Warrior for Justice, Rule of Law

By Woody Jenkins

Louisiana has lost a great attorney and an even better man.  Alex St. Amant passed away in his sleep with his wife Floris at his side in the early morning hours of Saturday May 20, 2023.

I’ve had the privilege of knowing Alex since 1963 when he and I debated the governor’s race on live television in Baton Rouge. He was a student at Lee High and took the side of the Democrat, John McKeithen. I took the Republican, Charlton Lyons.  It was the beginning of a friendship that lasted 60 years.

We went through the LSU Law School together and I noticed that most of our fellow classmates were primarily interested in the “big case” that would make them a millionaire. But Alex cared nothing for that. He saw the law as a way to bring justice, and that is in fact what he ended up devoting his life to.

When we graduated from law school 50 years ago, there was only one person I would consider being my attorney — Alex St. Amant! He represented us on business matters, always very professionally.

He was calm and even tempered. However, on matters involving the Constitution and people’s rights, he was passionate. A warrior. A tireless champion for our rights under the Constitution without compromise.  He truly had a passion for justice! Not just in words but in his heart! 

Amazingly, he fought these battles mostly pro bono — without compensation.  He gave of his time for years, never asking for a fee.  For Alex St. Amant, the law was a high calling.  His license was a license to correct injustice, not only for his client but for the people of our state.

Of a dozen or more major cases I was involved in, three of them come to mind, one of those involving Central. Central is Louisiana’s only privatized municipality, and a private company provides almost all city services.  

In 2010, there was a crisis when the company providing those services claimed that they were not subject to Louisiana’s public records law.  The Central City News tried its best to get the company, CH2MHill, to understand that it was acting as the government itself and that relevant records about the public’s business had to be released upon request. Ultimately, we had to go to court and sue CH2MHill.  

Alex St. Amant worked tirelessly on this case for three years, ultimately winning before the Court of Appeal and the Louisiana Supreme Court. As a result, the right of Central’s citizens to freely access their public records was recognized, in the same way and to the same extent as in every other city in Louisiana.  

It was a great victory for open government and insured that privatization cannot be used to hide public records from our citizens.  In the process, CH2MHill was replaced by IBTS, a non-profit organization which has always been cooperative in providing public records.

It should be noted that CH2MHill was represented by one of the largest and best law firms in America with hundreds of partners.  But they were no match for Alex St. Amant’s one-man law firm! It was fascinating to watch him in action. In recent years, he was joined in the practice of law by his daughters Sacha and Chimène.

Alex St. Amant was also important in the history of the City of St. George. He filed suit challenging the annexation of portions of the Mall of Louisiana by the City of Baton Rouge in the city’s effort to stop the incorporation of St. George.  After a strong fight in district court, that case became moot when the election was successfully held.

When I ran as the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Mary Landrieu in 1996, there was strong evidence of election fraud.  We challenged the results before the Senate Rules Committee in Washington for more than a year, and we proved there was fraud.  

However, in order to overturn the results in the U.S. Senate, 60 votes were required to end a Democrat filibuster.  The Republicans only had 55 votes. So that task became impossible.  

Our local counsel in the election challenge was Alex St. Amant. He did a remarkable job, again pro bono without compensation. The same was true of our national counsel, Mark Seifert.  Without their selfless dedication, the challenge and all it uncovered would not have been possible.

Another landmark case by Alex St. Amant was his suit against the developer of Rouzan.  The Rouzan company acquired land surrounding a family home and attempted to squeeze them into selling out.  Alex came to the rescue and after years of litigation was successful in protecting their rights and insuring they kept their home.

Alex St. Amant practiced law with total integrity.  He should be a model for all who are led to this important calling.

Throughout his successful career and during many years of marriage, Alex was joined by his partner, Floris, who stood by him and carried him through in sickness and in health. Floris is from Cuba and knows first hand the horror of dictatorship.  She always shared his devotion to the cause of liberty. She is a force and a power in her own right and was for decades a member of the leadership team at the LSU Library.

Alex St. Amant had many interests and many talents.  Fortunately, he devoted most of those talents to the law, and for that, the people of Baton Rouge, Central, St. George, and Louisiana should be forever grateful.

As his obituary says, “As an attorney, Alex was an outlier in that he did not specialize. He took all kinds of cases, and he knew everything about all areas of the law. And what he didn’t know, he’d learn. We will not see his like again.”

ALEX ST. AMANT

Alex St. Amant was born on April 28, 1947, in Fayetteville, NC, the youngest of the four children born to Philemon Andrews St. Amant and Corinne Lockamy St. Amant. He died peacefully in his sleep at home on May 20, 2023. 

Alex grew up in various places around the country and in Germany, as his father was an officer in the United States Army. His father retired in 1959 and the family returned to Baton Rouge. Alex graduated from the former Lee High School and LSU for both undergraduate and Law School, where he met lifelong friends who never quite fell away, and who, along with the newer friends he met along the way, were always happy to come around for his annual crawfish boil, which was held every year around his birthday until the pandemic put a stop to such festivities. 

LSU was also where he met the love of his life, his wife of almost 55 years, Floris C. St. Amant, who lovingly cared for him throughout his life and particularly in his final illness. As an attorney, Alex was an outlier in that he did not specialize. He took all kinds of cases, and he knew everything about all areas of the law. And what he didn’t know, he’d learn. We will not see his like again. 

Alex is survived by his wife,  their three children, Chimène St. Amant, Sacha S. Tessier (Drew), and Alex A. St. Amant III (Ingrid); his three grandchildren, Thomas L. Tessier, Sofia C. Tessier, and Alex A. St. Amant IV; his brother, Col. Philemon A. St. Amant II, US Army (retired) (Harriet), and by numerous nieces and nephews. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, Col. Phil and Corrine St. Amant and by two sisters, Suzanne St. Amant Thomas Carson and Jeanne Yvette St. Amant Phillips Harvey.  Visitation will be held at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government Street on May 30, 2023, at 9 a.m. until religious service at 11 a.m.