Wilkinson, James Harvie III
Born 1944 in New York, NY
Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Nominated by Ronald Reagan on January 30, 1984, to a seat vacated by John Decker Butzner, Jr.. Confirmed by the Senate on August 9, 1984, and received commission on August 13, 1984. Served as chief judge, 1996-2003.
Education:
Yale University, B.A., 1967
University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1972
Professional Career:
U.S. Army, 1968-1969
Republican candidate for U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia, 1970
Law clerk, Justice Lewis F. Powell, Supreme Court of the United States, 1972-1973
Associate professor, University of Virginia School of Law, 1973-1978
Editorial page editor, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 1978-1981
Deputy assistant U.S. attorney general, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1982-1983
Professor, University of Virginia School of Law, 1983
Interesting:
his first job after clerking was associate professor, 1973-78 — is “associate” an error for “assistant”
very odd to go from a tenured law school professor (associate) to being an editorial page editor at a regional newspaper.
Was he assistant professor for 5 years and failed to get tenure? The time span would fit.
His three years as an editorial writer before joining the Reagan administration raises questions—he must have been a fairly political type guy rather than an academic?
His being attuned to the political may be coming out now in his take on Obamacare.
Sounds like Reagan grabbed a dud—failed academic, newspaper editorializer, bureaucrat
then federal judge
Gee, we only thought Reagan made two dreadful mistakes in judicial appointments, O’Connor and Kennedy. But there was Wilkinson too.