Section C

Hon. Barron C. Burmaster, Chief Judge

Barron C. Burmaster was elected to Section 'C' on November 16, 2013.  Judge Burmaster also serves as the presiding Judge for the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Drug Court.

He attended McDonogh 26 Elementary School, Gretna Middle School, and West Jefferson High School. The Judge served as Student Council President at Gretna and was president of the Class of 1981 at West Jefferson, where he also served as president of the National Honor Society and commander of the Air Force Junior ROTC program. He received a full academic scholarship to attend Loyola University graduating in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies. He then received a full academic scholarship to attend Loyola Law School receiving his Juris Doctorate in 1989. After graduation, Judge Burmaster served as the Criminal Law Clerk for the Judges of 24th District Court until May 1991 when he was appointed an Assistant District Attorney.

The Judge served in the felony, research and appeals and juvenile division where he was Deputy Chief of the Juvenile Division of the D.A.'s office (14 years service in the Juvenile Division). He served as Executive Assistant District Attorney from 2007 to 2013. Also, he was appointed to Governor Jindal's transition team as a member of the Youth Development Panel of the Crime and Public Safety Advisory Council. Judge Burmaster served on the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Jefferson Child Advocacy Center as President, is President of the German American Cultural Center, President of the Marrero Lions Club, is a past member of the Jefferson CASA Advisory Board, and is a member of the Louisiana Bar Association. Also, he was a member of the Louisiana District Attorney's Association where he has served as Second-Vice President from 2007 to 2013.

Other activities include membership in the Knights of Columbus, Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity and the Alliance of the American Dental Association. The Judge is a member of the Crown Point Homeowners Association and Visitation of Our Lady Parish where he serves as a lector and Eucharistic minister. He served as a member of the Louisiana Legislature's Juvenile Justice Commission Advisory board. Also, he served on the Louisiana Supreme Court's Committee to establish uniform Juvenile and Family Court Rules. The Judge attended the Loyola Institute of Politics earning a fellowship and is a former member of the Jefferson Parish Republican Executive Committee. He is a guest lecturer at Loyola University, Tulane University, Loyola School of Law, Concordia University, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Training Academy and the Gretna Police Department Training Academy.

He is currently serving as the liaison between the Louisiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the Office of Juvenile Justice. He is a member of the Louisiana District Judges Association. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Fifth Circuit Judges Association, is a member of the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the American Judges Association and both the National and Louisiana Association of Drug Court Professionals.

Judge Burmaster is married to the former Maria Ribando who is a dentist with a private practice in Marrero. They have 3 sons, John, Barron, and Andrew. They reside in Crown Point.

 

 

Section A

Hon. Ann M. Keller

Judge Ann Murry Keller was elected in August of 1987 to Section A of Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court. Prior to her election, Judge Keller was the Indigent Defender Attorney representing the children in Section C of Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court. As the children's attorney in Juvenile Court, Judge Keller represented hundreds of abused and neglected children as well as delinquent children and status offenders.

Judge Keller pioneered and organized the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Drug Court in 1998.

Judge Keller is a member of the Louisiana Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and has served as President of that organization. She is presently Past President of the Fifth Circuit Judges Association and a member of the National Association of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, American Judicature Society, Association of Women Judges and the American Bar Association. Judge Keller is also an active member of the Jefferson Bar Association and the Louisiana Bar Association.

Judge Keller received her J.D. Degree from Tulane University and her undergraduate degree from McNeese State University.

Judge Keller was raised in Oakdale, Louisiana before moving to Jefferson Parish in 1974.

 

 

Section B

Hon. Amanda C. Calogero

Hon. Amanda C. Calogero Judge Amanda C. Calogero was elected in November of 2018 to Section "B" of the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court. For the 7 years prior to her election, Judge Calogero oversaw the Juvenile arm of the District Attorney’s Office as the Juvenile Chief, supervising all of the juvenile delinquency, child dependency, and child support cases. She had been an Assistant District Attorney with Jefferson Parish since 1998. Prior to her position in Juvenile Justice, Judge Calogero screened cases involving child abuse in the Family Violence Department and successfully prosecuted numerous sex- crime and homicide cases. In one specific case, in 2000, she was the first prosecutor in her jurisdiction to present DNA evidence that introduced "Y-filer" evidence for the first time in Jefferson Parish.

Judge Calogero received her Juris Doctorate from Loyola University New Orleans in 1997. While attending Loyola at night, she worked full time as a Registered Nurse, concentrating in emergency care and hospital supervision. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in the field of Nursing from Nicholls State University School of Nursing, with Honors, in 1991, and she completed additional training as a Critical Care Nurse and held a certification in Emergency Nursing. Judge Calogero has experience working in trauma/emergency settings in multiple acute care settings, in mental health, home health, and lectured in medic training curricula. She was born 5th of 7 children into a law enforcement family, and in 1996, graduated from high school in Houma, Louisiana, and was the first in her family to obtain a bachelor’s degree.

Until she qualified in July of 2018 to run for Juvenile Court Judge in Jefferson Parish, Judge Calogero represented the 24th Judicial District of Jefferson Parish on the Assistant District Attorney Board of the Louisiana District Attorney’s Association (LDAA) and participated in the association’s Juvenile law committee. She serves as an appointee to the Louisiana Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Board and the Louisiana Board on Human Trafficking, representing the LDAA. Judge Calogero holds the distinction of Child Welfare Specialist, recognized by the National Association of Counsel for Children, as well as completing a fellowship in Early Childhood Policy Leadership Institute, recognized by the Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health of Tulane University School of Medicine. In 2016, she worked with the Louisiana Law Institute in amending current statutes on human trafficking. For many years, she has worked in the areas of developing best practices in Juvenile Justice and participated in collaborations with national organizations including the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the McArthur Foundation. Judge Calogero educates high school students in safe driving and reducing alcohol and drug-related fatalities as the prosecutor for the Sudden Impact Program as well as safety in the Children’s Hospital "Teens Sex and the Law" program. She has been a past recipient in 2012 of the Audrey Hepburn Children’s Care Center "Trees for Life" for work in child abuse the Louisiana State Police Superintendent’s Award for Excellence in 2014.

Judge Calogero married Michael Calogero in 1996 and has two daughters, Caroline Grace, 16, and Lauren Louise, 14.