James Alger Fee (September 24, 1888 – August 25, 1959) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. A veteran of the United States Army, his first judicial position was with the Oregon Circuit Court. While a federal judge he made national news for his decision during World War II regarding the application of the exclusion orders that had forced those of Japanese heritage from the West Coast.
James Alger Fee
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
Born 1888 in Pendleton, OR
Died 1959
FJC ID: 740
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 41/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 192/year
Oregon District Court · 1931–1954Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1954–1959
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Oregon Circuit CourtJudge · 1927–1931
- Private practice, Pendleton, Oregon1914–1916, 1920–1927
- Legal Staff, U.S. Department of WarMember · 1919–1920
Air CorpsU.S. Army lieutenant · 1917–1919- Pendleton, OregonCity attorney · 1916–1917
Appointments
1954–1959 · Appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican)Term ended: Death
1931–1954 · Appointed by Herbert Hoover (Republican)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
LL.B. · 1914- Whitman CollegeA.B. · 1910