The Eastern District of Texas court family, joined by much of the Western District of Louisiana court family, met in Marshall today for the formal investiture of Roy S. Payne as the new magistrate judge for the Marshall Division.
Judge Payne was introduced by his Shreveport bar colleagues Bernard S. Johnson and Lawrence W. Pettiette, Jr., and robed by U.S. District Judge Tom Stagg 
of Shreveport (both judges are shown in the attached photo from a recent reunion of Judge Stagg's clerks, which features Judge Stagg's crimson robe, which he brought to Marshall today as well), whom Judge Payne clerked for 35 years ago and who first swore Judge Payne in as a magistrate judge in the WD La 25 years ago (he served for 17 years). Many, many good things were said about Judge Payne by those assembled, most of which he subsequently either denied or graciously attributed to his law clerks.
We have one more court ceremony left this spring - the reception for the presentation of Judge David Folsom's portrait at the courthouse in Texarkana, after which we will be waiting on nominees (and later, appointees and confirmees) for the pending district court vacancy in Sherman (candidates for which have been recommended to the White House by Texas' senators) and the forthcoming vacancy when Judge Folsom retires next month.
