Lance M. Africk

Lance Michael Africk (born December 1, 1951) is a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Lance Michael Africk
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Assumed office
April 17, 2002
Appointed byGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byEdith Brown Clement
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
In office
1990–2002
Personal details
Born (1951-12-01) December 1, 1951
New York City, New York
Political partyRepublican-turned-Democrat (1993)-returned-Republican (2001)
ResidenceNew Orleans, Louisiana
EducationUniversity of North Carolina (B.A.)
University of North Carolina School of Law (J.D.)

Education and career

The New York City-born Africk[1] received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1973, and two years later a Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina School of Law. From 1975 to 1976, he was a law clerk to James Gulotta, a judge of the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. He entered the private practice of law in Louisiana from 1976 to 1977, and was thereafter Director of the Career Criminal Bureau for the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office from 1977 to 1980. He returned to private practice until 1982, and then became an Assistant United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana until 1990. In 1986, he began teaching as an instructor at the University of New Orleans.[2]

District court service

Africk became a United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in 1990.[2] After the election of Bill Clinton in 1992, Africk changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. He did not obtain nomination for a judgeship under Clinton.[3] On January 23, 2002, by which time he had returned to Republican registration, Africk was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana vacated by Edith Brown Clement. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 17, 2002, and received his commission of office the same day.[2][4] More conservative Republicans opposed Bush's selection of Africk, whose past Democratic affiliation caused them discomfiture; the publication Gambit Weekly reported that shipbuilder Donald Thomas "Boysie" Bollinger of Lockport in Lafourche Parish, a major GOP donor and the son of former party chairman Donald G. Bollinger, was the driving force behind the Africk nomination.[3]

Notable case

On March 31, 2011, Judge Africk sentenced former New Orleans police officer David Warren to twenty-five years and nine months in federal prison on a federal civil rights violation of committing manslaughter with a firearm in the case of the death of Henry Glover. Africk sentenced another former officer, Greg MacRae, to seventeen years and three months in prison and three years of supervised release on obstruction of justice and another civil rights charge.[5][6] "Henry Glover was not at the strip mall to commit suicide. He was there to retrieve some baby clothing. You killed a man. Despite your tendentious arguments to the contrary, it was no mistake," Africk told Warren.[6]

Other interests

Judge Africk served as the 54th president of the Sugar Bowl Committee in 2011-2012,[7] and oversaw the game in which the University of Michigan Wolverines defeated Virginia Tech in an overtime win. Thereafter he helped in the presentation of the Sugar Bowl Trophy to Brady Hoke and the Wolverines team.

Notes
  1. U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
  2. "Africk, Lance M." Biographical Directory of Federal Judges. Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  3. Crouere, Jeff (February 19, 2002). "Inside Jefferson Parish". Gambit Weekly. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  4. "Presidential Nomination: Lance Michael Africk". White House. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  5. Robertson, Campbell (March 31, 2011). "2 Former Officers Sentenced in Post-Katrina Killing". The New York Times.
  6. Kunzelman, Michael (March 31, 2011). "Ex-cops go to prison in post-Katrina killing". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 31, 2011.
  7. "Judge Lance Africk Named 54th Sugar Bowl President". Sugar Bowl. February 20, 2011.
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References
Legal offices
Preceded by
Edith Brown Clement		 Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
2002–present		 Incumbent
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