FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (2/16/04)
Contact: Valerie Willard, Louisiana Supreme Court, 504-599-0319, vse@lajao.org, or
Lynn Stewart, Centenary News Service, 318-869-5120 lstewart@centenary.edu

Louisiana Supreme Court to Hear Six Pending Cases
During March 1 Public Session at Centenary College

SHREVEPORT, LA – Centenary College will be the site March 1 when the Louisiana Supreme Court holds court in Shreveport as part of an ongoing effort to educate and inform students and the general public about the work of the Court. The Court will convene for sessions beginning at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Marjorie Lyons Playhouse theatre auditorium. It will hear oral arguments on six pending cases.

The sessions will be open to groups of Caddo and Bossier Parish high school students, Centenary faculty and students, and to the public on a space-available basis. Plans are in the works to offer closed circuit viewing at another location on campus if the audience exceeds the seating available in the theatre.

Justice Jeff Victory of Shreveport, who is an alumnus of Centenary, and President Kenneth L. Schwab jointly announced the convening of the Court at Centenary. “We are pleased and honored that the state Supreme Court will hold sessions at Centenary,” Schwab said. “The last time the Court sat in Shreveport was in 1987 when another Centenary alumnus, the late John Dixon, was chief justice. This traveling program allows our students and our local citizens an opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have – to view our state’s highest court at work.”

Justice Victory said, “For several years, the Supreme Court has been periodically holding court in parishes other than Orleans Parish, where the Court is located. The goal is to provide area citizens with a snapshot of the volume, variety and complexity of the Court’s caseload by bringing the Louisiana Supreme Court to them.”

Following the afternoon session, the Shreveport Bar Association will host a reception for the justices and their staff, beginning at 4:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Club.

Justice Victory, who has served in all levels of the Louisiana judiciary, joined the Louisiana Supreme Court on Jan. 1, 1995. Before that, he was elected to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal, serving there beginning in 1991. He also formerly served in the 1st Judicial District Court of Caddo Parish for nine years.

A native of Shreveport, Justice Victory earned a B.A. degree in history and government from Centenary in 1967 and his juris doctorate from Tulane University Law School in 1971. He chairs of the Board of Governors of the Louisiana Judicial College, which provides continuing judicial education to all state judges. In addition, he serves on the state Supreme Court's Internal Audit Committee and lectures regularly about ethics issues.

For further information about the Louisiana Supreme Court visit to Centenary, see http://www.lasc.org or http://www.centenary.edu .

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