Lance Africk
2024 - Present
0
Lance Africk is an Article III federal judge on senior status with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He joined the court in April 2002 after being nominated by President George W. Bush. Africk assumed senior status on October 1, 2024.[1]
Early life and education
Born in New York, Africk graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with his bachelor's degree in 1973 and from the University of North Carolina Law School with his J.D. in 1975.[1]
Professional career
Africk was a law clerk for Judge James Gulotta of the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeals from 1975 until 1976. In 1976, Africk worked as a private practice attorney in Louisiana before becoming a state prosecutor. In 1977, Africk became the Director of the criminal bureau for the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office, where he worked until 1980 as part of a specialty task force dealing in the prosecution of repeat offenders. In 1980, Africk moved back to private practice for two years. In 1982 he joined the U.S. Attorney's Office. Africk was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 1982 to 1990, when he was appointed to the federal bench as a federal magistrate judge. Since 1986, Africk has also been a part-time professor at the University of New Orleans.[1]
Judicial career
Magistrate, Eastern District of Louisiana
Africk was a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Africk was first appointed to an eight-year term in 1990 and was re-appointed again in 1998.[1]
Eastern District of Louisiana
Africk was nominated to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana by President George W. Bush on January 23, 2002, to a seat vacated by Edith Clement. Clement was nominated to a judgeship in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Africk was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 17, 2002, on a Senate vote and received commission on April 17, 2002.[2] Africk assumed senior status on October 1, 2024.[1]
Noteworthy cases
Deadline moved for reforms at Orleans Parish Prison (2015)
Judge Lance Africk approved new deadlines related to mandated reforms at Orleans Parish Prison in New Orleans for March and April 2015. The consent decree included new policies on reporting prison violence, and recruiting staff. The original consent decree took effect in June 2013, however, the mandates were not met in that timeline. The most recent report on the prison prior to the new decree, filed by the court-appointed monitor in August 2014, concluded that prison operations met the original mandate's standards in two of 174 categories. According to inmates, Sheriff Marlin Gusman had ignored the deadlines. According to Gusman, "Missed deadlines are not really the issue. We've been making progress, and we're going to keep making progress to do what we have to do."[3] The inmates were prepared to file a motion for contempt of court against the sheriff prior to Judge Africk entering the new order. The order was agreed to by both the sheriff and the inmates.[3]
Articles:
See also
External links
- Judge Africk's Webpage at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
- The Robing Room- Rate Judge Africk
- Judge Lance Africk's Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Federal Judicial Center, "Judge Lance Africk's Biography"
- ↑ [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ntquery/D?nomis:10:./temp/ nomisJ3fioo:: The Library of Congress, Lance Africk USDC, EDLA confirmation: PN1323-107]
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Times Picayune, “Judge approves new deadlines for Orleans Parish Prison reforms,” February 12, 2015
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edith Clement |
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana 2002-2024 |
Succeeded by - |
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 |
Armijo • Bates • Beistline • Blackburn • Bowdre • Bunning • Bury • Caldwell • Camp • Cassell • Cebull • Clement • Clifton • Crane • Eagan • Engelhardt • Friot • Gibbons • Granade • Gregory • Gritzner • Haddon • Hartz • Heaton • Hicks • Howard • Johnson • Jorgenson • Krieger • Land • Leon • Mahan • Martinez • Martone • McConnell • Melloy • Mills • O'Brien • Parker • Payne • Prost • Reeves • Riley • Robinson • Rogers • Royal • Shedd • B. Smith • L. Smith • Walton • Wooten • Zainey | ||
| 2002 |
Africk • Anderson • Autrey • Baylson • Cercone • Chesler • Clark • Collyer • Conner • Conti • Corrigan • Davis • Davis • Dorr • England • Ericksen • Fuller • Gardner • Godbey • Griesbach • Hanen • Hovland • Hudson • Jones • Jordan • Kinkeade • Klausner • Kugler • Leighton • Linares • Moses • Marra • Martinez • Martini • Mays • McVerry • Phillips • Raggi • Reade • Rose • Rufe • Savage • Schwab • Smith • St. Eve • Walter • White • Wolfson | ||
| 2003 |
Adams • Altonaga • Bea • Benitez • Bennett • Boyle • Brack • Breen • Browning • Burns • Bybee • Callahan • Campbell • Cardone • Carney • Castel • Chertoff • Cohn • Colloton • Conrad • Coogler • Cook • Cooke • Crone • Der-Yeghiayan • Drell • Duffey • Duncan • Erickson • Feuerstein • Figa • Filip • Fischer • Fisher • Flanagan • Floyd • Frost • Gibson • Greer • Gruender • Guirola • Hall • Hardiman • Hayes • Herrera • Hicks • Holmes • Holwell • Hopkins • Houston • Irizarry • Jones • Junell • Karas • Kravitz • Martinez • McKnight • Minaldi • Montalvo • Mosman • Otero • Pickering • Prado • Pratter • Proctor • Quarles • Robart • Roberts • Robinson • Rodgers • Rodriguez • Sabraw • Sanchez • Saylor • Selna • Sharpe • Simon • Springmann • Stanceu • Steele • Stengel • Suko • Sutton • Sykes • Titus • Townes • Tymkovich • Van Antwerpen • Varlan • Wake • Wesley • White • Woodcock • Yeakel | ||
| 2004 |
Alvarez • Benton • Boyko • Covington • Diamond • Harwell • Kelley • Schiavelli • Schneider • Starrett • Watson | ||
| 2005 |
Alito • Barrett • Batten • Bianco • Brown • Burgess • Conrad • Cox • Crotty • Delgado-Colon • Dever • DuBose • Griffin • Griffith • Johnston • Kendall • Larson • Ludington • Mattice • McKeague • Neilson • Owen • Pryor • Roberts • Sandoval • Schiltz • Seabright • Smoak • Van Tatenhove • Vitaliano • Watkins • Zouhary | ||
| 2006 |
Besosa • Bumb • Chagares • Cogan • Gelpi • Golden • Gordon • Gorsuch • Guilford • Hillman • Holmes • Ikuta • D. Jordan • K. Jordan • Kavanaugh • Miller • Moore • Shepherd • Sheridan • Smith • Whitney • Wigenton | ||
| 2007 |
Anderson • Aycock • Bailey • Bryant • Davis • DeGiusti • Dow • Elrod • Fairbank • Fischer • Frizzell • Gutierrez • Hall • Hardiman • Haynes • Howard • Jarvey • Jones • Jonker • Kapala • Kays • Laplante • Limbaugh • Lioi • Livingston • Maloney • Mauskopf • Mendez • Miller • Neff • O'Connor • O'Grady • O'Neill • Osteen • Ozerden • Reidinger • Sammartino • Schroeder • Settle • Smith • Snow • Southwick • Suddaby • Sullivan • Thapar • Tinder • Van Bokkelen • Wood • Wright • Wu | ||
| 2008 |
Agee • Anello • Arguello • Brimmer • Gardephe • Goldberg • Jones • Kethledge • Lawrence • Matsumoto • Melgren • Murphy • Scriven • Seibel • Slomsky • Trenga • Waddoups • White | ||
 |
State of Louisiana Baton Rouge (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |