Ivan L. R. Lemelle (born 1950) is a

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (in case citations, E.D. La.) is a United States federal court based in New Orleans. Appeals from the Eastern District of Louisiana are taken to the United States Court of Ap ...

Early life and education

Born in Opelousas,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, Lemelle received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree from

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (also known as XULA) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU ...

in 1971 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Loyola University New Orleans School of Law Loyola University New Orleans College of Law is a private law school in New Orleans, Louisiana affiliated with Loyola University New Orleans. Loyola's law school opened in 1914 and is now located on the Broadway Campus of the university in the ...

in 1974. He was a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Robert Collins of the

Orleans Parish New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Criminal District Court from 1972 to 1974.

Career

Lemelle was an Assistant district attorney of Orleans Parish from 1974 to 1977. He was in private practice in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

from 1977 to 1981. He was an assistant city attorney of New Orleans from 1977 to 1978. He was an assistant state attorney general of Louisiana Department of Justice from 1980 to 1984.

Federal judicial service

United States magistrate judge service

Lemelle served as United States Magistrate of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 1984 to 1998.

District court service

On February 12, 1997, Lemelle was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

to a seat on the

vacated by

Veronica D. Wicker Veronica DiCarlo Wicker (November 26, 1930 – December 10, 1994) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Education and career Born in Monessen, Pennsylvania, Wicker receive ...

. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on April 3, 1998, and received his commission on April 7, 1998. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on June 29, 2015.

Notable cases

During 2009, Lemelle was assigned the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) case alleged against

Renée Gill Pratt Renée Gill Pratt (born 1954) is an American politician from New Orleans, Louisiana. She was also Director of the Center for Student Retention and Success in Southern University at New Orleans. On July 25, 2011, she was found guilty of racketeering ...

and Mose Jefferson, brother of former

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

William J. Jefferson William Jennings Jefferson (born March 14, 1947) is an American former politician from Louisiana whose career ended after his corruption scandal and conviction. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 ...

, who simultaneously stood indicted on sixteen counts in federal court in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. On 2009 July 28, Lemelle delayed the start of the racketeering trial to 2010 January 25. In two separate trials during August 2009, William J. Jefferson was convicted on 11 felony counts related to bribery; Mose Jefferson, on four. In 2009, Lemelle heard a real estate fraud case against Michael O'Keefe, Jr. (born c. 1959), the son of former

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate is compose ...

President Michael H. O'Keefe, Sr. The younger O'Keefe was at the time the president of Citywide Mortgage Company of New Orleans. He pleaded guilty to making false statements during a transaction with the

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

. The scam involved fraudulent appraisals, credit documents, and loan applications. O'Keefe was ordered to pay nearly $700,000 in restitution. He also served in prison for nearly two years. On September 11, 2009, Lemelle visite
Kentwood High School
and

(both in Kentwood, Louisiana)
Roseland Elementary School
(in

Roseland, Louisiana Roseland is a town in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,123 at the 2010 census. It is the birthplace of Cajun chef and storyteller Justin Wilson. Roseland is part of the Hammond Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...

), an
Northwood Preparatory High School
(in Amite, Louisiana)—all in Tangipahoa Parish. The three schools are subject to potential changes, depending on Lemelle's ruling on a 4-decades-old desegregation-related settlement.

Legacy

In November 2020, it was proposed by the New Orleans City Council Street Renaming Commission that Capdevielle Street (named after Paul Capdevielle, a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

hero and former mayor) be renamed for Lemelle. He was the only living person proposed for such an honor. The decision process was ongoing as of February 2021. He was also chosen to throw the ceremonial first pitch at his alma mater's first baseball game in over 60 years, in February 2021, after they decided to revive the sport at the school.

Personal life

Lemelle is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, raised in Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Opelousas, the largest Black Catholic church in the country.The Honorable Ivan Lemelle (The HistoryMakers A2010.054), interviewed by Denise Gines, June 8, 2010, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 2, The Honorable Ivan Lemelle describes his early religious experiences

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemelle, Ivan L. R. 1950 births Living people 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges African-American Catholics African-American judges Catholics from Louisiana Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Loyola University New Orleans College of Law alumni People from Opelousas, Louisiana United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton United States magistrate judges Xavier University of Louisiana alumni