Melancon graduated from
Louisiana State University with a
Bachelor of Science degree in 1968. He finished studies at
Tulane Law School with a
Juris Doctor in 1973. He was a managing partner at Melancon & Rabalais, private practice with his colleague, Rodney M. Rabalais, in
Marksville,
Louisiana, from 1973 to 1993.
Federal judicial service On the unanimous recommendation of Louisiana U.S. Senators
John Breaux and
Bennett Johnston, Melancon was nominated by President Clinton on November 18, 1993, to a seat vacated by
Tom Stagg as Stagg assumed senior status. Melancon was confirmed by the
United States Senate on February 10, 1994, and received his commission the following day. He assumed senior status on February 14, 2009, due to a certified disability.
Notable cases Melancon has presided over a number of cases in his judicial tenure of fifteen years. He has heard a variety of trials, including
class action,
tax evasion,
drug trafficking,
cross burning, as well as issues where the
First Amendment and
Clean Water Act standards were at stake or being violated. However, his legacy might be his devotion to
desegregation in
public schools in the parishes which fall under his jurisdiction;
St. Landry,
Evangeline, and
Franklin, among others. He sentenced one
Evangeline Parish board member to ten days of
incarceration with three days suspension, as well as high fines for
criminal contempt (or
contempt of court) a charge to which the board member had pleaded guilty for attempting to manipulate a court-ordered employment process. One fine, US $3,000, was, according to Melancon, retribution for what he said was the board member's violation of the court's
desegregation order. Melancon was cited in one
Fifth Circuit decision as having been "heavy-handed" and tending towards "over management" in his dealings with the parish school boards on the
desegregation issues. In November 2009, Melancon was a visiting judge presiding over cases relating to the
Staten Island ferry disaster in
New York City. ==Cancer==