce | Taylor (N) | 1850–1861 |
| Theodore Howard McCaleb | Tyler (N) | 1841–1845 |
| Philip Kissick Lawrence | Buren (D) | 1837–1841 |
| Samuel Hadden Harper | Jackson (D) | 1829–1837 |
| Thomas Bolling Robertson | Monroe (N) | 1824–1828 |
| John Dick | (reassignment) (N) | 1823–1824 |
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.