Considering recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the State of Louisiana, and the City of New Orleans, individuals who are fully vaccinated are not required to wear a mask to enter the Hale Boggs Federal Building or Courthouse; nor are fully vaccinated individuals required to distance 6 feet apart from other individuals while moving through the building. A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their final COVID-19 vaccine shot.
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News & Announcements
Check this page, or the News and Announcements box on the homepage, for the latest official news and announcements released by the court. You can also access archived news and announcements from this page.
May 10, 2021
2021 USDC-EDLA Asian American Pacific Islander History Month Celebration: “The Asian American Experience: From Korematsu to Covid-19,” Thursday, May 27, 12:00-1:30 pm, via Zoom, 1.5 Hours of CLE Credit, No Registration Fee
Dr. Karen Korematsu, N.O. City Councilwoman Cyndi Nguyen, J.P. Deputy Parish Attorney David Ichiro Courcelle, and Dr. J. Bing Simpson will serve as panelists. To register for the event, please send an email to LAED_RSVP@laed.uscourts.gov. To view the event flyer, please click here.
April 9, 2021
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana recently hosted essay and poster contests to celebrate the Bill of Rights. High school students from across the Eastern District of Louisiana participated in the contests. U.S. District Judges, Barry Ashe and Wendy Vitter, U.S. Magistrate Judges, Janis van Meerveld, Dana Douglas, and Donna Currault, and Federal Bar Association members, Erin Arnold, Benjamin de Seingalt, Michael Dodson, Jessica Engler, and Gregory Grimsal, volunteered to judge the essay and poster entries. The winning essays and posters were announced at a Zoom event hosted by Chief U.S. District Judge, Nannette Jolivette Brown, and the event was attended by judges, attorney-facilitators, and participating students. To view the contest winners and their entries, please select this link.
April 6, 2021
On March 23, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana sponsored a Women’s History Month Celebration entitled, “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Her Lasting Legacy.” Dr. Sally Kenney, Executive Director of Newcomb Institute, Newcomb College Endowed Chair Professor, and leading expert on women in the judiciary, served as keynote speaker. Dr. Kenney spoke about Justice Ginsburg’s career as a gender equity advocate as well as her tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court bench, and highlighted the justice’s approach to affecting change, an approach imbued with civility and long-range focus. The event was moderated by the Honorable Nannette Jolivette Brown, Chief U.S. District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and co-sponsored by the following organizations: Association for Women Attorneys, Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, New Orleans Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the U.S. Probation Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. To view a video of the event, please select this link.
April 5, 2021
To combat the spread of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), given the severity of risks posed to the public, Court staff, and other Court agencies, and considering the public health recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the undersigned Chief Judge for United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana hereby issues this order, which amends COVID-19 General Order No. 20-6, COVID-19 General Order No. 20-9, COVID-19 General Order No. 20-10, COVID-19 General Order No. 20-13, and COVID-19 General Order No. 21-1 (attached as Exhibit A to this Order and incorporated herein by reference) to extend certain deadlines addressed therein as follows.
1. All civil and criminal jury trials are suspended until June 7, 2021 and will be reset by each presiding judge. Those continuances do not continue any pending deadlines other than the trial dates. Attorneys should contact the presiding judges in their continued cases if they seek to modify such other deadlines.
2. With regard to criminal matters, due to the Court’s reduced ability to obtain an adequate spectrum of jurors and the effect of the recommendations of the health organizations mentioned in Exhibit A on the ability of counsel and Court staff to be present in the courtroom, the time period of the postponements implemented by this administrative order will be excluded under the Speedy Trial Act, as the Court specifically finds that the ends of justice served by ordering the postponements outweigh the best interest of the public and any defendant’s right to a speedy trial, pursuant to 18 U.S.C.§ 3161(h)(7)(A).
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March 17, 2021
The Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana has issued COVID-19 General Order No. 21-3, extending COVID-19 General Order No. 20-14, COVID-19 General Order No. 20-11, COVID-19 General Order No. 20-8 and COVID-19 General Order No. 20-4 for an additional ninety days or until June 15, 2021.
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March 16, 2021
CVB violation dockets have been continued as indicated below:
Magistrate Judge North: Any tickets received that were set for hearing or were scheduled to be set for hearing on March 31, 2020, May 5, 2020, June 9, 2020, July 14, 2020, August 18, 2020, September 22, 2020, October 27, 2020, December 1, 2020, January 5, 2021, February 9, 2021, March 16, 2021 and April 20, 2021, have been reset for hearing on May 25, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.
Magistrate Judge Douglas: Any tickets received that were set for hearing or were scheduled to be set for hearing on March 17, 2020, June 30, 2020, August 4, 2020, October 13, 2020, November 17, 2020, December 22, 2020, January 26, 2021 and March 2, 2021, have been reset for hearing on April 6, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.
Chief Magistrate Judge Roby: Any tickets received that were set for hearing or were scheduled to be set for hearing on February 2, 2021 have been reset for hearing on April 13, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.
Magistrate Judge Currault: Any tickets received that were set for hearing or were scheduled to be set for hearing on April 14, 2020, May 19, 2020, June 23, 2020, July 28, 2020, September 1, 2020, October 6, 2020, December 15, 2020, February 23, 2021 and March 30, 2021 have been reset for hearing on May 18, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.
Magistrate Judge van Meerveld: Any tickets received that were set for hearing or were scheduled to be set for hearing on April 7, 2020, April 21, 2020, May 12, 2020, June 16, 2020, July 21, 2020, August 25, 2020, September 29, 2020, November 3, 2020, December 8, 2020, January 12, 2021, March 23, 2021, and April 27, 2021 have been reset for hearing on June 1, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.
March 11, 2021
2021 Women’s History Month Celebration: “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Her Lasting Legacy,” Tuesday, March 23, 12:00 pm, via Zoom
Sally Kenney, Ph.D., Executive Director of Newcomb Institute and Newcomb College Endowed Chair Professor, Tulane University, will discuss Justice Ginsburg’s gender equality jurisprudence, effect on judicial appointments, and constitutional impact. To register for the event, please send an email to LAED_RSVP@laed.uscourts.gov. To view the event flyer, please click here.