James Marshall Carter

James Marshall Carter (March 11, 1904 – November 18, 1979) was a United States federal judge.

Born in Santa Barbara, California, Carter received an A.B. from Pomona College in 1924 and a J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School in 1927. He was in private practice in Los Angeles, California from 1928 to 1940, and taught at the Police School under the auspices of the Los Angeles Board of Education from 1934 to 1935. He was the director of the State Department of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento, California from 1940 to 1942, returning to private practice in Los Angeles, California in 1943. He was a chief assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California from 1943 to 1946, and was then the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California from 1946 to 1949.

On September 23, 1949, Carter was nominated by President Harry S. Truman to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of California created by 63 Stat. 493. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 15, 1949, and received his commission on October 18, 1949. He served as chief judge from 1966 to 1967.

On November 6, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Carter for elevation to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated by Gilbert H. Jertberg. Carter was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 16, 1967, and received his commission the same day. He assumed senior status on September 30, 1971. Carter served in that capacity until his death, in 1979, in La Jolla, California.

In a March 30, 2015, ceremony, the new federal courthouse in San Diego was named the James M. Carter and Judith N. Keep United States Courthouse to honor him and another federal judge.

Sources

• James Marshall Carter at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

Legal offices
Preceded by new seat	Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California 1949–1967	Succeeded by Edward Joseph Schwartz
Preceded by Gilbert H. Jertberg	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 1967–1971	Succeeded by John Clifford Wallace