Donald Ellsworth Walter

Donald Ellsworth Walter (born March 15, 1936) is a United States federal judge of the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, based in Shreveport. In 2001, he assumed senior status.

Born in Jennings in Jefferson Davis Parish in southwestern Louisiana, Walter was in the United States Army from 1957 to 1958. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Louisiana State University in 1961 and a Juris Doctor from Louisiana State University Law School in 1964. He was in private practice in Lake Charles, Louisiana, from 1964 to 1969, and, a nominee of U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, was the United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana from 1969 to 1977. In August 1976, President Gerald R. Ford, Jr., nominated Walter to the district court, but the United States Senate, with a large Democrat majority, declined to vote on his nomination. Walter returned to private practice in Shreveport from 1978 to 1985.

In 1977, Walter was appointed chairman of the Republican Party for Louisiana's 4th congressional district, when then embraced eight parishes. Walter likened the Democrats to the "party of special interests" and described the Republican Party as "the only political entity that represents working people, men and women, blacks and whites of our state and nation."

On May 15, 1985, Walter was nominated by President Ronald W. Reagan to a new seat on the District Court for the Western District of Louisiana created by 98 Stat. 333. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 10, 1985, receiving his commission the following day. Walter assumed senior status on November 30, 2001.