Appeals to Fifth Circuit Judges assigned 12 | Established March 3, 1849 Chief Judge Kurt Engelhardt | |
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The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (in case citations, E.D. La.) is a federal trial court based in New Orleans. Like all U.S. district courts, the court has original jurisdiction over civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States; certain civil actions between citizens of different states; civil actions within the admiralty or maritime jurisdiction of the United States; criminal prosecutions brought by the United States; and many other types of cases and controversies. It also has appellate jurisdiction over a very limited class of judgments, orders, and decrees.
Contents
Appeals from the Eastern District of Louisiana are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).
Jurisdiction
This district comprises the following parishes: Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne and Washington.
History
On March 26, 1804, Congress organized the Territory of Orleans and created the United States District Court for the District of Orleans — the only time Congress provided a territory with a district court equal in its authority and jurisdiction to those of the states. The United States District Court for the District of Louisiana was established on April 8, 1812, by 2 Stat. 701, several weeks before Louisiana was formally admitted as a state of the union. The District was thereafter subdivided and reformed several times. It was first subdivided into Eastern and Western Districts on March 3, 1823, by 3 Stat. 774.
On February 13, 1845, Louisiana was reorganized into a single District with one judgeship, by 5 Stat. 722, but was again divided into Eastern and the Western Districts on March 3, 1849, by 9 Stat. 401. Congress again abolished the Western District of Louisiana and reorganized Louisiana as a single judicial district on July 27, 1866, by 14 Stat. 300. On March 3, 1881, by 21 Stat. 507, Louisiana was for a third time divided into Eastern and the Western Districts, with one judgeship authorized for each. The Middle District was formed from portions of those two Districts on December 18, 1971, by 85 Stat. 741.
Current judges
The court has twelve authorized judgeships. The Hon. Kurt Engelhardt has been Chief Judge since 2015. In addition to the active district judges, the court currently has four senior district judges and six magistrate judges.
United States Attorney
The current Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana is Duane A. Evans since March 11, 2017.