Alicia Jeannette Theriot Knoll (born January 23, 1943) is a former member 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 ...

. Knoll announced that she would retire at the end of 2016 rather than seek re-election. She was succeeded by James T. Genovese (born August 1949), who defeated Republican Marilyn C. Castle, 133,369 votes (51%) to 128,598 (49%), in the primary election held on November 8, 2016. This was the same day as the presidential balloting. The

Louisiana Secretary of State The secretary of state of Louisiana () is one of the elected constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Louisiana and serves as the head of the Louisiana Department of State. The position was created by Article 4, Section 7 of the Louisiana Con ...

lists Genovese as a Republican on its election returns, but as a registered

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on the voter portal. He may have switched registration after his election, or one of the party labels may be incorrect.

Background

A native of

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, Alicia, known as Jeannette, is one of 10 children"Jeannette Knoll"
, Louisiana Supreme Court Justice of Alfred Joseph Theriot and the former Marie Bailey. Reared in Gueydan in Vermilion Parish in southwestern Louisiana, she moved with her family to New Orleans, where she graduated from St. James Major High School. In 1961, at the age of 18, Theriot won a scholarship from the New Orleans Opera Guild and the Metropolitan Opera Association to study voice at the

Mannes College of Music The Mannes School of Music (), originally called the David Mannes Music School and later the Mannes Music School, Mannes College of Music, the Chatham Square Music School, and Mannes College: The New School for Music, is a Music school, music con ...

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. She continued to study music on a voice scholarship at Loyola University Music School in New Orleans. She was invited to be a guest soloist with the New Orleans Philharmonic Symphony and the New Orleans Summer Pops. In 1966, she obtained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from the

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-affiliated Loyola University in New Orleans. In 1969, she received the

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from Loyola Law School. Much later, in 1996, as a circuit court judge, Knoll (who had married and changed her name) obtained a

master of laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

in the judicial process from the University of Virginia School of Law in

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Judicial career

In 1982, Knoll was elected to Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit, First District, Division A, which encompassed eight parishes for a 10-year term. She defeated Alfred Ameen Mansour (1925-2010) of

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, fellow Democrat and state court judge, winning with 34,562 votes (53.4 percent) to 30,124 (46.6 percent). Mansour won his home parish, Rapides by 7,000 votes. In 1992, Knoll won all eight parishes to gain her second 10-year term on the appeals court. She defeated the Edward Larvadain, Jr., an African-American attorney from Alexandria, with 47,581 votes (81%) to 11,165 (19%). On September 21, 1996, Knoll was elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court seat for the Third District, which encompassed all or parts of 11 parishes. She defeated fellow Democrat Jack Crozier Watson, a lawyer from Lake Charles, 102,560 (54.7%) to 84,861 (45.3%) and won by a three-to-one margin in Avoyelles Parish. She joined the Supreme Court on January 1, 1997. In 2006, Knoll was unopposed for her second and final 10-year term on the high court. From 1972 to 1982, Knoll had been the first assistant district attorney for the 12th Judicial District Court in Marksville. Her husband, Jerold Edward "Eddie" Knoll, Sr. (born 1941), son of the late Edmond Knoll and the former Myrtle Humphries of Simmesport in Avoyelles Parish, a Democrat, was elected in 1976 as the 32nd

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

for the 12th District, serving from 1977 to 2003. Earlier, Jeannette Knoll had served as the

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

for indigent cases in Avoyelles Parish. She also represented ''

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

'' the

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board in Marksville. Knoll was an instructor for the Louisiana Judicial College and a past president of the

Business and Professional Women's Foundation Nevin, Susan B. (January 17, 1967). "Something Doing: Clubwomen to Pioneer in First Crafts ContestFebruary 1 Is the Date" ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. p. 19. Retrieved June 8, 2023.Business and Professional Women's Foundation (BPW) is an org ...

. In 1995 and 2002, she received the Outstanding Judicial Award from the crime-fighting

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, Victims and Citizens Against Crime, Inc. Still another group, Louisiana Crimefighters, named her "Outstanding Jurist of the Year". Jeannette and Eddie Knoll have four living sons, Eddie Knoll, Jr. (born 1975), Edmond "Sonny" Humphries Knoll (born 1977), Blake Theriot Knoll (born 1980), and Jonathan Paul Knoll (born 1981). Their oldest son, Triston Kane Knoll (1971-2011), practiced law in Marksville with his father and brothers until his death in Alexandria, at the age of 39. He was inducted in 2007 into the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame. In 2000, Knoll was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield. She is the only current member of the Louisiana Supreme Court to have received this honor. Former Chief Justice Catherine D. Kimball was inducted in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knoll, Jeannette 1943 births Living people American opera singers Circuit court judges in the United States Lawyers from New Orleans Louisiana Democrats Louisiana state court judges Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court Loyola University New Orleans alumni Loyola University New Orleans College of Law alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni People from Marksville, Louisiana People from Gueydan, Louisiana Politicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Lawyers from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Politicians from New Orleans Singers from Louisiana 20th-century American women judges 20th-century Louisiana state court judges 21st-century American women judges 21st-century American judges