Elijah Barrett Prettyman (August 23, 1891 – August 4, 1971) 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 District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

. His son was American attorney E. Barrett Prettyman Jr.

Education and career

Born on August 23, 1891, in Lexington,

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

, Prettyman received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in 1910 from

Randolph–Macon College Randolph–Macon College is a private liberal arts college in Ashland, Virginia. Founded in 1830, the college has an enrollment of more than 1,500 students. It is the second-oldest Methodist-run college in the country, and the oldest in conti ...

and an Artium Magister degree in 1911 from the same institution. He received 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 ...

in 1915 from

Georgetown Law The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and t ...

. He entered private practice in

Hopewell Hopewell may refer to: Places Barbados *Hopewell, Christ Church *Hopewell, Saint Thomas Canada * Hopewell Parish, New Brunswick * Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick * Hopewell Rocks, a tourist attraction new Hopewell Cape * Hopewell, Newfoundland an ...

, Virginia from 1915 to 1917. Prettyman was a

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 ...

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

from 1917 to 1919. Although he was commissioned as an artillery captain, he also served as a judge advocate where he oversaw hundreds of courts-martial. He was a special attorney for the

Bureau of Internal Revenue The Bureau of Internal Revenue'' ''( fil, Kawanihan ng Rentas Internas, or BIR) is a revenue service for the Philippine government, which is responsible for collecting more than half of the total revenues of the government. It is an agency o ...

of the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and

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 U ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

from 1919 to 1920. He was in private practice in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

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 Roc ...

, Washington, D.C., and New York City from 1920 to 1933. Prettyman was general counsel for the Bureau of Internal Revenue from 1933 to 1934. He was corporation counsel for Washington, D.C. from 1934 to 1936. He was in private practice in Washington, D.C. and

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

from 1936 to 1945.

Federal judicial service

Prettyman was nominated by President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

on September 12, 1945, to an Associate Justice seat on the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

(United States Circuit Judge of the

from June 25, 1948) vacated by Judge Justin Miller. 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 ...

on September 24, 1945, and received his commission on September 28, 1945. He served as Chief Judge from 1958 to 1960. He was a member of the

Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial cour ...

from 1959 to 1960. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on April 16, 1962. His service terminated on August 4, 1971, due to his death.

Honors

In March 1997, the

E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse The E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse is a historic building in Washington, D.C. It was built in 1949–50 and currently houses the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Distric ...

was named in his honor.

References

Sources

*
A Tribute to a Champion of the Law: U.S. Courthouse Named After Longtime Appellate Judge
(''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'', March 27, 1997) at Prettyman family site

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prettyman, Elijah Barrett 1891 births 1971 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I Georgetown University Law Center alumni Georgetown University Law Center faculty Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit People from Lexington, Virginia People from the Greater Richmond Region Military personnel from Virginia Randolph–Macon College alumni United States Army officers United States court of appeals judges appointed by Harry S. Truman 20th-century American judges Virginia lawyers Lawyers from Washington, D.C.