District Court · Fifth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
The federal trial court. Juries sit here, evidence is heard here, and almost every federal case begins here.
The bench
Who sits on this court?
Judges in active service, when they were confirmed, and who nominated each.
| Judge | Since | Nominated by | Seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donald Ellsworth Walter Senior | 1985 | Ronald Reagan | LAWD0801 |
| James Travis Trimble Jr. Senior | 1991 | George H.W. Bush | LAWD0404 |
| Tucker L. Melancon Senior | 1994 | William J. Clinton | LAWD0306 |
| Robert Gillespie James Senior | 1998 | William J. Clinton | LAWD0702 |
| Dee D. Drell Senior | 2003 | George W. Bush | LAWD0603 |
| S. Maurice Hicks Jr. | 2003 | George W. Bush | LAWD0802 |
| Elizabeth Erny Foote Senior | 2010 | Barack Obama | LAWD0307 |
| Terry Alvin Doughty | 2018 | Donald J. Trump | LAWD0703 |
| Robert Rees Summerhays | 2018 | Donald J. Trump | LAWD0902 |
| James David Cain Jr. | 2019 | Donald J. Trump | LAWD0406 |
| David Cleveland Joseph | 2020 | Donald J. Trump | LAWD0604 |
| Jerry Edwards Jr. | 2023 | Joseph R. Biden | LAWD0506 |
| Alexander Coker Van Hook | 2026 | Donald J. Trump | LAWD0308 |
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)
What seats does this court have?
Each seat on this court, who holds it, and how many judges have held it before.
- Judges seated now
- 13
- Seat numbers on record
- 37
| Seat | Held by | Since | Holders to date |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWD0306 | Tucker L. Melancon | 1994 | 1 |
| LAWD0307 | Elizabeth Erny Foote | 2010 | 1 |
| LAWD0308 | Alexander Coker Van Hook | 2026 | 1 |
| LAWD0404 | James Travis Trimble Jr. | 1991 | 1 |
| LAWD0406 | James David Cain Jr. | 2019 | 1 |
| LAWD0506 | Jerry Edwards Jr. | 2023 | 1 |
| LAWD0603 | Dee D. Drell | 2003 | 1 |
| LAWD0604 | David Cleveland Joseph | 2020 | 1 |
| LAWD0702 | Robert Gillespie James | 1998 | 1 |
| LAWD0703 | Terry Alvin Doughty | 2018 | 1 |
| LAWD0801 | Donald Ellsworth Walter | 1985 | 1 |
| LAWD0802 | S. Maurice Hicks Jr. | 2003 | 1 |
| LAWD0902 | Robert Rees Summerhays | 2018 | 1 |
24 seat numbers with no sitting judge
These are seat numbers in the historical record with nobody currently in them. That usually means the seat was abolished or renumbered, not that it is open today — Congress has changed the size of federal courts many times. Do not read this as a vacancy list.
| Seat | Last held by | Until | Holders |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWD0101 | John Dick | 1824 | 1 |
| LAWD0102 | Thomas Bolling Robertson | 1828 | 1 |
| LAWD0103 | Samuel Henderson Harper | 1837 | 1 |
| LAWD0104 | Philip Kissick Lawrence | 1841 | 1 |
| LAWD0105 | Theodore Howard McCaleb | 1845 | 1 |
| LAWD0201 | Henry Boyce | 1861 | 1 |
| LAWD0301 | Alexander Boarman | 1916 | 1 |
| LAWD0302 | George Whitfield Jack | 1924 | 1 |
| LAWD0303 | Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Sr. | 1966 | 1 |
| LAWD0304 | Benjamin Cornwell Dawkins Jr. | 1984 | 1 |
| LAWD0305 | Thomas E. Stagg Jr. | 2015 | 1 |
| LAWD0401 | Gaston Louis Noel Porterie | 1953 | 1 |
| LAWD0402 | Edwin Ford Hunter Jr. | 2002 | 1 |
| LAWD0403 | Earl Ernest Veron | 1990 | 1 |
| LAWD0405 | Patricia Head Minaldi | 2018 | 1 |
| LAWD0501 | Richard Johnson Putnam | 2002 | 1 |
| LAWD0502 | W. Eugene Davis | 1983 | 1 |
| LAWD0503 | John Malcolm Duhe Jr. | 1988 | 1 |
| LAWD0504 | Richard T. Haik | 2016 | 1 |
| LAWD0505 | Michael Joseph Juneau | 2023 | 1 |
| LAWD0601 | Nauman Steele Scott | 2001 | 1 |
| LAWD0602 | F. A. Little Jr. | 2006 | 1 |
| LAWD0701 | John Malach Shaw | 1999 | 1 |
| LAWD0901 | Rebecca F. Doherty | 2020 | 1 |
This site does not publish a vacancy count. Seat identifiers are not stable across court renamings and reorganisations, so a seat that was vacated and refilled can appear empty when it is not. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts publishes the authoritative list of current judicial vacancies: uscourts.gov.
Seats are created by Congress and filled by the President with the Senate's consent. For current vacancies, use the Administrative Office's published list rather than inferring them from this table.
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)
How this bench was built
Who appointed them?
The tally of presidents who placed the sitting judges on this court.
- Republican
- 9
- Democratic
- 4
| President | Judges |
|---|---|
| Donald J. Trump | 5 |
| George W. Bush | 2 |
| William J. Clinton | 2 |
| Joseph R. Biden | 1 |
| Barack Obama | 1 |
| George H.W. Bush | 1 |
| Ronald Reagan | 1 |
The party of the president who appointed a judge is a matter of record. How that judge will rule is not, and this site draws no inference from one to the other.
Source · Federal Judicial Center, Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789–present (public domain)