Speaker Biographies:
Problem Sentencing Language
JUDGE JULES EDWARDS III is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana and a graduate of De La
Salle High School (1975). He received his B.A. (1981), J.D. (1984) from Loyola in New
Orleans, and MPA (1994) from LSU in Baton Rouge, and a Master of Strategic Studies from the
United States Army War College (2005).
He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve in l977, and served in the Louisiana
Army National Guard until 2007. Judge Edwards has served in the Infantry, Artillery and in the
Judge Advocate General’s Corps, and has also served as the 256th Infantry Brigade's Inspector
General, and as The State Judge Advocate. On March 15, 2007, he retired as Colonel of the
Louisiana National Guard and was recognized as the best Staff Judge Advocate in the United
States of America. During hurricane Katrina, Judge Edwards assisted the displaced personnel in
the Superdome and did not leave that post until everyone was evacuated.
Judge Edwards is currently known as one of the hardest working judges in the 15th Judicial
District Court. He has served as Chief Judge and is a pioneer in the Drug Treatment Court
Movement. He is the Vice Chairman of the Louisiana Judiciary Commission, works with the
Louisiana Sentencing Commission, is First Vice-President of the Louisiana District Judges
Association, and has served as an Indigent Defender Attorney, Assistant District Attorney, and
Counsel to the Senate's Select Committee on Crime and Drugs, and partner in the law firm of
Edwards and Edwards Law Offices.
WILLIAM L. KLINE is the General Counsel for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety
and Corrections, Corrections Services. Mr. Kline began practicing law in 1985 as a member of
the law firm Ligon & Ware focusing primarily in the areas of personal injury, successions,
family law, and real estate. In 1987 he accepted a position with the United States District Court,
Middle District of Louisiana as a staff attorney researching a wide variety of federal procedural
and substantive issues, including prisoner pro se civil rights litigation and prison conditions
cases. Mr. Kline has been employed by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and
Corrections, Corrections Services since 1989 and has been General Counsel since 1999. He is
responsible for managing the Legal Services Section of the Department and has represented the
Louisiana Pardon and Parole Boards, Prison Enterprises, the Division of Probation and Parole,
the Office of Juvenile Justice and the various adult and juvenile institutions within the
Department. Mr. Kline served on Louisiana's Basic Jail Guidelines Committee and is currently
an advisory member of the Louisiana Sentencing Commission.
Mr. Kline is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association and is admitted to practice before
the Louisiana Supreme Court, the United States District Courts for the Middle, Eastern and
Western Districts of Louisiana, the United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, and the United
States Supreme Court.
Strategic Planning
JUDGE MARILYN CASTLE received her Juris Doctorate degree from the Louisiana State
University Law Center in 1976. She served as an Assistant District Attorney from 1976 to 1979.
From 1979 until her election to the bench in November, 1998, Judge Castle was engaged in a
litigation practice, primarily in the areas of business and commercial litigation. She was the first
woman to serve as President of the Lafayette Parish Bar Association. She also served on the
Board of Governors and House of Delegates of the Louisiana State Bar Association and was a
member of the steering committee of the Citizen’s Summit on Justice Reform. She is a Fellow of
the Louisiana State Bar Foundation and has served on its Board of Directors and Grants
Committee. Judge Castle was a Founding Master of the John M. Duhe Chapter of the American
Inns of Court. She served as Chief Judge of the Fifteenth Judicial District Court from 2005-2007
and assumed that position again on January 1, 2015. She was a member of the inaugural class of
the Louisiana Judicial Leadership Institute. Judge Castle is currently first vice president of the
Louisiana District Judges Association, a member of its Department of Corrections Liaison
Committee and co-chair of its Criminal Best Practices committee.
JUDGE RAY CHILDRESS
JULIA SPEAR
Online Resources
JENNIFER EAGAN graduated from Tulane Law School in 1989. After obtaining her law
degree she practiced surety defense work in New Orleans with Koch & Rouse for three years.
Ms. Eagan has twelve years of clerking experience on district and appellate courts in the 22nd
Judicial District, Orleans Parish Civil Court, and First Circuit Court of Appeals. She has also
served as Hearing Officer in St. Tammany and Washington Parishes. Ms. Eagan spent seven
with the Law Offices of Greg DiLeo focusing primarily on personal injury litigation. She later
ran for Judge for the First City Court in 2010. Ms. Eagan spent one year as in-house counsel with
the Housing Authority of New Orleans, and for the last three years has served as Liaison Staff
Counsel with the Judicial Administrator’s Office for the Supreme Court.