James Alger Fee (September 24, 1888 – August 25, 1959) was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

and previously was a United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Oregon The United States District Court for the District of Oregon (in case citations, D. Ore. or D. Or.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Oregon. It was created in 1859 when the state was admitted to the Union ...

. A veteran of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, his first judicial position was with the Oregon Circuit Court. While a federal judge he made national news for his decision during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

regarding the application of the exclusion orders that had forced those of Japanese heritage from the West Coast.

Early life

James Alger was born in

Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...

in the city of Pendleton on September 24, 1888. He went to college in

Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to: * Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named * Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, at

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Whitman was the first college in the Pacific ...

. There he graduated with an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1910 and was a member of the Gamma Zeta Chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, New York and earned a master's degree at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

.Fifield, James Clark. 1918. ''The American Bar''. Minneapolis, Minn: J.C. Fifield Co. After this Fee went on to law school at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

, graduating in 1914 with 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 Ch ...

Career

Fee returned to

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

where he passed the bar in 1914, and entered private practice in his hometown of Pendleton. In 1916, he began serving as that city’s attorney, staying until 1917 when he joined the

's Air Service as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

. Fee remained with the army until 1919, when moved to the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...

as a member of the legal staff. In 1920, he left the War Department and returned to Pendleton and private practice. In 1927, Fee left private practice to start a judicial career, serving as on the Oregon Circuit Court from 1927 to 1931.

District Court service

Fee received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the president of a federal official when the U.S. Senate is in recess. Under the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause, the President is empowered to nominate, and with the a ...

from President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

on March 18, 1931, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Robert S. Bean Robert Sharp Bean (November 28, 1854 – January 7, 1931) was the 16th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, serving as Chief Justice three different times. He later served as a United States district judge of the United States District Cour ...

. He was nominated to the same position by President Hoover on December 15, 1931. He 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 December 22, 1931, and received his commission the next day. He served as Chief Judge from 1948 to 1954. His service terminated on April 30, 1954, due to his elevation to the Ninth Circuit.

Notable cases

During Fee's over twenty years on the district court he ruled on a variety of topics. In ''United States v. Earnest F. Cramer and E. R. Cramer'', Fee ruled that Native Americans through treaties they signed in the 19th century had superior fishing rights over non-Native Americans at places such as

Celilo Falls Celilo Falls (Wyam, meaning "echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks," in several native languages) was a tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, just east of the Cascade Mountains, on what is today the border between the U.S. ...

. In 1952, Fee decided two cases concerning the 1948 flood of

Vanport, Oregon Vanport, sometimes referred to as Vanport City or Kaiserville, was a city of wartime public housing in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States, between the contemporary Portland city boundary and the Columbia River. It was destroyed in the 194 ...

.Taylor, George H. and Raymond R. Hatton.
The Oregon Weather Book: A State of Extremes.
'' Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press. 1999. He ruled that the government was not liable for the damage caused to the residents’ property. Some other cases included a labor dispute involving

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...

, holding the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

legally obligated to pay bondholders on defaulted bonds they issued to build a hospital, and even refused to appoint a commissioner for

Crater Lake National Park Crater Lake National Park is an American national park located in southern Oregon. Established in 1902, Crater Lake is the fifth-oldest national park in the United States and the only national park in Oregon. The park encompasses the caldera of ...

. He also ruled on the internment of Japanese-Americans during

, presided over a case in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and signed off on the condemnation of the water company serving Salem, Oregon, as that city took over the water supply.

Court of Appeals service

Fee was nominated by President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

on April 6, 1954, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Clifton Mathews. He was confirmed by the Senate on April 23, 1954, and received his commission on April 30, 1954, moving his chambers from Oregon to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

after he began service. His service terminated on August 25, 1959, due to his death.

Notable case

In 1957, Fee wrote the opinion in ''Bartholomae Corp. v. United States'', 253 F.2d 716 (9th Cir. 1957), that refused to hold the federal government liable for damages related to nuclear bomb testing in 1951.

Japanese internment

On June 12, 1942, as district court judge Fee began presiding over the trial of

Minoru Yasui was an American lawyer from Oregon. Born in Hood River, Oregon, he earned both an undergraduate degree and his law degree at the University of Oregon. He was one of the few Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor who fought laws th ...

, a native Oregonian of Japanese descent who was on trial for breaking curfew.Irons, Peter H. 1983. ''Justice at War''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 135-7. The curfew had been imposed by the United States Army's General

John L. DeWitt John Lesesne DeWitt (January 9, 1880 – June 20, 1962) was a 4-star general officer in the United States Army, best known for leading the Japanese American internment, internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. After the attack on Pe ...

under the authority of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 that began the Japanese American internment after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The curfew only applied to those of Japanese heritage, with Yasui being the first person to be arrested for violating the curfew. This case would make it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. The decision to take this trial to the Supreme Court made national news. Yasui was an attorney who was a United States Army reservist and, until the start of the war, worked for the Japanese consulate in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

.Daniels, Roger
The Japanese American Cases, 1942-2004: A Social History.
/ref> The trial was held at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland where Yasui had broken the curfew.Tateishi, John. 1984. ''And Justice for all: An Oral History of the Japanese American Detention Camps''. New York: Random House. p. 78-80 Fee determined in his ruling for the case that the curfew could only apply to aliens, as

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

had not been declared. However, he also ruled that because Yasui had worked for the Japanese government that he had forfeited his citizenship so that the curfew did apply to him. Fee sentenced Yasui to 1 year in jail, served at the Multnomah County Jail. Meanwhile, his case went on appeal until reaching the Supreme Court of the United States as '' Yasui v. United States'', (320 U.S. 115) with that court determining the opposite of Fee, that Yasui was a citizen, but the curfew did apply to citizens.''United States v. Minoru Yasui''
51 F. Supp. 234, 235 (D. Or. 1943).
After the Supreme Court returned the case to Fee for re-evaluation, he affirmed the conviction on the grounds the Supreme Court had determined.

Family and later life

Fee’s father was also a judge in Oregon. He was a partner in Fee & Slater. On February 9, 1916, James Fee married Frances Waldo.Frances Waldo Fee. ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'', September 21, 1935. She was born in Berkshire, New York, in 1886, and died on September 20, 1935. They had three daughters, Frances Louise, Margery Waldo, and Lillian Adele. Prior to her death Frances had been an active member of the American Association of University Women, Army and Navy league, and the executive board of the Camp Fire Girls. She also took an interest in the affairs of her sorority,

Alpha Chi Omega Alpha Chi Omega (, also known as Alpha Chi or A Chi O) is a national women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1885. As of 2018, there are 132 collegiate and 279 alumnae chapters represented across the United States, and the fraternity counts ...

, and was for a time the alumnae adviser of the University of Washington chapter. On December 22, 1943, James Fee married Alice Emma Tomkins.Descendants of Abram Dillow.
Rootsweb.com. Retrieved on November 18, 2007. She was born in

Cascade Locks Cascade Locks is a city in Hood River County, Oregon, United States. The city took its name from a set of locks built to improve navigation past the Cascades Rapids of the Columbia River. The U.S. federal government approved the plan for the l ...

, Oregon on September 11, 1897, and died on September 21, 1995.Alice Tompkins Fee. ''

'', October 3, 1995. They did not have any children. Fee died on August 25, 1959, and is buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Arlington County Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fee, James 1888 births 1959 deaths Politicians from Pendleton, Oregon Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon United States district court judges appointed by Herbert Hoover Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower 20th-century American judges Oregon state court judges Columbia Law School alumni Whitman College alumni United States Army officers Oregon lawyers Military personnel from Oregon