NOLA.com: A Trump nominee for New Orleans-area judge faces controversy in the Senate. See why.
This excerpt is from a piece that originally ran on February 4, 2026.
“Many members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, including both of you, co-sponsored this bipartisan legislation at a time when forced arbitration silenced thousands of women when they were sexually harassed and sexually assaulted,” the Washington-based Alliance for Justice wrote Grassley and Durbin in a Jan. 30 letter on behalf 25 groups that oppose St. John’s ascension to the federal bench. “The wealthy and the powerful continue to weaponize forced arbitration as a way to hide wrongdoing and avoid accountability.”
The Alliance has opposed a number of judicial nominees, particularly those made by Trump. But St. John is only the third candidate from Louisiana to which the group has objected during Trump’s two terms. The two others were Chief Eastern District Judge Wendy Vitter and recently confirmed Judge Will Crain – both sitting in New Orleans. Trump has nominated 10 judges in Louisiana.