James Andrew Wynn

James Andrew Wynn, Jr. (born March 17, 1954) is an American jurist, currently a judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and a nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Early life and education

An African-American, Wynn was born in Robersonville, North Carolina in the farm community of Gold Point. He is the fourth of seven children in his family. His father worked primarily as a carpenter and his mother operated a sewing machine in a factory and later retired as a Nurse's Aide. His family operated a small farm on which Wynn worked during his early years. Wynn also worked during his high schools years at an IGA Grocery Store in the nearby town of Williamston. Wynn holds degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.A., Journalism, 1975); Marquette University Law School (J.D., 1979) and University of Virginia School of Law (L.L.M., Judicial Process, 1995).

Early career

Wynn served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) of the United States Navy on active duty from 1979 to 1983 and as a reservist from 1983 to 1 August 2009 (completion of 30 years of service in United States Navy). His military assignments included service as a military judge; Staff Judge Advocate for Readiness Command Six in Washington, DC; Admiralty Attorney for reserve unit supporting the Commander-in-Chief for the Atlantic Fleet; and various military justice positions. Including service as Commanding Officer of Navy Reserve Judicial Activity Unit, Wynn has held three Commanding Officer and two Executive Officer billets. His personal awards includes three Meritorious Service Medals and two Navy Commendation Medals.

After completing his active duty service in the Navy, Wynn worked as an Assistant Appellate Defender for North Carolina for one year before practicing law with a firm that eventually became Fitch, Butterfield & Wynn in Wilson and Greenville, North Carolina. He engaged in a general law practice.

Judicial career

In 1990, Wynn was elected in a statewide contest to fill an unexpired term of two years on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He was reelected to eight-year terms in 1992 and 2000. In 1998, Governor Jim Hunt appointed Wynn to the North Carolina Supreme Court but he lost the election to retain his seat and returned to the Court of Appeals by appointment. Wynn was reelected to eight-year terms on the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 2000 and 2008.

Wynn was chair of the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association for 2007-2008, and is the first African-American to hold that post. He has served in the ABA House of Delegates and was a drafting Commissioner on the Joint Commission to Evaluate the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct. He formerly Chaired the Appellate Judges Conference and chaired the Working Group on First Amendment and Judicial Campaign Speech, which rewrote Canon 5 of the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct.

Wynn has been a member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (www.nccusl.org) for fifteen years. He currently serves as Vice President of the Uniform Law Commission. His former positions include Executive Committee, Scope and Program Committee, Division Chair for several drafting committees, and numerous drafting committees including the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act; Revised Tort Apportment Act; and Genetics Discrimination Act.

Wynn formerly served on the Board of Directors for the Justice at Stake Campaign in Washington, DC. He is a member of the American Law Institute. He chaired the North Carolina Bar Association's Brown v. Board of Education 50th anniversary celebration. He is a past trustee of the North Carolina State Bar IOLTA committee and a past trustee of Pitt Community College.

He was honored by the Marquette University Law School as its 2002 "Hallows Fellow and Visiting Scholar." Marquette University as a whole honored him in 2004 with its "All University Alumni Merit Award."

Nomination to the Fourth Circuit

On August 5, 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Judge Wynn to become the first African American to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Clinton nominated Wynn to the vacancy created by the decision by Judge James Dickson Phillips, Jr. to take senior status.

Wynn's nomination never received a hearing from the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee or received a full vote from the U.S. Senate due to the resistance of Sen. Jesse Helms, who claimed that the court did not need any more judges.

Clinton renominated Wynn to the Fourth Circuit on January 3, 2001, but his nomination was returned by President Bush on March 20, 2001, along with 61 other executive and judicial nominations that Clinton had made.

Renomination under Obama

President Barack Obama nominated Wynn and North Carolina Superior Court Judge Albert Diaz for seats on the Fourth Circuit on Nov. 4, 2009. Obama's renomination of Wynn and nomination of Diaz were jointly endorsed by North Carolina senators Kay Hagan, a Democrat, and Richard Burr, a Republican. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 18-1 on Jan. 28, 2010 to send his nomination to the Senate floor.

Publications

• Judging the Judges, Marquette University Law Review, 86 Marq.L.Rev. 753, Spring 2003
• Military Courts and the All Writs Act: Who Supervises the Military Justice System?, Judges Journal, American Bar Association, Vol. 45, No. 3.
• Selection of State Judges, 22 U.Tol. L. Rev. 287, Winter 2002
• Judicial Diversity: Where Independence and Accountability Meet, 67 Alb. L. Rev –, 2004
• Ground to Stand on: Charles Hamilton Houston’s Legal Foundation for Dr. King, 9 N.C. Bar. J. (2004).
• State v. Mann, 13 N.C. 263 (N.C. 1830): Judicial Choice or Judicial Duty? (WYNN dissentiente), --- NC Law Review --, Fall 2008.

See also

• Bill Clinton judicial appointment controversies

References

• Official biography
• News & Observer profile
• Wynn 2008 Campaign site
• Charlotte Observer endorses Wynn for re-election