Harold Alexander Moise, Sr. (August 23, 1879 – September 16, 1958), was from 1948 until his death a justice of the

Louisiana Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Louisiana (; ) is the supreme court, highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The Supreme ...

, based 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 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Background

Born in Natchitoches, Louisiana, Moise was the third son of Judge James Campbell Moise and Aline Sompayrac Moise.Harold Moïse, ''The Moise Family of South Carolina'' (1961), pp. 35-37. He graduated in 1899 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 ...

Christian Brothers College, and in 1902 from the

Tulane University Law School The Tulane University School of Law is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. Campus The law schoo ...

in New Orleans, at which he was president of his class and was selected as the

salutatorian Salutatorian is an academic title given in Armenia, the Philippines, Canada, Afghanistan and the United States to the second-highest-ranked graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. ...

. Moise was married to Io Leigh Bres from January 1903 until her death in 1927; the couple had three daughters and two sons, including Harold Moise, Jr., who served as the clerk of the state Supreme Court from 1969 to 1978. In 1930, Moise married Amelia Keyes O'Neal Harris.

Career

Moise then commenced the

practice of law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the profes ...

until 1908, when he was elected to a single four-year term to represent the

12th Ward of New Orleans The 12th Ward or Twelfth Ward is a division of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, one of the 17 Wards of New Orleans. The Ward was formerly part of the old Jefferson City annexed by New Orleans in 1870. Boundaries The roughly wedge-shaped W ...

in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

. He was assistant attorney for the Orleans Levee Board from 1912 to 1916, and served as general counsel of the board of commissioners of the Port of New Orleans from 1920 to 1936.Louisiana Supreme Court Justices, 1813-Present
, ''Celebrating 200 Years: The Bicentennial of the Louisiana Supreme Court, 1813-2013''. In 1920, he was also a leading member of the successful campaign to elect John M. Parker as

governor of Louisiana The governor of Louisiana (; ) is the chief executive of the U.S. state government of Louisiana. The governor also serves as the commander in chief of the Louisiana National Guard. Republican Jeff Landry has held the office since January 8, ...

. He was a delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1921. In 1937, Moise was elected to Division C of the Civil District Court of Louisiana in New Orleans. He became the presiding judge of that court in 1947. One of his final cases on the civil court was an effort by a

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or payment is otherwise m ...

company to prevent the city of New Orleans from seizing and destroying certain "mint vending bell machines." Moise was set to hear the case in 1948, but it was reassigned because he advanced to the Supreme Court.''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' (June 5, 1948), p. 127. Governor

Huey Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "The Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination i ...

had intended to call a special election to fill the vacancy created on that court by the death of Nathaniel W. Bond, but after all three of the Democratic organizations of that district endorsed Moise, Long called off the election and appointed Moise directly. In 1952, Moise ran unopposed for election to a full 14-year term on the court, serving thereafter until his death, in New Orleans. He was succeeded on the court by Walter B. Hamlin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moise, Harold A. 1879 births 1958 deaths Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court Tulane University Law School alumni Politicians from Natchitoches, Louisiana Politicians from New Orleans Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Catholics from Louisiana 20th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature