James A. Wynn - CONFIRMED

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

James Wynn

On November 4, 2009, President Obama nominated North Carolina state court judge James A. Wynn to serve on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.  President Obama noted that Judge Wynn has been an "exceptional public servant[] for the people of North Carolina," and that his "distinguished judicial career[] leave[s] no doubt that [he] will be [an] esteemed addition[] to the Fourth Circuit."

Since 1990, with the exception of two years as a temporary appointee to the North Carolina Supreme Court, Judge Wynn has served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the state's intermediate appellate court.  Prior to taking the bench, he worked as an appellate public defender and in private practice.  Judge Wynn is also a certified Military Trial Judge and a Captain in the United States Navy Reserves and formerly served on active duty in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps from 1979 to 1983.  He received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1975, his J.D. from Marquette University Law School in 1979, and a LL.M. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1995.  Judge Wynn was formerly nominated to the Fourth Circuit by President Clinton, but his nomination was blocked at that time by Senator Jesse Helms.