Jimmy Dimos
Encyclopedia
Jimmy N. Dimos is a retired state Fourth Judicial District Court judge based in Monroe
in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana
, United States
. Dimos is also a former Democratic
member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
, having served from 1976 to 1999. From 1988 to 1992, he was the Speaker
of the House, the recommended choice of then Democratic Governor Charles E. "Buddy" Roemer, III
.
. He immigrated to the United States
in 1951. His future Louisiana House colleague, Ron Gomez
of Lafayette
, described him, accordingly, when he nominated Dimos to be Speaker of the state House:
"This is a man who arrived alone in New York City
at age 12 after a lonely flight from his home in Belgrade
, Yugoslavia
. He could not speak English. He would not see his mother for another six months when she would finally be allowed to come to America. In New York, this 12-year-old found that his continuing flights to Monroe,Louisiana, where his father waited, could not be completed for two more days. From this shaky start in this new world, Jimmy Dimos proceeded to learn English, put himself through high school, college and law school and serve three previous disntinguished terms in this House of Representatives. Yes, he is a man of courage -- a man of integrity, and a man who I am proud to nominate as Speaker. May we stand united. He and we who are committed to working toward those changes so desperately needed in this state will need your understanding, your guidance, you tolerance and . . . your prayers."
In 1956, Dimos graduated from Neville High School
in Monroe. In 1960, he received his bachelor's degree
from the University of Louisiana at Monroe
(then Northeast Louisiana State College). In 1963, Dimos garnered his law degree from Tulane University
in New Orleans. The next year he was admitted to the bar and joined the McKeithen, Mouser and McKinley law firm. The "McKeithen" in the partnership was John Julian McKeithen
, of Columbia
in Caldwell Parish, who served as governor of Louisiana from 1964 to 1972.
Dimos is married to the former Dale Guilkey. They have four children — John, Laura, Myra, and Christy — and five grandchildren, as of July 2006.
Before he entered the legislature, Dimos was the executive director from 1971 to 1972 of the Miss Louisiana Pageant. In his younger years, he was active in the Louisiana Jaycees. Thereafter, he was in the Chamber of Commerce
and Rotary International
. He is Episcopalian.
According to Rom Gomez, who served with Dimos on the Commerce Committee, the Monroe Democrat was known for his "unswerving defense of the trial lawyers in the tort reform battles [but] he was a good 'business' vote on practically every other issue. He was also a long-time personal friend of Buddy Roemer."
Dimos was strongly pro-life in his legislative career. He opposed Roemer's veto of a bill, sponsored by Representative Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins
of Baton Rouge, which would have outlawed most abortion
s in Louisiana and presumably resulted in a legal challenge in federal court.
When Dimos became Speaker, Allen Bares
of Lafayette, with Roemer's blessing, began a two-year stint as Senate President, although another candidate, Sydney B. Nelson
of Shreveport
, had been seeking the position for months by arranging private meetings with colleagues in their Senate districts.
In 1996, then state Representative and later U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator David Vitter
, a Metairie
Republican
and also a Tulane alumnus, tried to end the program. Vitter's House Bill 41, a proposed amendment to the Louisiana Constitution, failed 44-57 in the House. Vitter said that the change is needed to end the controversy that began with revelations that lawmakers had awarded the scholarships to themselves, their children, and relatives of contributors.
Although reforms were made, Vitter said the program is open for continued abuse. His bill would have phased out the Tulane scholarships, which were then worth about $20,000 per year, by the 1999-2000 academic year so those who are using the grants could finish their academic careers. The measure also would have stripped Tulane of the property tax
breaks the legislature approved in 1884, when the university started making the scholarships available.
Dimos emerged as the House's foremost defender of Tulane. Any abuses were not the fault of Tulane, he argued, but of lawmakers who had undermined the intent of an otherwise worthy program. Since then, most of the legislators have relinquished the scholarship-recipient selection process to committees of citizens at arm's length from the individual legislator.
. Kostelka had stepped down from the judgeship in 1998, when he was elected without opposition to the state Second Circuit Court of Appeal. Dimos won the special election for judge that was held on March 27, 1999. He polled 5,430 votes (64 percent) to Republican Marshall Sanson's 3,081 votes (36 percent).
Dimos has, however, been criticized by attorneys who claim that he is too quick to prejudge a case and that he often coerces one side into settling by threatening that party with an even bigger judgment if they proceed to "put on" their case.
"The law is a fascinating profession. . . . You've got to enjoy it to be in it, and I enjoyed it," Dimos said. When he was asked what he would most miss about serving as a judge, Dimos told the Ouachita Citizen newspaper in West Monroe
that he liked the interaction with attorneys and their clients, as well as the camaraderie with other judges. He also said that he enjoyed presiding over jury trials. Dimos said, however, that he "will not miss having to decide which parent gets custody of a child. I hate seeing those cases come to court, but sometimes it can't be avoided."
In 2003, Dimos underwent treatment for cancer
of the throat, but he has been declared cancer-free. He said that his health played no role in his decision to retire. "I love people. I love to help them. I love to help them solve their problems. If you don't like doing that, you don't need to be in public service," he added. Dimos indicated that he may rejoin his former Monroe law firm—Brown, Erskine, and Burkett—on a reduced schedule.
Jeffrey L. "Jeff" Hawley, a Monroe investments broker and fellow Rotarian with Dimos, described the judge as "a really nice guy who has accomplished a lot, beginning with little, but great ethics and a work ethic. A classic American dream!" Dimos is also a formidable poker player.
Dimos left the bench on December 31, 2006. He was succeeded by Republican Scott Leehy
.
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Dimos is also a former 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...
member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
, having served from 1976 to 1999. From 1988 to 1992, he was the Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
of the House, the recommended choice of then Democratic Governor Charles E. "Buddy" Roemer, III
Buddy Roemer
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...
.
Early years, education, family
Dimos is a native of the Republic of MacedoniaRepublic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
. He immigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1951. His future Louisiana House colleague, Ron Gomez
Ron Gomez
Ronald James Gomez, Sr., known as Ron Gomez , is a veteran print and broadcast journalist, author , and businessman from Lafayette, Louisiana, who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from Lafayette Parish, from 1980-1989. From 1990-1992, he was the secretary of natural resources in...
of Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
, described him, accordingly, when he nominated Dimos to be Speaker of the state House:
"This is a man who arrived alone in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at age 12 after a lonely flight from his home in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. He could not speak English. He would not see his mother for another six months when she would finally be allowed to come to America. In New York, this 12-year-old found that his continuing flights to Monroe,Louisiana, where his father waited, could not be completed for two more days. From this shaky start in this new world, Jimmy Dimos proceeded to learn English, put himself through high school, college and law school and serve three previous disntinguished terms in this House of Representatives. Yes, he is a man of courage -- a man of integrity, and a man who I am proud to nominate as Speaker. May we stand united. He and we who are committed to working toward those changes so desperately needed in this state will need your understanding, your guidance, you tolerance and . . . your prayers."
In 1956, Dimos graduated from Neville High School
Neville High School
Neville High School is a high school in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is administered by the Monroe City Schools Board. It is located 1/2 mile from the Ouachita River. Its mascot is the Tiger.-Alumni:...
in Monroe. In 1960, he received his bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from the University of Louisiana at Monroe
University of Louisiana at Monroe
The University of Louisiana at Monroe is a coeducational public university in Monroe, Louisiana and part of the University of Louisiana System.-History:...
(then Northeast Louisiana State College). In 1963, Dimos garnered his law degree from Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans. The next year he was admitted to the bar and joined the McKeithen, Mouser and McKinley law firm. The "McKeithen" in the partnership was John Julian McKeithen
John McKeithen
John Julian McKeithen was the 49th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1964 to 1972. A Democrat from the town of Columbia, he was the first governor of his state in the twentieth century to serve two consecutive terms...
, of Columbia
Columbia, Louisiana
Columbia is a town in and the parish seat of Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 477 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Columbia is located at ....
in Caldwell Parish, who served as governor of Louisiana from 1964 to 1972.
Dimos is married to the former Dale Guilkey. They have four children — John, Laura, Myra, and Christy — and five grandchildren, as of July 2006.
Before he entered the legislature, Dimos was the executive director from 1971 to 1972 of the Miss Louisiana Pageant. In his younger years, he was active in the Louisiana Jaycees. Thereafter, he was in the Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
and Rotary International
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
. He is Episcopalian.
Legislative service, 1976-1999
Dimos was elected to the District 16 House seat in Ouachita Parish in 1975, the same year that Governor Edwin Washington Edwards won the second of his four gubernatorial terms. Dimos became a reformer in the legislature and was hence tapped by Roemer as Speaker in 1988. While Roemer switched parties in 1991, Dimos remained a Democrat. In Louisiana, the governor has traditionally exercised such influence in the selection of the House speaker as to be tantamount to formal election by the representatives themselves.According to Rom Gomez, who served with Dimos on the Commerce Committee, the Monroe Democrat was known for his "unswerving defense of the trial lawyers in the tort reform battles [but] he was a good 'business' vote on practically every other issue. He was also a long-time personal friend of Buddy Roemer."
Dimos was strongly pro-life in his legislative career. He opposed Roemer's veto of a bill, sponsored by Representative Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins
Woody Jenkins
Louis Elwood "Woody" Jenkins is a newspaper editor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972–2000 and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate....
of Baton Rouge, which would have outlawed most abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
s in Louisiana and presumably resulted in a legal challenge in federal court.
When Dimos became Speaker, Allen Bares
Allen Bares
Allen Ray Bares, Sr. was a Lafayette lawyer who served as a conservative Democrat in both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature between 1972 and 1992. He is particularly remembered for his strong support of the pro-life cause and the Boy Scouts of America...
of Lafayette, with Roemer's blessing, began a two-year stint as Senate President, although another candidate, Sydney B. Nelson
Sydney B. Nelson
Sydney Banks Nelson is a retired attorney in Shreveport, Louisiana, who served from 1980 to 1992 as a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate, representing District 37 .-Early years:...
of Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, had been seeking the position for months by arranging private meetings with colleagues in their Senate districts.
Defending controversial Tulane scholarships
Representative Dimos rose to defend an old state law which permits Tulane, his alma mater, to avoid paying taxes to the state. The university instead places scholarship waivers into the hands of state legislators and the mayor of New Orleans, who then select the recipients. The purpose of the law was to make a college education available to qualified citizens who could not otherwise engage in formal higher education. In recent years, lawsuits have divulged that many of the recipients have been the well-to-do relatives of Louisiana judges and legislators.In 1996, then state Representative and later U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator David Vitter
David Vitter
David Vitter is the junior United States Senator from Louisiana and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he served in the United States House of Representatives, representing the suburban Louisiana's 1st congressional district. He served as a member of the Louisiana House of...
, a Metairie
Metairie, Louisiana
Metairie is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States and is a major part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish. It is an unincorporated area that would be larger than most of the state's cities if it were...
Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and also a Tulane alumnus, tried to end the program. Vitter's House Bill 41, a proposed amendment to the Louisiana Constitution, failed 44-57 in the House. Vitter said that the change is needed to end the controversy that began with revelations that lawmakers had awarded the scholarships to themselves, their children, and relatives of contributors.
Although reforms were made, Vitter said the program is open for continued abuse. His bill would have phased out the Tulane scholarships, which were then worth about $20,000 per year, by the 1999-2000 academic year so those who are using the grants could finish their academic careers. The measure also would have stripped Tulane of the property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
breaks the legislature approved in 1884, when the university started making the scholarships available.
Dimos emerged as the House's foremost defender of Tulane. Any abuses were not the fault of Tulane, he argued, but of lawmakers who had undermined the intent of an otherwise worthy program. Since then, most of the legislators have relinquished the scholarship-recipient selection process to committees of citizens at arm's length from the individual legislator.
District judge, 1999-2006
Dimos resigned from the legislature when he was elected to the Fourth District bench to succeed Republican Judge Robert W. "Bob" KostelkaRobert Kostelka
Robert William Kostelka, usually known as Bob Kostelka , is a former district attorney, district judge, and circuit judge, and, currently, a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate from Monroe, who has represented Ouachita, Lincoln, and Jackson parishes in District 35 since 2004...
. Kostelka had stepped down from the judgeship in 1998, when he was elected without opposition to the state Second Circuit Court of Appeal. Dimos won the special election for judge that was held on March 27, 1999. He polled 5,430 votes (64 percent) to Republican Marshall Sanson's 3,081 votes (36 percent).
Dimos has, however, been criticized by attorneys who claim that he is too quick to prejudge a case and that he often coerces one side into settling by threatening that party with an even bigger judgment if they proceed to "put on" their case.
"The law is a fascinating profession. . . . You've got to enjoy it to be in it, and I enjoyed it," Dimos said. When he was asked what he would most miss about serving as a judge, Dimos told the Ouachita Citizen newspaper in West Monroe
West Monroe, Louisiana
West Monroe is a city in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 13,250 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area....
that he liked the interaction with attorneys and their clients, as well as the camaraderie with other judges. He also said that he enjoyed presiding over jury trials. Dimos said, however, that he "will not miss having to decide which parent gets custody of a child. I hate seeing those cases come to court, but sometimes it can't be avoided."
In 2003, Dimos underwent treatment for cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
of the throat, but he has been declared cancer-free. He said that his health played no role in his decision to retire. "I love people. I love to help them. I love to help them solve their problems. If you don't like doing that, you don't need to be in public service," he added. Dimos indicated that he may rejoin his former Monroe law firm—Brown, Erskine, and Burkett—on a reduced schedule.
Jeffrey L. "Jeff" Hawley, a Monroe investments broker and fellow Rotarian with Dimos, described the judge as "a really nice guy who has accomplished a lot, beginning with little, but great ethics and a work ethic. A classic American dream!" Dimos is also a formidable poker player.
Dimos left the bench on December 31, 2006. He was succeeded by Republican Scott Leehy
Scott Leehy
Bernard Scott Leehy is a judge of the Louisiana Fourth Judicial District Court bench in Ouachita and Morehouse parishes. He was sworn into office on December 27, 2006. Leehy had been the Monroe City Court judge since 1997. A Republican, he defeated the Democrat Jay Mitchell in the September 30,...
.