John Joseph Smith (January 25, 1904 – February 16, 1980) was an American lawyer, a United States representative from Connecticut, a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.
John Joseph Smith
Second Circuit Court of Appeals
Chief Judge — U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut
Born 1904 in Waterbury, CT
Died 1980 in Waterbury, CT
FJC ID: 2220
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 17/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 450/year
Connecticut District Court · 1941–1960Connecticut District Court · 1941–1960Second Circuit Court of Appeals · 1960–1980
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
- Private practice, Waterbury, Connecticut1928–1941
- U.S. representative from Connecticut1935–1941
- Yale Law SchoolResearch fellow · 1927–1928
Appointments
1960–1980 · Appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican)Term ended: Death
1941–1960 · Appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic)Term ended: Appointment to Another Judicial Position
Education
LL.B. · 1927- Yale CollegeB.A. · 1925