James Skelly Wright (January 14, 1911 – August 6, 1988) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
James Skelly Wright
District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Born 1911 in New Orleans, LA
Died 1988 in Westmoreland Hills, MD
FJC ID: 2661
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 10/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 371/year
Louisiana Eastern District Court · 1950–1962District of Columbia District Court · 1962–1988District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals · 1962–1988Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara · 1975–1988
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
- Judicial Conference of the United StatesMember · 1978–1980
Faculty · 1950–1962
U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana1948–1949- Private practice, Washington, D.C.1946–1948
- Eastern District of LouisianaAssistant U.S. attorney · 1937–1942, 1945–1946
- U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant commander1942–1945
- Lecturer · 1936–1937
- New Orleans, LouisianaHigh school teacher · 1932–1936
Appointments
1962–1988 · Appointed by John F. Kennedy (Democratic)Term ended: Death
1950–1962 · Appointed by Harry S Truman (Democratic)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
- Loyola University New Orleans School of LawJ.D. · 1934
- Loyola University New OrleansPh.B. · 1931