John J. Parker

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John Johnston Parker (November 20, 1885–March 17, 1958) was a U.S. judge who missed a nomination to the Supreme Court by one vote. He was also the U.S. alternate judge at the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals and later served on the United Nations' International Law Commission.

John J. Parker was born in Monroe, North Carolina, the son of John Daniel and Frances Johnston Parker. He received the Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1907 and a Law Degree in 1908. While at the University, Parker was president of his class in his freshman and senior years, of the Student Council, of the Athletic Association, and of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. In addition, he won a number of prizes and medals.

After leaving the University, Parker practiced law in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1908–1909, and then, from 1910 until 1922, he practiced law in his home town of Monroe. Parker married Maria Burgwin Maffitt of Wilmington, North Carolina in 1910. In 1922, Parker moved to Charlotte and became head of the firm of Parker, Stewart, McRae, and Bobbitt. He was nominated for a number of public offices in the state by the Republican Party and ran against Cameron A. Morrison for governor in 1920. In 1924, he was elected Republican National Committeeman from North Carolina and delegate to the Republican National Convention which nominated Calvin Coolidge. After serving as special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States in 1923, Parker was appointed, in 1925, as one of the judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He would serve in this capacity until his death in 1958, at which time he was senior appellate judge of the United States.

In 1930, Parker was nominated by President Herbert Hoover to the United States Supreme Court, but was defeated by one vote in the Senate as a result of political opposition. In particular, Parker was opposed by labor groups due to a decision he had written regarding the United Mine Workers and yellow-dog contracts, and by the NAACP due to remarks he had made in 1920 about African-Americans while a candidate for Governor of North Carolina. Parker's rejection by the U.S. Senate was the first such unsuccessful nomination to the Supreme Court since 1894.

In 1945–1946, he served as an alternate judge on the International Allied Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Germany. In 1954 he was elected to serve on the United Nations' International Law Commission.

[edit] External links

• Judge John J. Parker Memorial Award
• North Carolina Bar Association's John J. Parker Memorial Award for 2004
• John J. Parker picture
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