Frank Joseph Polozola

Frank Joseph Polozola (January 15, 1942 – February 24, 2013) was a United States federal judge.

Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Polozola received an LL.B. in 1965 from Louisiana State University Law School. He was a law clerk of Judge Elmer Gordon West of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana from 1965 to 1966. He was in private practice in Baton Rouge from 1966 to 1973. He began teaching in 1977 at the Louisiana State University Law Center.

On April 2, 1980, Polozola was appointed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter to the position vacated by his former mentor, Judge West. Polozola was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 21, 1980, and received his commission two days later. In September 1980, Polozola presided over the racketeering and extortion trial of former Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Gil Dozier of Baton Rouge. When Dozier was found to have engaged in jury tampering in his original trial while on bond, Polozola added eight years to the original ten-year sentence. In 1984, Dozier's term was commuted to the two years and two months served by Carter's successor as president, Ronald W. Reagan, despite Judge Polozola's opposition to the clemency.^[1][2]

Polozola was the chief judge from 1998 to 2005. In 2000, he presided over the criminal trial of former Governor Edwin Edwards.^[3] He assumed senior status on January 15, 2007. Polozola died on February 24, 2013.^[4]

United States Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, 1972-1973 (part-time)
United States Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, 1973–1980

References

1. "Persistence paid off for jailed Dozier", Minden Press-Herald, July 23, 1984, p. 1
2. "Bill Sherman, "Louisiana ag chiefs: past and present", July 3, 2008" (PDF). ldaf.state.la.us. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
3. Obituary
4. Obituary

Sources

• Frank Joseph Polozola at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.