James Uriah "Jud" Downs | |
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North Carolina Superior Court Judge for the 8th Judicial Division | |
In office 1983 – September 1, 2013 |
|
Succeeded by | William H. Coward |
Personal details | |
Born | September 15, 1941 Louisiana, USA |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) |
Sue Downs (married 1975-1988, divorced) |
Relations |
U. T. Downs (grandfather) |
Children | Kat Downs Mulder |
Parents | J. Earl Downs and Helen Whitener Downs |
Residence | North Carolina |
Alma mater | Loyola University New Orleans School of Law |
Occupation | Lawyer and retired judge |
Military service | |
Service/branch | United States Army |
Rank | Captain |
Sue Downs (married 1975-1988, divorced)
U. T. Downs (grandfather)
C. H. "Sammy" Downs (uncle)
Jam Downs (cousin)
James Uriah Downs, sometimes known as Jud Downs (born September 15, 1941), is a retired senior resident superior court judge whose jurisdiction included five counties of District 30A in the 8th Judicial Division of western North Carolina. A Democrat, he was appointed to the court in 1983 by then Governor James B. Hunt, the year before Hunt temporarily left the governorship in an unsuccessful campaign against Republican U.S. Senator Jesse Helms. After Downs retired from the bench in 2013, he returned to the private practice of law, with an office in his adopted city of Franklin in Macon County.
A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Downs graduated in 1963 from Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. He received his law degree in 1966 from Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans. He served for two years in the United States Army from 1966 to 1968 and was discharged at the rank of captain.