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For the first time in its history a black judge will be seated in Terrebonne Parish’s district court.
But Juan Pickett – while cognizant of the significance – says his chief concern is simply doing the job to the best of his ability.
“To me it is an accomplishment to become the next district court judge,” Pickett explains. “My goal is not to be the next district court judge and stop there. I want to be the best district court judge.”
From now until his January swearing-in, Pickett says he will continue doing his best as the prosecutor in Division C under District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr.
Pickett’s candidacy for the Division C bench was unopposed. The bench opened up when Judge Timothy Ellender announced that he would be resigning, due to Louisiana’s law mandating that judges 70 and older not seek new terms.
Local civil rights leaders, while mindful of Pickett’s accomplishment and complimentary toward him, say that the landmark ascension does not alter their plans to continue litigating a federal suit seeking to change how Terrebonne Parish judges are elected.
Terrebonne Parish NAACP President Jerome Boykin has maintained that the suit has to do not with the race of who sits on the bench, but the parish’s demographics and compliance with the federal law.
Electing all judges parish-wide, the suit alleges, violates Section 2 of the federal Civil Rights Act by diluting the vote of black people. Among the potential solutions sought is creation of a minority district that would accommodate selection of a judge seen as the specific choice of black voters.
It is being heard in Baton Rouge federal court. So far attorneys from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a separate organization from the NAACP, have been engaged with filing motions pre-trial, as have attorneys for Gov. Bobby Jindal and the heads of other state agencies named in the suit.
Pickett had long been considered as a potential judicial candidate. But attorneys rarely challenge sitting judges. Ellender’s retirement opened the door, and with no attorneys challenging Pickett’s filing of qualifying papers the position became his. Members of the local bar interviewed earlier this year praised his hard work as a prosecutor and even-tempered demeanor.
Pickett grew up in Virginia and attended college at Virginia Union University, clerking later at a Richmond law firm and attending law school at Southern University in Louisiana.
His wife, Bernadette, is also an assistant district attorney.
John Pickett, his father, is a retired attorney originally from Webster Parish and his mother, Susie, is a former clerk for the Library of Congress, where Juan Pickett once worked part-time.
“They were thrilled,” Pickett said. “My mother cried.”
