James A. Belson

James A. Belson (born September 23, 1931) is a former judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Early life Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in Washington, D.C., Belson graduated from Gonzaga College High School in 1949. In the 1950s, he earned bachelor's and law degrees from Georgetown University where he was a member of the Philodemic Society, and worked as a law clerk for prominent D.C. lawyer Edward Bennett Williams and federal appeals judge E. Barrett Prettyman.

After thirteen years on the Superior Court bench, Belson was elevated to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in 1981. The Washington Post described him as "a widely respected legal writer and jurist." He was a candidate for chief judge in 1984 and 1988, but the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission instead chose William C. Pryor and Judith W. Rogers, respectively. Belson took senior status in 1991 and continued to hear cases until retiring from the court in 2017.