Carl E. Stewart - Career

Career

Later in 1974, Stewart entered the U.S. Army in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. As a captain, he served as a defense attorney for soldiers at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. After an honorable discharge, Stewart worked as an associate in a small private law firm. He joined a field office of the Louisiana Attorney General William J. "Billy" Guste, Jr., in 1978.

In 1979, Stewart became an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and worked on a variety of cases. He prosecuted a loan shark who preyed on the poor, a sheriff who paid for votes during a reelection bid, and an unscrupulous land owner who filed false flood relief claims with the federal government. Stewart received a letter of commendation from the Justice Department for his work on a civil rights case in 1982 and 1983.

Stewart left the Justice Department in 1983 to go into private practice in Shreveport, and work as an adjunct professor at Louisiana State University. In 1985, he won election to a six year term as a District Judge in Louisiana. At the conclusion of the term, Stewart was elected to the state's Second Circuit Court of Appeal.

In 1989, Stewart was praised for his judicial performance. The defunct Shreveport Journal, which sponsored the survey of judges, declared that Stewart had "nearly swept the ratings." One local attorney described Stewart as "a splendid judge, excellent in every respect." Other attorneys lauded his "fine judicial manner," his fairness and concern for "judicial economy." Stewart, one attorney said, "is careful to treat all parties with the same attitude and concern."

In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Stewart to the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.