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52-503: After stepping down, Letten joined Tulane University Law School as an assistant dean. Letten later became of counsel with the firm of Butler Snow, while retaining his post at Tulane. Letten was born at Southern Baptist Hospital in New Orleans on September 12, 1953. He is the only son of Alden and Dorothy "Dot" Letten; his father was a steel fabricator. Letten graduated from De La Salle High School in 1971. He received his B.A. from

104-471: A Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agent. Letten has been married to JoAnn Letten for over thirty years; they have two children. Letten has been noted for his "trademark" bushy mustache . Tulane University Law School Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University . It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans , Louisiana . Established in 1847, it

156-460: A felony who are known as felons ). Depending on the jurisdiction, examples of misdemeanors may include: petty theft , prostitution , public intoxication , simple assault , disorderly conduct , trespass , shoplifting , vandalism , reckless driving , indecent exposure , forcible touching , and possession of cannabis for personal use. In the United States, even if a criminal charge for

208-587: A prison . Jurisdictions such as Massachusetts are a notable exception; the maximum punishment of some misdemeanors there is up to 2.5 years. People who are convicted of misdemeanors are often punished with probation , community service , short jail term, or part-time incarceration such as a sentence that may be served on the weekends. The United States Constitution provides that the President may be impeached and subsequently removed from office if found guilty by Congress for "high crimes and misdemeanors". As used in

260-425: A harsher sentence. An example is the penalty imposed for vandalism , which is a fine not exceeding S$ 2,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three years, and also corporal punishment of not less than three strokes and not more than eight strokes with the use of a cane . Depending on the jurisdiction, several classes of misdemeanors may exist. The forms of punishment can vary widely between those classes. For example,

312-428: A misdemeanor, but be charged as a felony when committed in front of a minor . Misdemeanors usually do not result in the restriction of civil rights, but may result in loss of privileges, such as professional licenses, public offices, or public employment. Such effects are known as the collateral consequences of criminal charges . This is more common when the misdemeanor is related to the privilege in question (such as

364-556: A number of countries throughout the world. In addition to the J.D., the school offers two graduate degrees in law: The Master of Laws (LL.M.) the Doctor of Laws (S.J.D.) program. The five specialized LL.M. programs are in: maritime law, energy and environmental law, American business law, American law, and international and comparative law. LL.M. students may also pursue a general LL.M., which does not concentrate in any one area. The law school offers six live-client clinical programs , in

416-524: A top law school and a top business school located immediately next to one another, both of which consistently rank among the top 50 in the nation, according to the U.S. News & World Report and the Financial Times (the Finance department in particular has been ranked among the top 10 in the world on several occasions). This close proximity has facilitated the growth of Tulane's JD/MBA program. In

468-443: A total of 17 or 14% of its total faculty. Tuition and fees for a full-time Tulane Law School student for the 2017–2018 academic year are $ 54,658 ($ 50,358 tuition and $ 4,300 in mandatory fees). The total cost of attendance (tuition, fees, books and living expenses) for the 2017–2018 academic year is estimated at $ 77,334. Law School Transparency estimated total cost of attendance for three years at $ 284,440 in 2017, noting that for

520-511: A whole bunch of folks who worked for or did business with the Orleans Parish School Board; several high-profile associates of ex-Mayor Marc Morial ; and ex-New Orleans City Councilman Oliver Thomas , who had been pegged as a front-runner in the 2010 mayor's race." These successes gained Letten bipartisan support, including from both Louisiana's U.S. Senators, Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican David Vitter . In September 2009,

572-427: Is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies , but theoretically more so than administrative infractions (also known as minor, petty, or summary offences ) and regulatory offences . Typically, misdemeanors are punished with prison time of no longer than one year, monetary fines, or community service . A misdemeanor

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624-411: Is considered a crime of lesser seriousness, and a felony one of greater seriousness. The maximum punishment for a misdemeanor is less than that for a felony under the principle that the punishment should fit the crime. One standard for measurement is the degree to which a crime affects others or society. Measurements of the degree of seriousness of a crime have been developed. In the United States,

676-532: Is marked by many large live oak trees and historically significant buildings. Architectural styles include Richardsonian Romanesque , Elizabethan , Renaissance , Brutalist , and Modern architecture . The front-of-campus buildings use white Indiana Limestone or orange brick for exteriors, while the middle-of-campus buildings are mostly adorned in red St. Joe brick. In all, Tulane's Uptown campus occupies more than 110 acres (0.4 km ), facing St. Charles Avenue directly opposite Audubon Park , which features

728-607: Is ranked 37th in Law School 100's 2018 ranking, which relies on a qualitative assessment. The Leiter Law School ranking, conducted in 2010, put Tulane at 38th, based on student quality. The Hylton law school rankings , conducted in 2006, put Tulane at 39th. Tulane University Law School graduates had the 2nd highest passing rate, after LSU, on the Louisiana State Bar Exam administered in July 2021, according to results released by

780-423: Is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. The law school's 160,000-square-foot (15,000 m ) building, John Giffen Weinmann Hall, was completed in 1995. Designed to integrate classrooms, a student lounge, a computer lab, faculty offices, and a law library that contains both national and international collections, the building is centrally located on Tulane's Uptown campus. The law school has been on

832-511: The Audubon Zoo , and a 1.8-mile (2.9 km) pedestrian trail around a public golf course. The campus is also a short bicycle ride from the Mississippi River and a 25+ mile bicycling/jogging trail that runs along it. The St. Charles Avenue Streetcar Line makes the campus accessible via public transit. Loyola University is directly adjacent to Tulane, on the downriver side. To complete

884-472: The Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree program, a student must finish six semesters in residence, 88 credit hours, an upper-level writing requirement, and a 50-hour community-service obligation. The first-year curriculum comprises eight required courses. The first-year legal-research-and-writing program is taught by instructors with significant experience as lawyers and writers, each assisted by senior fellows. After

936-644: The Times-Picayune praised Letten and the FBI for "bringing to justice" Bill Hubbard, who resigned as Saint John Parish president after receiving bribes of $ 20,000 from contractors. After being retained in office by President Obama, Letten pursued a number of federal civil rights investigations into the New Orleans Police Department , a priority of the Obama administration's Department of Justice . In 2010,

988-610: The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals , the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana , and the Louisiana Supreme Court , all of which are in New Orleans. The school was the first in the country to institute a pro bono program requiring that each student complete legally related community service prior to graduation. Every summer, BarBri , a national bar exam -preparation company, offers New York Bar Exam and Louisiana Bar Exam preparation courses at

1040-628: The University of New Orleans in 1976 and his Juris Doctor from the Tulane University Law School in 1979. Letten worked for Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick Sr. for four years. In 1982, Letten became a federal prosecutor, beginning on an organized crime strike force. He was part of the team that prosecuted several leaders of the New Orleans mafia and figures from the New York crime families . From 1994 to 2001, Letten

1092-449: The crooked traditions of Louisiana public servants ." The Times-Picayune listed the following as the notable public corruption cases in which the U.S. Attorney's Office achieved convictions under Letten's leadership: "ex-Jefferson Parish Judges Ronald Bodenheimer and Alan Green; former Orleans Parish School Board President Ellenese Brooks-Simms ; ex-state Sen. Derrick Shepherd ; former St. Tammany Parish Councilman Joe Impastato;

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1144-521: The law firm Butler Snow LLP as of counsel . Letten works with the firm's investigations and white-collar crimes group. He continues to simultaneously serve as Tulane assistant dean. Letten served in the United States Naval Reserve for two decades and retired as a commander . Letten was a naval intelligence officer, with roles including (among others) counter-intelligence and intelligence analysis . He spent more than twelve years as

1196-543: The '06–'07 school year, Tulane boasted of having 25 joint JD/MBA candidates. In March 2007, Tulane announced that it had hired a new business law professor, whose objectives would include "maximiz[ing]...the growth of the Law School's JD/MBA joint degree," and strengthening ties between the law school and Freeman School of Business . In January 2008, the Tulane JD/MBA Club held a networking event in New York City with

1248-544: The 2015–16 academic year, 32.3% of students received scholarships of 50% or more of tuition and fees. Student organizations sponsor educational programs and social events throughout the academic year. The law school also periodically hosts social events with the Tulane University School of Medicine and the Freeman School of Business . An active moot court program holds trial and appellate competitions within

1300-477: The Class of 2015 obtained full-time, long-term, bar passage-required employment nine months after graduation, excluding solo practitioners, and 4.9% of the class was seeking employment but not employed. According to Tulane Law School's official 2017 ABA-required disclosures, 63.3% of the Class of 2016 was employed in non-school-funded, full-time, long-term, bar passage required jobs nine months after graduation, and 6.5% of

1352-530: The Constitution, the term misdemeanor refers broadly to criminal acts as opposed to employing the felony-misdemeanor distinction used in modern criminal codes. The definition of what constitutes "high crimes and misdemeanors" for purposes of impeachment is left to the judgment of Congress. In Singapore , defendants found guilty of misdemeanors are generally given a jail sentence for a number of months, but with certain specific crimes, suspects are sentenced to

1404-405: The Law School, to support as many as 30 students each summer in public interest fellowships with a variety of organizations. Journals published or edited at Tulane Law School include: 29°56′07″N 90°07′22″W  /  29.935344°N 90.122687°W  / 29.935344; -90.122687 Misdemeanor A misdemeanor ( American English , spelled misdemeanour elsewhere)

1456-493: The Louisiana Supreme Court Committee. In all, 84.3 percent of Tulane students passed the bar on their first attempt, compared to the state average of 78.4 percent. In scoring that runs from .14 (least ethnically diverse) to .73 (most diverse), Tulane's diversity index, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report Law School Diversity Index, is .33, with Hispanic students the largest minority at 8% of

1508-492: The Presidency to Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, many Democrats, including U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu , took the unusual step of urging the new President to reappoint Letten. As U.S. Attorney, Letten became known for his "successful prosecutions of public officials," ranging from corrupt elected officials to corrupt judges, police officers, and school officials. The New York Times described him as "a popular crusader against

1560-520: The Tulane Law School. Additionally, a California Bar Exam preparation course is offered when demand warrants it, as it did in 2010. Tulane Law School was one of the first five schools in the United States to offer a foreign summer law program. As of 2008, over 4,000 law students from approximately 140 U.S. law schools attended Tulane Law's summer abroad programs, taught by faculty from Tulane, other U.S. law schools, and universities abroad. Through

1612-821: The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case, Letten recused himself because he knew the father of one of the men involved. In July 2013, after Letten left the U.S. Attorney's office to become assistant dean at Tulane law school, O'Keefe appeared at Letten's home, where he complained to Letten's wife about his prosecution, and later confronted Letten on the Tulane campus in a tense videotaped exchange. Letten called O'Keefe "scum" and told him to "stay away from my family." In December 2012, Letten resigned as U.S. Attorney, following revelations that senior prosecutors in Letten's office had made "provocative, even pugnacious comments about active criminal matters and other subjects under aliases at nola.com,

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1664-689: The UK the substance of the original distinction remains, only slightly altered): in the Commonwealth nations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, the crimes are divided into summary offences and indictable offences . The Republic of Ireland , a former member of the Commonwealth, also uses these divisions. In some jurisdictions, those who are convicted of a misdemeanor are known as misdemeanants (as contrasted with those convicted of

1716-643: The Uptown campus since 1906, and has been housed in several buildings since then, until the completion of Weinmann Hall. The law school was located in Jones Hall from 1969 until 1995, where scenes for The Pelican Brief were filmed. Next to Weinmann Hall on the 6200 block of Freret Street is the Law Annex, a light gray cobblestone building that houses the Center for Energy Law and the Center for Environmental Law. The Law Annex

1768-461: The Web site of The Times-Picayune newspaper." Senator Mary Landrieu and Attorney General Eric Holder paid tribute to Letten's service. In February 2013, Letten was appointed assistant dean of experiential learning at Tulane University Law School, his alma mater. Letten is in charge of the school's moot-court competition and six legal clinics. In November 2015, Letten joined the New Orleans office of

1820-562: The areas of: civil litigation , criminal defense , juvenile litigation, legislative and administrative advocacy, domestic violence , and environmental law (the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic ). In addition, there is a trial-advocacy program, and third-year students may engage in externships with federal and state judges, with a local death-penalty project, or with certain administrative agencies. The judicial externships are possible because of Tulane's close proximity to

1872-577: The class was seeking employment but not employed. Tulane Law School's Career Development Office has five career counselors, newly recruited. The School also has an office coordinator. According to the 2023–2024 rankings published by U.S. News & World Report , Tulane University Law School is ranked 78th (tied) amongst 196 law schools fully accredited by the American Bar Association . In March 2018, Law.com ranked Tulane Law 36th among its list of The Top 50 Go-To Law Schools. Tulane Law

1924-481: The conservative provocateur videographer/prankster James O'Keefe , "who specialized in often deceptively edited undercover camera work to expose what he considers to liberal hypocrisies," pleaded guilty to federal misdemeanor charges of entering the New Orleans offices of Senator Landrieu disguised as a telephone repairman and attempting to tamper with the office's phone system under false pretenses. fellow activists who accompanied O'Keefe also faced prosecution. Although

1976-453: The creator of jdmba.com, an interschool JD/MBA networking website. Recent JD/MBA graduates have gone on to work for law firms , management consulting firms, investment banks , and in-house legal departments in New York, Houston, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and other cities. The program does not require highly qualified applicants to have significant full-time work experience. In March 2009,

2028-441: The defendant's conduct is normally a misdemeanor, sometimes a repeat offender will be charged with a felony offense. For example, the first time a person commits certain crimes, such as spousal assault, it is normally a misdemeanor, but the second time it may become a felony. Other misdemeanors may be upgraded to felonies based on context. For example, in some jurisdictions the crime of indecent exposure might normally be classified as

2080-745: The federal and some state governments in the United States divide misdemeanors into several classes, with certain classes punishable by jail time and others carrying only a fine. In New York law, a Class A Misdemeanor, which among other things includes the sex crime of forcible touching, carries a maximum sentence of one year of imprisonment, while a Class B Misdemeanor "shall not exceed three months". For example, Virginia has four classes of misdemeanors, with Class 1 and Class 2 misdemeanors being punishable by twelve-month and six-month jail sentences, respectively, and Class 3 and Class 4 misdemeanors being non-jail offenses payable by fines. New York has three classes of misdemeanors: A, B, and Unclassified. In

2132-469: The federal government generally considers a crime punishable with incarceration for not more than one year, or lesser penalty, to be a misdemeanor. All other crimes are considered felonies. Many US states also employ the same or a similar distinction. The distinction between felonies and misdemeanors has been abolished by several common law jurisdictions, notably the UK and Australia. These jurisdictions have generally adopted some other classification (in

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2184-1166: The first year, all courses are electives, except for a required legal-profession course. All first year and many upper-class courses are taught in multiple sections to allow for smaller classes. The upper-class curriculum includes introductory as well as advanced courses in a broad range of subject areas, including international and comparative law , business law , corporate law, environmental law, maritime law, criminal law , intellectual property , taxation , litigation , and civil procedure , among others. Tulane Law offers six optional concentration programs for J.D. students who wish to receive one certificate of completion in an area. The six are European legal studies , environmental law, international and comparative law, maritime law, sports law, or civil law. Tulane's Eason Weinmann Center for Comparative Law, its Maritime Law Center, and its Institute on Water Policy & Law, promote scholarship in comparative, maritime, and environmental law. Tulane conducts an annual summer school in New Orleans and offers summer-study programs abroad. Tulane also offers semester-long exchange programs with select law schools in

2236-833: The joint JD/MA in Latin American Studies must complete 24 semester hours of coursework in graduate courses approved by the Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies . Demonstrated competence in either Spanish or Portuguese is required, and competence in both is encouraged. The Payson Center for International Development , which became part of the Law School in 2008, confers Master of Science, Joint Juris Doctor and Master of Science, Master of Laws (LLM) in Development, and Doctoral degrees. According to Tulane Law School's 2015 ABA -required disclosures, 60% of

2288-729: The law school (rather than the normally-required 88 units) and 46 units in TUSPH&;TM. Students are permitted to skip the course Social and Behavioral Aspects of Global Health which is normally required for the Public Health Core. Students take Health Care Law in the law school instead of the TUSPH&TM version of the course, and the course counts for both JD and MHA. In recent years, the program has enrolled 0–2 students per year and graduating students have gone into health care law practice and health care management in approximately equal numbers. Enriched by Tulane's position of hosting one of

2340-405: The loss of a taxi driver's license after a conviction for reckless driving ), or when the misdemeanor is deemed to involve moral turpitude —and in general is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In the United States, misdemeanors are typically crimes with a maximum punishment of 12 months of incarceration , typically in a local jail . This contrasts with felons, who are typically incarcerated in

2392-824: The school and fields teams for a variety of interschool competitions. The Law School has a chapter of the Order of the Coif . The Student Bar Association functions as the student government and recommends students for appointment to faculty committees. Over 40 student organizations are active at Tulane, including Tulane Criminal Law Society, Federal Bar Association, Maritime Law Society, Sports Law Society, Tulane Women In Law, OUTLaw, Black Law Students Association, Latinx Law Student Association (Formally known as La Alianza), Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Energy & Environmental Law Society, and several legal fraternities. The Tulane Public Interest Law Foundation raises funds, matched by

2444-481: The student body. By way of comparison, among the top ten of U.S. News & World Report's Best Law Schools, those nearest to Tulane in this category are Duke University, with a score of .42, and University of Virginia, at .37. More recently, Tulane Law's total student population is 76% White, with Students of Color making up 24% of the student body. Tulane Law Faculty's is composed of only 8 Full-Time Faculty members of Color and 9 more Non-full-Time Faculty of color for

2496-599: The top Latin American Studies programs in the United States, the joint degree in law and Latin American Studies meets the need for "lawyer-statesmen" who know the law and who understand the societies of Latin America. The program employs a multi-disciplinary approach intended to enhance appreciation of the economic, social, political, and other forces in Latin America that influence the development of law and legal institutions. In addition to law school requirements, students pursuing

2548-573: The university announced the designation of a $ 1.5 million donation to support in perpetuity a JD/MBA professor of national stature at Tulane. The joint Juris Doctor/Master of Health Administration program with the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (TUSPH&TM) permits students to earn both degrees in 4 years, whereas normally the JD would take 3 years and the MHA, 2 years. Students take 79 units in

2600-912: The years, prominent scholars and federal judges have highlighted Tulane's summer faculty, including Supreme Court justices Harry Blackmun , Stephen Breyer , Ruth Bader Ginsburg , Antonin Scalia , and William Rehnquist . In the past, the law school's summer programs have taken place in Amsterdam in the Netherlands ; Berlin in Germany ; Cambridge and London in England ; Paris and Grenoble in France ; Rhodes and Spetses in Greece ; and Siena in Italy . Tulane benefits from having

2652-742: Was a faculty residence before being converted for its current use. Nearby is the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane's main library; the Lavin-Bernick Center, which houses university dining facilities and the university bookstore; the Reily Student Recreation Center (a gym with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and basketball, squash, and tennis courts); the Freeman School of Business ; the Newcomb Art Gallery; and various other buildings. The Uptown campus

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2704-535: Was first assistant U.S. attorney under then-U.S. Attorney Eddie Jordan Jr. (who later became Orleans Parish district attorney). In that position Letten was best known as the lead prosecutor in the racketeering trial of former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards . Letten also prosecuted former state representative David Duke . Letten is a Republican , having been appointed to the U.S. Attorney's position by President George W. Bush . Nonetheless, when Republicans lost

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