Lance Africk
{{Short description|American judge (born 1951)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Lance Africk
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| image = Lance Michael Africk.jpg
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| office = Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
| term_start = October 1, 2024
| term_end =
| office1 = Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
| term_start1 = April 17, 2002
| term_end1 = October 1, 2024
| nominator1 =
| appointer1 = George W. Bush
| predecessor1 = Edith Brown Clement
| successor1 = vacant
| office2 = Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
| term_start2 = 1990
| term_end2 = 2002
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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1951|12|01}}
| birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S.
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| party = Republican (prior to 1993, 2001-present)
Democrat (1993–2001)
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| residence = {{nowrap|New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.}}
| education = {{nowrap|University of North Carolina (BA, JD)}}
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Lance Michael Africk (born December 1, 1951) is a senior United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Education and career
The New York City-born AfrickU.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. 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.{{FJC Bio|nid=1391471|inline=yes}}
=Federal judicial service=
Africk became a United States magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in 1990. 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.{{cite web|last=Crouere|first=Jeff|title=Inside Jefferson Parish|url=http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/inside-jefferson-parish/Content?oid=1239984|work=Gambit Weekly|accessdate=March 31, 2011|date=February 19, 2002}} 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,{{cite web|title=Presidential Nomination: Lance Michael Africk|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/nominations/9.html|publisher=White House|accessdate=March 31, 2011}} and received his commission the same day. He assumed senior status on October 1, 2024. 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.
=Notable case=
On March 31, 2011, Africk sentenced former New Orleans police officer David Warren to 25 years and 9 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 McRae, to 17 years and 3 months in prison and three years of supervised release on obstruction of justice and another civil rights charge.{{cite news|last=Robertson|first=Campbell|title=2 Former Officers Sentenced in Post-Katrina Killing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/us/01police.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 31, 2011}} "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.{{cite news|last=Kunzelman |first=Michael |title=Ex-cops go to prison in post-Katrina killing |url=http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/ex-cops-go-to-892584.html |newspaper=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=March 31, 2011 |agency=Associated Press |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20240525071029/https://www.webcitation.org/5xbRk7nni?url=http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/ex-cops-go-to-892584.html |archivedate=May 25, 2024 |url-status=dead }}
On December 17, 2012, the Fifth Circuit vacated Warren's conviction and one of the convictions related to McRae, ordering new trials on those charges. The three-judge panel found, among other concerns, that the trials of the two men should have been conducted separately. In 2013, Warren was acquitted.{{Cite web |last=Times-Picayune |first=NOLA com {{!}} The |title=Jury acquits David Warren, ex-cop who shot Henry Glover after Katrina |url=https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/jury-acquits-david-warren-ex-cop-who-shot-henry-glover-after-katrina/article_650e0302-9d69-5ebd-b4d2-744a9b35fa49.html |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=NOLA.com |date=12 December 2013 |language=en}}
In 2014, Africk resentenced McRae to the same punishment. He dismissed calls for leniency on the grounds of Warren's acquittal, calling it "irrelevant." He said McRae's crime was separate and should be punished individually.
"You did not merely burn a corpse, you, a law enforcement officer, burned a corpse to obstruct justice."{{Cite web |last=Simerman |first=John |title=Federal judge keeps 17-year sentence for officer who burned body |url=https://www.nola.com/news/article_aca4eb09-931e-5c79-b1dd-1daf8d0bb415.html |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=NOLA.com |date=18 August 2014 |language=en}}In 2015, McRae was granted a resentencing hearing after his obstruction of justice conviction was overturned entirely.{{Cite web |last=SIMERMAN |first=JOHN |title=Appeals court drops charge, orders new sentencing for former NOPD officer who burned Henry Glover's body in a car on the Algiers levee |url=https://www.nola.com/news/appeals-court-drops-charge-orders-new-sentencing-for-former-nopd-officer-who-burned-henry-glover/article_fa0945ce-b61a-5ce1-b72c-a31af578cb7f.html |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=NOLA.com |date=August 2015 |language=en}} In 2016, Africk reduced McRae's sentence to 11 years and nine months, which was within the federal guidelines. However, he rejected calls for a greater reduction on the grounds that McRae was mentally disturbed at the time of the crime. He said a long prison sentence was still warranted due to the severity of the crime.
"The facts behind your conviction deal with much more than the burning of an automobile. By hiding behind a blue wall of silence, you were hiding the truth."{{Cite web |last=SIMERMAN |first=JOHN |title=Judge reduces ex-NOPD officer's sentence in post-Katrina burning of Henry Glover's body |url=https://www.nola.com/news/judge-reduces-ex-nopd-officers-sentence-in-post-katrina-burning-of-henry-glover-s-body/article_f5b92867-e91c-5fc3-a3d1-7082e474c9a7.html |access-date=2023-03-14 |website=NOLA.com |date=5 February 2016 |language=en}}
Other interests
Africk served as the 54th president of the Sugar Bowl Committee in 2011–2012,{{cite news|title=Judge Lance Africk Named 54th Sugar Bowl President|date=February 20, 2011|url=http://allstatesugarbowl.org/site.php?pageID=19&newsID=317|work=Sugar Bowl}} 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.
{{Portal bar|Biography|New York City|United States|Law|Education|Politics}}
Notes
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References
- {{FJC Bio|nid=1391471}}
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{{s-bef|before=Edith Brown Clement}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana}}|years=2002–2024}}
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{{United States 5th Circuit senior district judges}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Africk, Lance}}
Category:Assistant United States attorneys
Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Category:Louisiana Republicans
Category:Lawyers from New York City
Category:Politicians from New Orleans
Category:United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush
Category:United States magistrate judges