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
- Chief judge
- District of Columbia Circuit, 1978 to 1981
- 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 chief judge 1978 to 1981 | 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
Before the bench
Professional career before and outside the federal bench, as recorded by the Federal Judicial Center.
| High school teacher, New Orleans, Louisiana | 1932-1936 |
| Lecturer, Loyola University New Orleans | 1936-1937 |
| Assistant U.S. attorney, Eastern District of Louisiana | 1937-1942, 1945-1946 |
| U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant commander | 1942-1945 |
| Private practice, Washington, D.C. | 1946-1948 |
| U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana | 1948-1949 |
| Faculty, Loyola University New Orleans School of Law | 1950-1962 |
| Member, Judicial Conference of the United States | 1978-1980 |
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
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
26 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Data as of 2026-09-28. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).