James Harvey Carter (January 18, 1935 – February 27, 2016) was a justice of the

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 E ...

from 1982 until 2006.

Education

Carter was born in Waverly, Iowa and grew up in

Clarksville, Iowa Clarksville is a city in Butler County, Iowa, United States, along the Shell Rock River. The population was 1,264 at the 2020 census. Geography Clarksville is located at 42°46'58" North, 92°40'11" West (42.782665, -92.669842). According to th ...

. He graduated from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

with a B.A., then from the University of Iowa College of Law with a J.D., where he was elected to the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, whi ...

. During law school, Carter was a Notes Editor of the Iowa Law Review.

Legal and judicial career

After graduating from law school, Carter worked as a judicial clerk to Judge

Henry Norman Graven Henry Norman Graven (June 1, 1893 – February 1, 1970) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa. Education and career Born in St. James, Minnesota, Graven served as a United Stat ...

of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa The United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa (in case citations, N.D. Iowa) has jurisdiction over fifty-two of Iowa's ninety-nine counties. It is subject to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals (except for patent claims and ...

. He then practiced law in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

at Shuttleworth & Ingersoll until 1973, when he was appointed to the Iowa District Court. In 1976, he was appointed to the

Iowa Court of Appeals The Iowa Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Iowa. Its purpose is to review appeals from trial court decisions which are referred to the court by the Iowa Supreme Court. The court decides the vast majority of ...

, and in 1982, he was appointed to the

. Carter retired in 2006. Carter died on February 27, 2016.

References

1935 births 2016 deaths Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court Place of birth missing 20th-century American judges {{Iowa-state-judge-stub