James Skelly Wright
Appointed by President John F. Kennedy in 1962 and confirmed by voice vote, James Skelly Wright was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He earned a law degree from Loyola University New Orleans School of Law in 1934. He previously served on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Opinions & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1911–1988
- Appointed by
- John F. Kennedy, 1962
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Loyola New Orleans 1931 · Loyola New Orleans Law 1934
- Succeeded
- Elijah Barrett Prettyman
- Succeeded by
- Douglas Howard Ginsburg
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Eastern District of Louisiana succeeded Wayne G. Borah | Truman (D) | Voice vote |
| 1962 | District of Columbia Circuit succeeded Elijah Barrett Prettyman | Kennedy (D) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
Judicial Record
In our data, Wright authored 90 published opinions for the court (1950–1971). Most cited: Hobson Ex Rel. Hobson v. Hansen (177 citations).
Published, precedential opinions from the CourtListener corpus. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Selected opinions
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Hobson Ex Rel. Hobson v. Hansen | 269 F. Supp. 401 | 177 |
| 1964 | Poe v. United States | 233 F. Supp. 173 | 64 |
| 1960 | Pan American Fire & Casualty Company v. Revere | 188 F. Supp. 474 | 56 |
| 1956 | Bush v. Orleans Parish School Board | 138 F. Supp. 337 | 41 |
| 1953 | Hendry Corp. v. Aircraft Rescue Vessels | 113 F. Supp. 198 | 38 |
| 1958 | Delta Theaters, Inc. v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. | 158 F. Supp. 644 | 37 |
| 1954 | Byrd v. Napoleon Avenue Ferry Company | 125 F. Supp. 573 | 28 |
| 1952 | Jefferson Lake Sulphur Co. v. Walet | 104 F. Supp. 20 | 27 |
| 1957 | Pinion v. Mississippi Shipping Company | 156 F. Supp. 652 | 22 |
| 1955 | Pure Oil Company v. Geotechnical Corp. of Delaware | 129 F. Supp. 194 | 22 |
| 1955 | Seismograph Service Corp. v. Offshore Raydist, Inc. | 135 F. Supp. 342 | 20 |
| 1960 | United States v. McElveen | 180 F. Supp. 10 | 19 |
| 1958 | Pugh v. Oklahoma Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. | 159 F. Supp. 155 | 19 |
| 1958 | Streiffer v. Seafarers Sea Chest Corporation | 162 F. Supp. 602 | 18 |
| 1954 | United States v. Leiter Minerals, Inc. | 127 F. Supp. 439 | 18 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 90 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed James Skelly Wright?
- President John F. Kennedy appointed James Skelly Wright to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1962.
- Was James Skelly Wright appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- James Skelly Wright was appointed by President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was James Skelly Wright's confirmation vote?
- James Skelly Wright was confirmed by voice vote on March 28, 1962. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was James Skelly Wright on?
- James Skelly Wright was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- Portrait: US Government (Library of Congress) (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
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26 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).