Tucker Lee Melançon (born February 3, 1946) 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 Western District of Louisiana The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (in case citations, W.D. La.) is a United States federal court with jurisdiction over approximately two thirds of the state of Louisiana, with courts in Alexandria, Lafayette, ...

Education and legal career

Melancon graduated from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

with 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 in 1968. He finished studies at

Tulane Law School Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,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 ...

in 1973. He was a managing partner at Melancon & Rabalais, private practice with his colleague, Rodney M. Rabalais, in Marksville,

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 ...

, from 1973 to 1993.

Federal judicial service

On the unanimous recommendation of Louisiana U.S. Senators

John Breaux John Berlinger Breaux (; born March 1, 1944) is an American lobbyist, attorney, and retired politician who was a member of the United States Senate from Louisiana from 1987 until 2005. He was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives fr ...

and

Bennett Johnston John Bennett Johnston Jr. (born June 10, 1932) is a retired American attorney, politician, and later lobbyist. A member of the Democratic Party, Johnston represented Louisiana in the U.S. Senate from 1972 to 1997. Beginning his political career ...

, Melancon was nominated by President Clinton on November 18, 1993, to a seat vacated by Tom Stagg as Stagg assumed senior status. Melancon 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 February 10, 1994, and received his commission the following day. He assumed senior status on February 14, 2009, due to a certified disability.

Notable cases

Melancon has presided over a number of cases in his judicial tenure of fifteen years. He has heard a variety of trials, including

class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

cross burning In modern times, cross burning or cross lighting is a practice which is associated with the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was practiced long before the Klan's inception. Since the early 20th century, the Klan burned crosses on hillsides as a way to i ...

, as well as issues where the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...

standards were at stake or being violated. However, his legacy might be his devotion to desegregation in

public schools Public school may refer to: *State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England and ...

in the parishes which fall under his jurisdiction; St. Landry, Evangeline, and

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

, among others. He sentenced one Evangeline Parish board member to ten days of

incarceration Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

with three days suspension, as well as high fines for criminal contempt (or

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...

) a charge to which the board member had pleaded guilty for attempting to manipulate a court-ordered employment process. One fine, US $3,000, was, according to Melancon, retribution for what he said was the board member's violation of the court's desegregation order. Melancon was cited in one

Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts in the following United Stat ...

decision as having been "heavy-handed" and tending towards "over management" in his dealings with the parish school boards on the desegregation issues. In November 2009, Melancon was a visiting judge presiding over cases relating to the

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

ferry disaster in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Cancer

Melancon was diagnosed with stage-three

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

in 2003. "Federal judge uses special diet in his fight against cancer"
by Donna Britt, WAFB, TV Channel 9 news, December 25, 2008 After undergoing a

mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operat ...

radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radia ...

, and

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

, the cancer went into remission but resurfaced three years later. His wife, Diana Moore, helped him carve out a raw foods diet they learned from the Hippocrates Health Institute in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from several nearby cities including West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach by the Intracoas ...

Quotes

* ''"Nothing is more sacred than the First Amendment... You don't change the standard just because it involves minors."'' He said these words in August 2000 during the Skate Zone trial in

Iberia Parish Iberia Parish (french: Paroisse de l'Ibérie, es, Parroquia de Iberia) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 69,929; the parish seat is New Iberia. The parish was formed in 1868 during ...

Other roles

* Board Member,

National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization cancer advocacy organization based in Silver Spring, Maryland. It is the oldest survivor-led cancer advocacy organization in the country, and works to e ...

Board member's information
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship
* President,

Avoyelles Parish Avoyelles (french: Paroisse des Avoyelles) is a parish located in central eastern Louisiana on the Red River where it effectively becomes the Atchafalaya River and meets the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, the population was 42,07 ...

Bar Association (1977–1978) * House of Delegates, Louisiana State Bar Association (1973–1975 and 1990–1994) * Bar Association for the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and Fifth Federal Circuits * Federal Bar Association (

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

chapter) * Louisiana Bar Foundation * American Judicature Society * Member,

American Inns of Court American Inns of Court (AIC) are designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges, lawyers, and in some cases, law professors and law students. Each Inn meets approx ...

: ** Judge Fred Fudickar Chapter ** Cross-Roads American Inn of Court of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

- Pineville Chapter ** John M. Dube Chapter * Louisiana Workers' Compensation Advisory Board (1990–1991) * Committee to Study Backlog in the

Courts of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

and

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

Circuits, by appointment of the

Louisiana Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Louisiana (french: Cour suprême de Louisiane) is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orlea ...

, 1991 * American Trial Lawyers' Association * President Advisory Board, Louisiana Trial Lawyers' Association

References

External links

*
Bean, Alan: "Snitch Testimony on Trial". March 30, 2006

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070928063039/http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20061216%2FNEWS01%2F612160322 McElfresh, Amanda: "Family Cleared in Drug Case". December 16, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Melancon, Tucker Lee Living people 1946 births Tulane University Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton People from Bryan, Texas 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges