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Harry Jacob Lemley

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Harry Jacob Lemley
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
In office
September 5, 1958 – March 5, 1965
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
In office
1948–1958
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byJohn E. Miller
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
In office
May 11, 1939 – September 5, 1958
Appointed byFranklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded bySeat established by 52 Stat. 584
Succeeded byJ. Smith Henley
Personal details
Born
Harry Jacob Lemley

(1883-08-06)August 6, 1883
Upperville, Virginia
DiedMarch 5, 1965(1965-03-05) (aged 81)
EducationWashington and Lee University
School of Law
(LL.B.)

Harry Jacob Lemley (August 6, 1883 – March 5, 1965) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas and the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

Education and career

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Born in Upperville, Virginia, Lemley received a Bachelor of Laws in 1910 from Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia. He was in private practice in Hope, Arkansas from 1912 to 1939. From 1931 to 1933, he was a member of the Arkansas State Highway Audit Commission.[1]

Federal judicial service

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Lemley was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 27, 1939, to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas and the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, to a new joint seat authorized by 52 Stat. 584. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 8, 1939, and received his commission on May 11, 1939. He served as Chief Judge of the Western District from 1948 to 1958. He assumed senior status on September 5, 1958. His service terminated on March 5, 1965, due to his death.[1]

Role in Little Rock Integration Crisis

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Lemley was originally assigned to the 1957 Little Rock Integration Crisis. He granted the school board a two-year delay in the implementation of the desegregation order, but the decision was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Lemley then retired from full-time judicial duties, and the desegregation case passed to Ronald Davies, a North Dakota jurist sent to Little Rock by the Eighth Circuit.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Harry Jacob Lemley at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  2. ^ Osro Cobb, Osro Cobb of Arkansas: Memoirs of Historical Significance, Carol Griffee, ed., (Little Rock, Arkansas: Rose Publishing Company, 1989), pp. 259-261

Sources

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Legal offices
Preceded by
Seat established by 52 Stat. 584
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas

1939–1958
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Office established
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
1948–1958
Succeeded by