James Marshall Sprouse (December 3, 1923 – July 3, 2004) was a United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district cou ...

Education and career

He was born in Williamson,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

and graduated from Williamson High School in 1941. He was in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1942 to 1945 and served as a private in the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of the 104th Infantry Division in the

European theatre of World War II The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union and Franc ...

. He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private university, private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans established the university in 1858. In ath ...

in 1947 and a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1949. He was an assistant state attorney general of West Virginia in 1949. He was a Fulbright Scholar in international law at the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...

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in 1950. He was counsel for the Displaced Persons Commission from 1950 to 1951. He was in private practice in West Virginia from 1951 to 1952. He was with the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

from 1952 to 1957. He was in private practice in West Virginia from 1957 to 1972. He ran for

Governor of West Virginia A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

in 1968, narrowly winning the Democratic nomination, but lost the general election to Republican congressman Arch A. Moore Jr. He was a justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals from 1972 to 1975 when he resigned to make a second run for governor, losing the Democratic primary to

Jay Rockefeller John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937) is an American retired politician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as governor of West Vir ...

. He was in private practice in West Virginia from 1975 to 1979.

Federal judicial service

Sprouse was nominated by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

on July 5, 1979, to the

, to a new seat created by 92 Stat. 1629. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on September 11, 1979, and received his commission on September 13, 1979. He assumed senior status on October 31, 1992. His service was terminated on July 31, 1995, due to retirement.

Later Political Activity

After his retirement from the bench, Judge Sprouse became very active in West Virginia gubernatorial politics once more. He initially in the primary chaired, then in the general election co-chaired, the gubernatorial campaign of State Senator Charlotte Pritt in her historic bid for governor. Pritt, a fellow progressive like Sprouse, was the first woman nominated by a major party for governor of the state. She narrowly lost the General Election.

Death

Sprouse died on July 3, 2004, in Charleston, West Virginia.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sprouse, James Marshall 1923 births 2004 deaths Military personnel from West Virginia Columbia Law School alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Lawyers from Charleston, West Virginia People from Williamson, West Virginia People of the Central Intelligence Agency Justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia United States Army soldiers United States court of appeals judges appointed by Jimmy Carter West Virginia lawyers United States Army personnel of World War II