James Lawrence Irving (born February 16, 1935) is a former

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

Education and career

Born in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, Irving was in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1954 to 1956. He received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in 1959 and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the

USC Gould School of Law The USC Gould School of Law, located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law traces its beginnings to 1896 and became affiliated with ...

in 1963. He was in private practice in San Diego from 1963 to 1982.

Federal judicial service

On July 15, 1982, Irving was nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Edward Joseph Schwartz Edward Joseph Schwartz (March 26, 1912 – March 22, 2000) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Education and career Born in Seattle, Washington, Schwartz received an ...

. Irving was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on July 28, 1982, and received his commission the same day. Irving served in that capacity until his resignation on December 31, 1990.

Resignation

Irving resigned due to a belief that federal mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines were unconstitutional and immoral. "If I remain on the bench I have no choice but to follow the law," he said. "I just can't, in good conscience, continue to do this".Criticizing Sentencing Rules, U.S. Judge Resigns
, The New York Times, September 30, 1990.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, J. Lawrence 1935 births Living people Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan 20th-century American judges USC Gould School of Law alumni United States Army soldiers