Jefferson Hughes
| Jefferson Davis "Jeff" Hughes, III | |
 | |
Associate Justice (Place 5) of the Louisiana Supreme Court
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office February 1, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Catherine D. Kimball |
|---|---|
Judge of the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the 1st Circuit, Third District, Division C
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| In office 2005–2013 | |
| Preceded by | Brady M. Fitzsimmons |
| Succeeded by | Ernest Drake |
Judge of the Louisiana 21st Judicial District Court for Division F (Livingston, St. Helena, and Tangipahoa parishes)
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| In office January 1, 1991 – December 31, 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph E. "Joe Eddie" Anzalone, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Elizabeth "Beth" Wolfe |
| Born | January 9, 1952 Place of birth missing |
| Political party | Democrat-turned-Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Lisa Hughes
Parents: |
| Residence | Walker, Livingston Parish, Louisiana |
| Alma mater | Denham Springs High School Louisiana State University |
| Occupation | Attorney; Judge |
| Religion | Pentecostal |
Jefferson Davis Hughes, III, known as Jeff Hughes (born January 9, 1952),[1] has been since 2013 a Republican associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Background
Hughes was reared in Denham Springs in Livingston Parish. His father, Jefferson Hughes, Jr. (1924-2017), a forester, was an executive for Crown Zellerbach, for which he managed the Department of Environmental Services and Association Affairs, from which he retired in 1986. He then became a consultant for Cavenham and Hanson, and retired again in 2000 as manager of Government Affairs for Weyerhaeuser. The father was descended from Peter Hammond, the founder of Hammond, Louisiana. Hughes' mother is the former Lorraine Elizabeth "Betty" Schertz.[2] Hughes, III, graduated from Denham Springs High School, at which he participated in four sports and was his class salutatorian]] and a National Merit Scholarship finalist. He attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge on an academic scholarship and received Bachelor of Arts in History with honors. At the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, he worked on The Louisiana Law Review.[3]
Legal career
After time as a clerk for Judge Frank Polozola of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, he worked in private practice in Baton Rouge with the firm of Adcock, Dupree, and Shows. He then practiced solo and subsequently became the first attorney to practice in Walker in Livingston Parish.[3]
After twelve years of private practice he was elected in 1990 as a Democrat to the 21st Judicial District Court (Division F) on which he served for fourteen years. He succeeded another Democrat, Joseph E. "Joe Eddie" Anzalone, Jr. (1935-2010) of Hammond in Tangipahoa Parish.[4] He was last elected to the district court in a runoff election in 2002 with fellow Republican Robert H. Harrison, Jr. In that race, Hughes polled 31,042 votes (61.5 percent) to Harrison's 19,436 (38.5 percent).[5]
In 2004, Hughes, with four years remaining in his district court term, was elected to the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the First Circuit, on which he sat for eight years. In that contest, as a Republican candidate, Hughes unseated the incumbent Republican judge, Brady M. Fitzsimmons, 41,926 votes (51.4 percent) to 39,670 (48.6 percent).[6]
Elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court in 2012,[3] Hughes defeated the Democrat John Michael Guidry, an African-American judge of the First Circuit, Second District, appeal court who formerly served in both houses of the state legislature. In the nonpartisan blanket primary, Guidry led the eight-candidate field with 93,119 votes (27.5 percent); Hughes trailed with 71,911 (21.2 percent). Four other Republicans held 35 percent of the vote; another Democrat, 14.8 percent, and an Independent, less than 1 percent.[7] In the lower-turnout runoff contest on December 8, 2012, Hughes defeated Guidry, 52,939 votes (52.8 percent) to 47,259 (47.2 percent), to claim the ten-year term on the Supreme Court to succeed the retiring Catherine D. Kimball, the chief justice in her last years on the tribunal.[8]
Justice Hughes resides in Walker and attends the Shady Bower Pentecostal Church there.[3][9]
In 2019, Hughes was challenged about the ramifications of a 1998 custody decision in which he transferred custody of Austin Nicholson, then a five-year old child, to his mother, Kristin Nicholson Fuselier. The boy's paternal grandmother questioned Hughes' decision because the child had been scalded under mysterious circumstances while on his mother's watch. Judge Hughes issued a letter of apology to the grandmother. Reports surfaced that Hughes was at the time single and dating the attorney for the woman in the custody fight. The grandmother brought Austin to Iowa, where he was reared by an aunt.[10]
After the Nicholson case came to light, it was found that Judge Hughes had written two other apology letters in another child-custody dispute.[11]
In June 2020, Judge Hughes filed a defamation suit against The Advocate in a dispute over the wording of an opinion article about the Nicholson case the previous year. In December 2021, the Louisiana's 1st Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that Hughes' suit can proceed. The article purported that Hughes had sent secret apology letters to families who had cases before him in the late 1990s. The focus of the allegations was a custody case that the child's stepfather was accused of abusing him.[12]
References
- ↑ Jefferson Hughes. Mylife.com.
- ↑ Obituary of Jefferson Hughes, Jr.. The New Orleans Times-Picayune (June 30, 2017). Retrieved on October 19, 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Justice Jefferson D. Hughes. Louisiana Supreme Court. Retrieved on July 14, 2015.
- ↑ Joseph E. "Joe Eddie" Anzalone, Jr.. findagrave.com. Retrieved on July 14, 2015.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 5, 2002.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, September 18, 2004.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 6, 2012.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election, December 8, 2012.
- ↑ Shady Bower Pentecostal Church in Walker, Louisiana. nonprofitfacts.com. Retrieved on July 14, 2015.
- ↑ Andrea Gallo and John Simerman (August 3, 2019). Supreme Court Justice Jeff Hughes defends handling of case that prompted apology. The Baton Rouge Advocate. Retrieved on October 19, 2020.
- ↑ Andrea Gallo and John Simerman (July 28, 2019). Two more apology letters surface from Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jefferson Hughes, III. The Baton Rouge Advocate. Retrieved on October 19, 2020.
- ↑ Andrea Gallo (December 8, 2021). Supreme Court Justice Jeff Hughes' lawsuit against The Advocate can move forward, court rules. The Baton Rouge Advocate.
