Pascal F. Calogero Jr.

Pascal Frank Calogero Jr. (born November 9, 1931),^[1] is the former Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. He is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans School of Law, where he was initiated into the Alpha Delta Gamma National Fraternity. He resides in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was a New Orleans police officer who encouraged his son to pursue a career in law. Calogero received his early education at C.J. Colton Grammar School and graduated from St. Aloysius High School in 1949. He held a variety of jobs while attending high school, playing baseball on the championship team at St. Aloysius and excelling academically. After a course of pre-legal studies at Loyola University, Calogero earned his juris doctorate from Loyola Law School. He was president of the Loyola Law Review's student editorial board and ranked first in his class. In 1992 he rexceived a master of laws degree in judicial process from the University of Virginia.

He was first elected to the Court in 1972. He retired at the end of 2008. He had longest tenure of any Justice on the Louisiana Supreme Court.

As Chief Justice he oversaw the creation of the Louisiana Indigent Defender Board, improvements to the juvenile court system, development of a new lawyer disciplinary code, the strengthening of the judicial disciplinary system, the adoption of strategic plans for the three-tiered court system, implementation of a uniform pay plan for the state appellate courts, and establishment of the Supreme Court's community relations department.

Calogero's most visible achievement is the renovation of the New Orleans Civil Court Building at Royal and Conti Streets in the French Quarter. Built in 1098 for the Supreme Court and many smaller courts and state offices, the Royal Street courthouse had been vacated by the state courts in 1958. The building suffered serious neglect and was in danger of being torn down or altered significantly for other purposes. In the 1980s, the Supreme Court began to explore the possibility of returning to its 1908 building, and throughout the 1990s Calogero fought to win over the legislature to the idea and to acquire state funding for the project. The renovation was completed in 2004, and the Supreme Court and its associated agencies moved back into their former home. The impressive building now lends its dignity to the proceedings of the court and its vitality to the French Quarter.

On October 3, 1998, Calogero faced opposition from Republican Charles Cusimano of Metairie, a former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives and then a state district court judge. Calogero led in the nonpartisan blanket primary with 77,766 votes (49.5 percent), and Cusimano polled 64,711 ballots (41.2 percent). A third candidate held the remaining 8 percent of the vote.^[2] Cusimano decided not to contest the general election, and Calogero held the seat by default.

References

External links

• Pascal Calogero, Judgepedia site