James Dudley Simon was a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and jurist

Jurist

A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...

 who capped his career with elected service on the Louisiana Supreme Court

Louisiana Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Louisiana is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans....

 from 1955 to 1960.

Biography

Simon was born in St. Martinville

St. Martinville, Louisiana

St. Martinville is a city in and the parish seat of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on Bayou Teche, sixteen miles south of Breaux Bridge, eighteen miles southeast of Lafayette, and nine miles north of New Iberia. The population was 6,989 at the 2000 census. It is part of the...

, the seat of St. Martin Parish, to Judge James Simon and the former Laurence Mouton. He was the grandson of Judges Edward Simon and Edward Mouton and the great-grandson of Judge Edouard Simon. He was educated in public schoolss and then studied pre-law credentials at Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

 in Baton Rouge. He graduated in 1918 from the Tulane University Law School

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 is the 12th oldest law school in the United States....

 in New Orleans. He enlisted in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 in 1918, the last year of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. He was discharged as a lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in 1919.

Simon was a state senator

Louisiana State Legislature

The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

 from 1921 to 1925, when he resigned the seat to become judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

 of the Sixteenth Judicial District Court. He was reelected to the court for five consecutive six-year terms. He was appointed in 1941 by the Louisiana Supreme Court temporarily to the Orleans Court of Appeals in New Orleans, a position which he held until 1942. In 1947, the Supreme Court justices named Simon temporarily to the Fourteenth Judicial District Court, which covered Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, Cameron, and Beauregard parishes. He continued on the Sixteenth District Court until he was elected to the Supreme Court in January 1955 and served until his retirement on August 23, 1960.

Simon married twice. In 1929, he wed the former Eloise Gertrude Stone of Alexandria

Alexandria, Louisiana

Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....

, the seat of Rapides Parish, in central Louisiana. She was the daughter of Walter Stone and the former Viola Carson of Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. Their three daughters were Barbara (born 1931), Eloise Simon Bryant (born 1935), and Kathryn (born 1936). In 1955, Judge Simon married the former Lucille Bienvenu (1919–1998) of St. Martinville.

Simon was a charter member of the American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

, formed to organize service personnel from the Great War.

He is interred in St. Michael's Cemetery in St. Martinville.