Adrian Guy Duplantier Sr. (March 5, 1929 – August 15, 2007) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (in case citations, E.D. La.) is a United States federal court based in New Orleans. Appeals from the Eastern District of Louisiana are taken to the United States Court of A ...

. He served as a Democratic member of the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (; ) is the upper house of Louisiana’s legislature. Senators serve four-year terms and participate in various committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate has 39 members elected from single-member districts ...

, representing a portion of

Orleans Parish Orleans Parish (; ) is a parish of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Since 1870, the parish has been coextensive with the city of New Orleans, and the parish and city are largely governed as a single consolidated city. History On April 10, 180 ...

for four terms.

Education and career

Duplantier was born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. He graduated from the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Jesuit High School in 1945 and graduated 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 1949.

State senate and judicial service

Failed bid for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of New Orleans in 1960, despite winning nearly all of the black vote, but losing the election to Victor H. Schiro

Federal judicial service

On April 24, 1978, Duplantier was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Roger Blake West. Duplantier was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on May 26, 1978, and received his commission on May 31, 1978. He assumed senior status on March 6, 1994, and served until his death, in New Orleans. Duplantier and two other Louisiana Democrats, former

State Treasurer In the state and territorial governments of the United States, 54 of the 56 states and territories have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the office of New York State Treasurer in 1926, in which the duties were transfer ...

Mary Evelyn Parker Mary Evelyn Parker (November 28, 1920 – January 17, 2015) was an American education, newspaper editor, and politician who served as the Treasurer of Louisiana from 1968 to 1987. She was the first woman to serve in the position. Early life a ...

and former State Representative Risley C. Triche of Napoleonville in

Assumption Parish Assumption Parish (, ) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,039. Its parish seat is Napoleonville. Assumption Parish was established in 1807, as one of the original parishes of the ...

, were interviewed for the 2001 book ''Welfare Racism: Playing the Race Card Against America's Poor''. The three testified to their personal knowledge of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

in 1960–1961 in Louisiana against

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

public assistance recipients.

References

Sources

Obituary at Legacy.com

New York Times search

Judge Duplantier was generous benefactor of Loyola University

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080110132617/http://www.law.loyno.edu/news-duplantier-nov2007.html The Life and Times of The Hon. Adrian G. Duplantier

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duplantier, Adrian Guy Sr. 1929 births 2007 deaths Democratic Party Louisiana state senators Politicians from New Orleans Jesuit High School (New Orleans) alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter Loyola University New Orleans alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Louisiana Lawyers from New Orleans 20th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature