J. Lindsay Almond

J. Lindsay Almond
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
In office October 1, 1982 – April 14, 1986
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals
In office March 1, 1973 – October 1, 1982
Associate Judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals
In office October 23, 1962 – March 1, 1973
Appointed by	John F. Kennedy
Preceded by	Ambrose O'Connell
Succeeded by	Jack Miller
58th Governor of Virginia
In office January 11, 1958 – January 13, 1962
Lieutenant	Allie Edward Stakes Stephens
Preceded by	Thomas B. Stanley
Succeeded by	Albertis Harrison
26th Attorney General of Virginia
In office February 11, 1948 – August 28, 1957
Governor	William M. Tuck John S. Battle Thomas B. Stanley
Preceded by	Harvey B. Apperson
Succeeded by	Kenneth Cartwright Patty
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 6th district
In office January 22, 1946 – April 17, 1948
Preceded by	Clifton A. Woodrum
Succeeded by	Clarence G. Burton
Personal details
Born	James Lindsay Almond Jr. (1898-06-15)June 15, 1898 Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
Died	April 14, 1986(1986-04-14) (aged 87) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Evergreen Burial Park Roanoke, Virginia
Political party	Democratic
Education	Virginia Tech University of Virginia School of Law (LLB)

James Lindsay Almond Jr. (June 15, 1898 – April 14, 1986) was an American lawyer, state and federal judge and Democratic party politician. His political offices included as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from

Almond then became an associate judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (1962-1973), and after retiring, continued to serve as Senior Judge of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (1973-1982) and then Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 1982, until his death in 1986.

Early life

Almond was born in Charlottesville, Virginia and raised in Orange County, Virginia. Almond attended Virginia Tech and served as a private in the Students Army Training Corps in 1917 and 1918 in World War I. Afterwards he taught school in Locust Grove, in his native Orange County, then became a high school principal, while also studying and earned a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1923.^[1]

Lawyer and state judge

Almond prosecuted criminals as assistant commonwealth attorney of Roanoke, Virginia from 1930 to 1933.

During the Great Depression, Virginia legislators elected him as a state court judge, and he served in the Hustings Court of Roanoke from 1933 to 1945. The Hustings Court handled family law matters as well as some misdemeanor offenses. In possibly his most famous case, discussed at length in the book Truevine, Judge Almond appointed what would today be called a guardian or conservator for two albino African-American men who had been abducted as children from their family's farm near Roanoke, and who toured as a sideshow attraction with the Ringling Brothers Circus for several years while only an unrelated White man received wages for them. Their mother recognized them in a photograph taken in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1936 and with the help of a local Virginia lawyer, secured both their release from the circus and damages, which unfortunately were mostly spent by their mother's second husband (who was shot during an adulterous affair). Later, they wished to return to the circus rather than stay unemployed at home, so at their and their lawyer's request, Judge Almond arranged for part of their salaries to be saved to support their retirement (four years before adoption of the Social Security Act), as well as to support their again-widowed mother, and enforced a similar arrangement when their manager took them touring with other circuses.^[2]

Political career

As World War II ended, Almond ran for Congress from Virginia's 6th congressional district. Elected to the United States House of Representatives, he served in the 79th and 80th Congresses.^[3]

Almond resigned his Congressional seat in 1948, when he was elected

He allowed public schools in Arlington and Norfolk to desegregate peacefully by to court orders on February 5, 1959.[6] Heeding the advice of several moderates within his own party, including Senator Mosby Perrow Jr., Almond realized that opposition to desegregation was ultimately futile, as the state continued to lose in the courts. In April 1959, Almond and his lieutenant governor, Allie Edward Stakes Stephens, helped Perrow and Stuart B. Carter of Fincastle, Virginia narrowly secure passage of bills which allowed localities to determine whether to desegregate their schools.^[7]

Schools in Albemarle and Warren Counties opened and followed desegregation orders, but the schools in Prince Edward County remained closed until 1963, and the tuition assistance program that supported segregation academies remained in effect until 1968 when the United States Supreme Court decided Green v. County School Board of New Kent County. Thus, except for Prince Edward County, massive resistance had been transformed into passive resistance against school desegregation.

However,

• 1946; Almond was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election unopposed. He was re-elected in the general election with 64.78% of the vote, defeating Republican Frank R. Angell and Socialist Ruby Mae Wilkes.
• 1957; Almond was elected Governor of Virginia with 63.15% of the vote, defeating Republican Theodore R. Dalton and Independent C. Gilmer Brooks.

Personal life

Almond married Josephine Katherine Minter in 1925. He was a Lutheran and taught a men's bible class. He was a 32nd degree Mason, a Shriner, and a member of Alpha Kappa Psi and Omicron Delta Kappa.^[12]

Death

Almond died on April 14, 1986, in Richmond, Virginia. He and his wife Josephine Minter Almond are buried in Evergreen Burial Park in Roanoke, Virginia, in her family's plot. The couple had no children, but had raised one of her nephews as their son.^[13]

References