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I am very proud to have been appointed by Governor John Bel Edwards to serve on both
the Pardon Board and the Committee on Parole. It has allowed me to come full circle in
my career in criminal justice. Criminal Justice reform in the United States has been
substantial in the last few years. The Louisiana Legislature, in a bipartisan vote, made
sweeping changes to our criminal justice system. The United States Supreme Court has
made critical rulings regarding juvenile life sentences as well as Life without Parole.
This has given the Pardon Board and Parole Committee a very active and vital role in
this process. We conduct in depth hearings, with input from all involved, to determine if
an inmate should be pardoned or paroled. My work on the Pardon and Parole Board
while very difficult and challenging, is extremely rewarding.

As previously stated, while in private practice, Judge Marabella represented high profile
clients; however, when interviewed in 2007 for Around the Bar, the publication of the
Baton Rouge Bar Association, Marabella stated, “A lot of the cases I have enjoyed,
however, were not necessarily high profile cases. I have had a very fulfilling career as a
lawyer.” His fulfillment was due, in part, from the mentoring he received from older
lawyers and his own mentoring of younger lawyers entering the profession. Through his
mentoring, he instilled a strong work ethic and shaped the career of more than one young
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lawyer. One in particular, current 19 JDC Judge Fred Crifasi, credits Marabella with
hiring him out of law school and forming him into a professional.

Active in the administration of local, state and specialty bars, he was president of the
Baton Rouge Bar Association from 1994-1995 and is a former member of the House of
Delegates of the Louisiana State Bar Association. Judge Marabella continues to be a
staunch supporter of the BRBA, serving as a frequent CLE speaker and participating in
association activities. Under his leadership, the BRBA and its Young Lawyers Section
reimagined the annual Opening of Court Memorial Ceremony to include a video
presentation of members who passed away during the preceding year. Each year, remarks
from this solemn, yet uplifting, ceremony are transcribed and bound copies sent to
families of each deceased member. Further, he was a charter member of the Louisiana
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (LACDL) and was appointed to the Louisiana
District Judges Association Executive Committee. In 2016, LACDL selected Marabella
as the recipient of its Chief Justice Pascal F. Calogero, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award.

His work on the Law Institute Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure
Committee and with the Louisiana Judicial College further demonstrate Marabella’s role
in advancing justice statewide. He authored the Judicial College’s Criminal Law bench
book with Judge Marilyn Castle. In addition, he shared his knowledge in criminal law as
a continuing education speaker for the Baton Rouge Bar, Louisiana Judicial College and
the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, to name a few.

Training and educating the next generation of lawyers is yet another way in which Judge
Marabella advances justice. LSU Law students lucky enough to take his class on
Criminal Law and Procedure learn the anatomy of case from the initial client interviews
to case investigation and to trial preparation. His guest lectures to secondary students at
his alma mater Catholic High School, Baton Rouge, introduce youth to the court system