Nauman Scott - Nixon Appoints Scott To The Bench

Nixon Appoints Scott To The Bench

On September 14, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon appointed Scott to a newly-created judgeship for the Wwstern District of Louisiana headquartered in Alexandria. Scott secured U.S. Senate confirmation on October 13, and received his commission of office on October 15, 1970. He was senior judge on the court from 1976 to 1984. He assumed senior status on December 4, 1984. He was still technically serving at the time of his death—a week after the 9-11 disaster—but had been too ill to discharge his duties.

In 1972, Scott presided over the perjury trial of Concordia Parish Sheriff Noah W. Cross, whose conviction was subsequently upheld on appeal. Cross, who began his tenure as sheriff in 1944 was compelled to resign in 1974 to enter federal prison. He died some two years later after having been released.

Scott served on the Louisiana Law Institute, the Louisiana Mineral Law Institute, and the Bar Association Committee for Drafting the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. He was a member of the Lake Forest Academy Hall of Fame, the recipient of the Amherst College Distinguished Alumni Award, the Tulane Law School Distinguished Jurist Award, and the Distinguished Jurist Award of the Louisiana Bar Association.