Carl E. Stewart (born January 2, 1950) is a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...

. He was appointed by

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

in 1994, and previously sat as a judge of the

Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal The Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal are the intermediate appellate courts for the state of Louisiana. There are five circuits, each covering a different group of parishes. Each circuit is subdivided into three districts. As with the Louisi ...

from 1985 to 1994.

Background

Stewart was born to Corine, a maid and Richard Stewart, a postal worker, in Shreveport. As a teenager in the 1960's, Stewart witnessed the civil rights struggle of the era, and saw how the legal system could be used to bring about positive social change. Stewart was inspired by what he saw and decided to dedicate his life to helping people through the legal system. He graduated from

Dillard University Dillard University is a private, historically black university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 and incorporating earlier institutions founded as early as 1869 after the American Civil War, it is affiliated with the United Church of C ...

in New Orleans with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree '' magna cum laude'' in 1971 and earned his Juris Doctor from

Loyola University New Orleans College of Law Loyola University New Orleans College of Law is a private law school in New Orleans, Louisiana affiliated with Loyola University New Orleans. Loyola's law school opened in 1914 and is now located on the Broadway Campus of the university in the hi ...

in 1974. In 1974, Stewart entered the U.S. Army in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. As a captain, he served as a defense attorney for soldiers at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. After an honorable discharge, Stewart worked as an associate in a small private law firm. He joined a field office of the Louisiana Attorney General in 1978. In 1979, Stewart became an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and worked on a wide variety of cases. He prosecuted a loan shark who preyed on the poor, a sheriff who paid for votes during a reelection bid, and an unscrupulous land owner who filed false flood relief claims with the federal government. Stewart received a letter of commendation from the Justice Department for his work on a civil rights case in 1982 and 1983. Stewart left the Justice Department in 1983 to go into private practice in Shreveport, and work as an adjunct professor at Louisiana State University. In 1985, he won election to a sixyear term as a District Judge in Louisiana. At the conclusion of the term, Stewart was elected to the position on the state's Second Circuit Court of Appeal.

Federal judicial service

Stewart sat on the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the First Circuit from 1985 to 1991 and the Louisiana Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1991 to 1994. Stewart was nominated by President

on January 27, 1994, to the

, to a new seat authorized by 104 Stat. 5089. He 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 May 6, 1994, and received commission on May 9, 1994. He served as Chief Judge from 2012 to 2019.

Personal life

Stewart has been married for 21 years to Jo Ann Southall Stewart, a registered nurse who works with school children who have substance abuse problems. They have three children. Stewart's two brothers also are distinguished attorneys: Captain Richard G. Stewart Jr. is a Force Judge Advocate in the U.S. Navy, and Judge James E. Stewart Sr. serves on Louisiana's District Court. Stewart is also a lay leader of the Louisiana United Methodist Conference.

Awards and honors

Stewart has been honored with awards from the Boy Scouts of America and the Carver Branch YMCA. Stewart also was named Louisiana Outstanding Young Man of the Year by the Louisiana Chapter of the Jaycees and won the Black Leader of the Year award from the Southern University Shreveport-Bossier Afro-American Society.

Publications

Published writings by Stewart include: "Contemporary Challenges to Judicial Independence", ''Loyola Law Review'', Loyola University School of Law, 1997; "Balancing Professionalism, Ethics Quality of Life and the Successful Practice of Law", ''Proceedings of the Forty-Fifth Annual Institute of Labor Law Developments'', The Southwestern Legal Foundation, 1999; and "Abuse of Power & Judicial Misconduct: A Reflection on Contemporary Ethical Issues Facing Judges", ''The University of St. Thomas Law Journal'', The University of St. Thomas School of Law, 2003.

References

External links

*
White House press releaseBoard of Trustees, American Inns of Court
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Carl E. 1950 births Living people 20th-century American judges 20th-century Methodists 21st-century American judges 21st-century Methodists Activists for African-American civil rights African-American judges American legal scholars American United Methodists Assistant United States Attorneys Circuit court judges in the United States Dillard University alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Louisiana Democrats Louisiana lawyers Louisiana state court judges Loyola University New Orleans College of Law alumni People from Shreveport, Louisiana United States court of appeals judges appointed by Bill Clinton United States Army officers