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OpenJurist

William Morris Sparks

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals

Chief Judge — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

Born 1872 in Charlottesville, IN

Died 1950 in Rushville, IN

FJC ID: 2246

Career output and lasting influence

Opinions attributed per year · peak 37/year

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals · 1929–1950192919401960198020002018370
opinions

Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 71/year

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals · 1929–1950192919401960198020002018710
citing decisions

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals · 1929–1950

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.

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William Morris Sparks (April 28, 1872 – January 7, 1950) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Gender
Male
Race
White

Prior employment

  1. Judicial Conference of the United States
    Member · 1948
  2. Indiana Circuit Court, Sixteenth Judicial Circuit
    Judge · 1904–1910, 1914–1929
  3. Private practice, Rushville, Indiana
    1897–1901, 1910–1914
  4. Indiana
    State representative · 1901–1903
  5. Rush County, Indiana
    Deputy prosecutor · 1896–1898

Appointments

  1. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
    1929–1950 · Appointed by Herbert Hoover (Republican)
    Term ended: Death

Education

  1. Indiana Law School (now Indiana University McKinney School of Law)
  2. Read law
    1896
  3. DePauw University
    A.B. · 1896