Wright received a recess appointment from President Harry S. Truman on October 21, 1949, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana vacated by Judge Wayne G. Borah. He was nominated to the same position by President Truman on January 5, 1950. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 8, 1950, and received his commission on March 9, 1950. His service terminated on April 15, 1962, due to elevation to the District of Columbia Circuit. During his service with the Eastern District of Louisiana, Wright was an important leader during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis. Wright's first desegregation order had been for the Louisiana State University Law School in 1951. His vigorous enforcement of Brown v. Board of Education, however, made him many enemies amongst the predominantly white political and business culture of New Orleans to the extent that his entire family was soon ostracized and isolated from much of New Orleans' society life.
D.C. Circuit Court
Wright was nominated by President John F. Kennedy on February 2, 1962, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated by Judge E. Barrett Prettyman. He was confirmed by the Senate on March 28, 1962, and received his commission on March 30, 1962. He served as Chief Judge from 1978 to 1981. He served as a Judge of the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals from 1981 to 1987, serving as Chief Judge from 1982 to 1987. He assumed senior status on June 1, 1986.
Notable cases
In Williams v. Walker-Thomas Furniture Co., Wright interpreted the common law concept of contract unconscionability to prevent the exploitation of the poor. This is a major decision in the field of consumer protection.
In Hobson v. Hansen, Wright held that tracking in schools compromised the "right to equal educational opportunity" for the District's poor and disadvantaged.
In Javins v. First National Realty Corp., Wright developed the theory of implied warranty of habitability in the field of lease law.
In Edwards v. Habib and Robinson v. Diamond Housing Corp., Wright developed the retaliatory eviction doctrine, prohibiting landlords from evicting tenants who raised housing code violations to authorities.
Death and legacy
His service terminated on August 6, 1988, due to his death in the Westmoreland Hills neighborhood of Bethesda, Maryland. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote a memoriam for Judge Wright in the Harvard Law Review. Wright is recognized for exerting a major influence on the American law of landlord-tenant. Several of his decisions on the D.C. Circuit helped modernize landlord-tenant jurisdprudence by incorporating consumer protection principles long accepted in contract law. The J. Skelly Wright Professorship at Yale Law School is named in his honor.
