J. Skelly Wright

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.

Early life and career

Born on January 14, 1911, in New Orleans, Louisiana, Wright received a Bachelor of Philosophy in 1931 from Loyola University New Orleans and a Juris Doctor in 1934 from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. He was a high school teacher in New Orleans from 1932 to 1936. He was a lecturer at Loyola University New Orleans from 1936 to 1937. He was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 1937 to 1942 and again from 1945 to 1946. He was a United States Coast Guard lieutenant commander from 1942 to 1945. He was in private practice in Washington, D.C., from 1946 to 1948. Wright was the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana from 1948 to 1949. He was faculty at the Loyola University of New Orleans College of Law from 1950 to 1962.

D.C. Circuit Court Wright was nominated by President John F. Kennedy on February 2, 1962, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated by Judge E. Barrett Prettyman. He was confirmed by the Senate on March 28, 1962, and received his commission on March 30, 1962. He assumed senior status on June 1, 1986. In Hobson v. Hansen (1967), Wright held that tracking in schools compromised the "right to equal educational opportunity" for the District's poor and disadvantaged. In Javins v. First National Realty Corp. (1970), Wright developed the theory of implied warranty of habitability in the field of lease law. In Edwards v. Habib (1969) and Robinson v. Diamond Housing Corp. (1972), Wright developed the retaliatory eviction doctrine, prohibiting landlords from evicting tenants who raised housing code violations to authorities. In New York Times Co. v. United States, Wright argued in dissent that the Nixon administration could not block the publication of the Pentagon Papers. The Supreme Court agreed with Wright, and overruled the D.C circuit.

Death and legacy Wright died on August 6, 1988, in the Westmoreland Hills neighborhood of Bethesda, Maryland.

Wright is recognized for exerting a major influence on the American law of landlord-tenant. Several of his decisions on the D.C. Circuit helped modernize landlord-tenant jurisprudence by incorporating consumer protection principles long accepted in contract law.

The J. Skelly Wright Professorship at Yale Law School is named in his honor.

Notable former clerks Richard "Rick" Cotton, current Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, former EVP and General Counsel of NBC Universal Keith P. Ellison, Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Susan Estrich, attorney and Fox News personality Richard H. Fallon Jr., Harvard Law School professor Raymond C. Fisher, Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Thomas C. Grey, Stanford Law School professor Michael C. Harper, Boston University School of Law professor John Herfort, partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP Curtis A. Hessler, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy Peter J. Kalis, K&L Gates Chairman and Global Managing Partner, Sally Katzen, Former official in the Clinton White House Randall Kennedy, Harvard Law School professor and author Michael W. McConnell, former Judge for United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Victoria Radd Rollins, aide to the Bill Clinton administration Abraham David Sofaer, former Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and later Legal Adviser of the Department of State Louis Michael Seidman, Georgetown University Law Center professor Carol S. Steiker, Harvard Law School professor David O. Stewart, author and attorney Geoffrey R. Stone, University of Chicago Law School professor Donald B. Verrilli Jr., Solicitor General of the United States John F. Walsh, United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Robert Weisberg, Stanford Law School professor

Notable opinions Opinions are written for the D.C. Circuit unless otherwise noted. Majority opinions: Williams v. Walker-Thomas Furniture Co. (1965), Hobson v. Hansen (D.D.C. 1967), Edwards v. Habib (1968), Javins v. First National Realty Corp. (1970), Calvert Cliffs' Coordinating Committee, Inc. v. Atomic Energy Commission (1971), Halperin v. Kissinger (1979), Bundy v. Jackson (1981) Majority opinions upheld by the Supreme Court: Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures v. United States (D.D.C. 1972) Majority opinions overturned by the Supreme Court: Chaney v. Heckler (1983) Dissents: Ellis v. United States (1969), United States v. Moore (1973)