Harry Jacob Lemley

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 by	Office established
Succeeded by	John 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 by	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Seat established by 52 Stat. 584
Succeeded by	J. Smith Henley
Personal details
Born	Harry Jacob Lemley (1883-08-06)August 6, 1883 Upperville, Virginia
Died	March 5, 1965(1965-03-05) (aged 81)
Education	Washington 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

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.

Federal judicial service

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.

Role in Little Rock Integration Crisis

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.

Sources

• Harry Jacob Lemley at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.