Fun with Law Reviews: Coonass and so on

by Stephan Kinsella on February 22, 2026

Louisiana Civil Law Dictionary (New Orleans, La.: Quid Pro Books, 2011)
Watson, The Importance of “Nutshells”
Some favorite law review papers
Reading Suggestions for Prospective/New Law Students (Roman/Civil law focus)
Book Recommendations: Private, International, and Common Law; Legal Theory
Advice for Prospective Libertarian Law Students
All footnotes!
Webnotes
Copyright is Very Sticky!
New Publisher, Co-Editor for my Legal Treatise, and how I got started with legal publishing
Gender-Neutral Language, Reverse Racism, and Law Review Strategies
Louisiana civil law dictionary in 1994
James Harvey Domengeaux, comment, Native-Born Acadians and the Equality Ideal, 46 La. L. Rev. 1151, 1168, n. 100 (1986)

I love law reviews. In law school I aced grades the first semester so thought I was a shoo-in, but then I started relaxing, figuring hey, law school is easier than I thought, so I started slacking, playing too much Robotron (I even rented a Robotron arcade game for a few months to get it out of my system), ¹ grades fell and I missed the law review cutoff. I tried to write on and thought I was a shoo-in because my paper was ossum, but… no go. Anyway, jokes on them because I’ve now published in many law reviews now (as well as books), not only libertarian topics, but also purely legal topics. ² Anyway they just fascinate me. ³ I even love footnotes. ⁴

When I first started working as a lawyer, I started doing some legal writing as well as libertarian related writing. I started devouring so many law review articles. I would set up a non-billable accounts for writing and get our librarians to send runners to local libraries and photocopy law review articles for me. I amassed a huge treasure trove and eventually scanned them all. For some reason I had the impression all lawyers did this. Eventually I realized almost none of them do. It’s more a of a law professor thing.

Now for a few law reviews and chapters in books I have had issues sometimes with their copyright policy. I refuse to assign copyright. I never give in. I find a workaround or trick them or withdraw it. ⁵

And then there was the time the Texas Bar Journal accepted an article but said it would take a year, but they could speed it up if I was a recognized minority. I sent them a letter criticizing this racist bullshit and withdrew it. Another time, Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review tried to change one of my examples from a him to a her, and I refused and so they kept in my retrograde language but added a note warning the reader that I had chosen not to comply with their stupid policy, but hey, at least they tried. ⁶

And then there was the time when I wrote a Louisiana civil law dictionary in 1994 and decided to have a bit of levity and in addition to legal terms, I listed Boudreaux and Thibodeaux, common characters in jokes, Bateau, Pirogue, type of boats (similar to common law canoes), and also jokingly defined coonass as “Slang for the Acadians or Cajuns in Louisiana. While some consider the term to be derogatory, many Cajuns happily refer to themselves as coonasses.39 Two of their favorite leisure activities are eating boiled crawfish and listening to zydeco music.40 A common-law analog to coonass might be redneck, although redneck seems to have an especially offensive or derogatory meaning, while coonass does not.41” I said the common law counterpart term is “Redneck.” (By the way many Yankees seem to think it means black person because of how they use “coon,” I suppose, but coonass has nothing to do with black people.)

I did this in part to counteract humorless uptight lefty lawyer “James Harvey Domengeaux” who claimed it was a derogory term. So I added this footnote; I had to fight the editors of the Louisiana law review to include this as it was not considered “dignified”:

“39. James Harvey Domengeaux, comment, Native-Born Acadians and the Equality Ideal, 46 La. L. Rev. 1151, 1168, n. 100 (1986), explains that “coonass” is derived from the French noun “conasse,” which meant a stupid person or similar derogatory concept. French soldiers referred to French-speaking American soldiers during World War II as “conasse.” Non-French-speaking American soldiers “began to harass the Louisiana soldier by calling him ‘coonass’ as a takeoff of the word ‘conasse’ used by the French forces.” After World War II, the term began to be used to refer to the Acadians in South Louisiana. Id. At 1168-69 (citations omitted). “Unfortunately, [Louisiana Governor] Edwin W. Edwards at one time proudly proclaimed that he was a ‘coonass.’” Domengeaux feels that “This insulting word was never a proud or complimentary term affixed to the Acadian people. . . . Unfortunately, a small contingent of the Acadian population welcomed and promoted [the use of the term after World War II]. This ignorant acceptance was done with the unfortunate belief by some that the term is ‘cute’ or ‘humorous.’” Id. at 1168-69. Further, in 1981, the Louisiana legislature “condemned” (whatever that means) the use of the term “Coonass.” Id. at 1169. As stated by Mike Myers (of Wayne’s World fame) on a recent episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, “Uh, I think that goes in the ‘Lighten Up’ file.”

Domengeaux goes on to state that “a majority of the Acadian people despise the slur’s use.” Id. at 1169. However, he does not cite any evidence of this, and it conflicts with my own experienceCmost Cajuns I know like the term. My friend Jamie Malcombe (see note 12, above), a native of Lafayette, the Cajun heartland, agrees with this. And in State v. Silguero, 608 So.2d 627 (La. 1992), there is a character mentioned, named “William ‘Coonass’ Hendricks,” who must like being called “Coonass,” although, admittedly, we have no evidence that he is a coonass. A typical usage of the term by a Cajun, to refer to himself, might be, “Ah don’t know if Pierre’s goin’ to da crawfish ball [i.e., boil], but dis coonass gonna go.” This example was kindly supplied to me by my friend Blaine Doucet, a lawyer from Lake Charles, Louisiana. While Blaine says he’s not really sure if he’s a coonass or not, he says he knows plenty of them.

Note: I blogged about this on LRC years ago. See posts below.

Coonass

Posted by Stephan Kinsella at August 28, 2003 11:21 PM
As a French-blooded Louisianan I feel entitled to weigh in on this. From my Civil Law to Common Law Dictionary (note 39): “James Harvey Domengeaux, comment, Native-Born Acadians and the Equality Ideal, 46 La. L. Rev. 1151, 1168, n. 100 (1986), explains that “coonass” is derived from the French noun “conasse,” which meant a stupid person or similar derogatory concept. French soldiers referred to French-speaking American soldiers during World War II as “conasse.” Non-French-speaking American soldiers “began to harass the Louisiana soldier by calling him ‘coonass’ as a takeoff of the word ‘conasse’ used by the French forces.” After World War II, the term began to be used to refer to the Acadians in South Louisiana.”

Now ain’t dat interestin’, cher?

More on Cajun Slang

Posted by Stephan Kinsella on August 29, 2003 09:50 AM

I’ve gotten a few emails about the term coonass–one pointed out that Barry Jean Ancelet rejects the theory that the word comes from “conasse”: “Folklorist Barry Jean Ancelet rejects this theory, however, calling it “shaky linguistics at best.” He suggests that the word originated in South Louisiana, and that it derived from the belief that Cajuns frequently ate raccoons. He also proposes that the term contains a negative racial connotation: namely, that Cajuns were”beneath” or “under” blacks (or coons, as blacks were often called by racists).”

Who knows. Hey, this is a cool little history of Cajuns.