Early Life

Non-Judicial Career

Desegregating Louisiana

D.C. Circuit

Video

Military Service, Private Practice, & U.S. Attorney's Office

Soon after the United State's entry into World War II J. Skelly Wright enlisted in the Coast Guard. Wright was stationed in south Florida aboard the USCG Thetis (WPC-115) which on June 13, 1942, sank the German U-boat U-157 between Key West, Florida, and Cuba. Wright served on the Thetis for nine months before being transferred to New York to assist in the creation of the Merchant Marines Hearing Unit (similar to today's Judge Advocate General). For more on the sinking by the Thetis please see here.

In June 1943, Wright was assigned to the legal staff of Commander of the U.S. Navy in London, Admiral Stark. Wright would remain in London for the remainder of the war as he helped create displinary boards and served as both prosecutor and defense attorney in court-martial trials. While in London, Wright began dating Helen Patton, an American embassy employee whose father was an Admiral in the Coast Guard. Wright and Patton were married in London in 1945. For an excellent interview with Helen Patton please see this Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit site.

J. Skelly Wright had a relatively short, but memorable, private practice career. After graduation from Loyola Law School in the midst of the Great Depression Wright's early practice was meager consisting of local cases including a zoning dispute. After a few years, he became an Assistant United States Attorney and his private practice halted. After returning from Coast Guard service in World War II. Skelly and his wife Helen, settled in Washington D.C. Wright's primary client after the war was Higgins Shipbuilders, based out of New Orleans, most well-known as builders of the Personnel Landing Crafts of D-Day. Wright soon joined with "Roy" Ingoldsby and Marvin Coles in a shared office near K Street in Washington D.C.  During this time Skelly argued two cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Wright's most famous appearance before the SCOTUS involved Willie Francis, a Louisiana teen sentenced to death for the murder of a white pharmacist. The State of Louisiana originally attempted to electrocute Francis using "Gruesome Gertie", Louisiana's traveling electric chair", but failed despite twice running current through Francis. 

Louisiana then prepared a second execution date. It is at this point Bertrand DeBlanc, trial counsel for Francis, asked for assistance in appealing Francis' case to the Supreme Court and Skelly Wright offered his services pro bono. The basis of the appellate case centers on double jeopardy and cruel and unusual punishment arguments.

In the end, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against Willie Francis and the execution was allowed to occur. Justice Felix Frankfurter, who voted to allow the execution, later attempted to persuade Louisiana officials, including Louisiana Governor Jimmie Davis, to stop the execution. Some scholars believe Justice Burton's dissent was written as the majority opinion and one of the Justice's changed his vote later.

The Willie Francis episode has been further examined in many places including in the book The Execution of Willie Francis by Gilbert King, and the documentary Willie Francis Must Die Again by Allan Durand.

J. Skelly Wright's other appearance as an attorney before the Supreme Court was in Johnson v. United States, 333 US 10 (1948). In Johnson, the defendant was arrested on narcotics charges. The resulting case became one of the early rulings in the evolution of probable cause searches by police as the Court stated "the Government (cannot) justify the arrest by the search and at the same time ... justify the search by the arrest". 

Wright had no connection to this Seattle-based case before its appeal to the Supreme Court but was asked to step in by Anthony Savage, Johnson's counsel, whom Wright had previously worked with as an Assistant U.S. Attorney when the local attorney could not attend the SCOTUS argument.

In August of 1937, Skelly Wright was appointed to be an Assistant U.S. District Attorney to Rene Viosca. Other ADA's in the office were Herbert Christenberry, Bob Weinstein, and Leon Hebert. The office fought corruption from both government officials and organized crime. 

In 1939-1940 Skelly Wright was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New Orleans office. In this role, he led the prosecution of Lauretta Costello on tax evasion. Ms. Costello was the wife of crime boss Frank Costello. Frank Costello is known for making deals with Huey and Earl Long to share the profits of slot machines. It is the unclaimed profit from these slot machines that was the center of this tax evasion case. Costello and his partners were able to avoid prosecution for years, but were eventually convicted.

Frank Costello is considered the inspiration for the movie character Vito Corleone of The Godfather franchise.