John Lewis Smith, Jr.

John Lewis Smith Jr. (September 20, 1912 – September 4, 1992) was a United States federal judge.

Born in Washington, D.C., Smith received an A.B. from Princeton University in 1935, an LL.B. from Georgetown University Law School in 1938, and an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law School in 1939. He was an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia from 1940 to 1946, and was in the United States Army during World War II, serving as an Air Corps Lieutenant Colonel from 1942 to 1946. He was in private practice in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1956. He was a Commissioner, District of Columbia Public Utilities Commission from 1956 to 1957. He was an associate judge of the District of Columbia Court of General Sessions from 1957 to 1959, becoming chief judge of that court from 1959 to 1966.

On October 6, 1966, Smith was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, vacated by Luther W. Youngdahl. Smith was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 20, 1966, and received his commission on November 3, 1966. He served as chief judge from 1981-1982. He assumed senior status on January 31, 1983. Smith served in that capacity until his death on September 4, 1992.

In 1977, Judge Smith ordered all of the FBI's records concerning Martin Luther King Jr. to be sealed in the National Archives for 50 years.

He died in Washington, D.C.

Sources

• John Lewis Smith, Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.