John Boyd Avis

John Boyd Avis (July 11, 1875 – January 21, 1944) was an American attorney, jurist, and Republican Party politician who represented Gloucester County, New Jersey in both houses of the New Jersey legislature and served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. He was a leading figure in South Jersey politics before his fifteen-year federal judicial service.

Early life and education

John Boyd Avis was born in Deerfield, New Jersey on July 11, 1875, to John H. and Sarah (née Barker) Davis. His father was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly in 1881, the state game warden for Gloucester County from 1903 to 1924, and the great-grandson of Joseph Avis, a revolutionary who had survived the winter at Valley Forge. John Boyd Avis attended public schools in Deerfield.

Legal career After moving to Gloucester County, Avis read law from 1890 to 1894 with John S. Mitchell and from 1897 to 1898 with David Ogden Watkins, the former acting governor of New Jersey, in Woodbury. He was admitted to the bar in February 1898 and opened an office in Woodbury. In 1900, he and Watkins became partners. The partnership lasted until its dissolution in 1907, after which Avis practiced alone until his appointment to the bench in 1929. His chambers were located in Camden, New Jersey.

Notable cases Among Avis's most notable cases was the sentencing of Skinny D'Amato's guilty plea, and ruling on the authorship of the Old 97 ballad, a decision eventually reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

In 1934, Avis ruled in favor of the Furniture Workers' Industrial Union, denying a motion for preliminary restraint against their picketing of the Miller Parlor Furniture Company plant in Jersey City. Avis ruled that the Norris–LaGuardia Act was applicable to the situation, holding that "a labor dispute may arise by reason of the desire of a labor organization to unionize any factor in its line of business" and that a federal court could not interfere with the union's efforts to publicize any unionization drive not involving fraud or violence, which were not indicated in the record. The ruling was considered a landmark victory by labor lawyers.

In 1939, he oversaw and approved the terms of the bankruptcy of film producer William Fox.

Personal life and death Avis married Minnie Genung Anderson on September 27, 1899, in Asbury Park, New Jersey. He died on January 21, 1944, after an illness of two months.

He was a member of the local YMCA and various fraternal organizations, including the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, the Freemasons, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Improved Order of Red Men, the Grange, the Odd Fellows, and the Foresters of America.