J. Smith Henley

Henley was born in Saint Joe in Searcy County in northern Arkansas to Benjamin Harrison Henley and the former Jessie Genoa Willis Smith. In 1941, Henley received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville. He was in private practice in Fayetteville from 1941 to 1954. From 1943 to 1945, he was a clerk and a Referee in Bankruptcy for the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. In 1954, he became an associate general counsel in the Federal Communications Commission. In 1956, he was named a director in the Office of Administrative Procedure of the United States Department of Justice.[1]

With the retirement of Judge Thomas Clark Trimble III, the Arkansas Republican Party State Committee recommended Osro Cobb, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas as Trimble's successor. Trimble had sworn in Cobb as United States Attorney in 1954. A former Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, Cobb carried the support of Democratic United States Senators John Little McClellan and J. William Fulbright. Attorney General of the United States Herbert Brownell Jr., had also promised to support Cobb for the judicial opening. The Little Rock Integration Crisis, however, ensued, and Cobb continued as United States Attorney during the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock. Brownell, meanwhile, resigned and was replaced by William P. Rogers. Cobb later said that his oil investments began to multiply and paid far more than he would have earned as a federal judge had he gotten the appointment that he sought.[2]

Henley received a recess appointment from President Dwight D. Eisenhower on October 25, 1958, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas vacated by Judge Thomas Clark Trimble III. He was nominated to the same seat on January 17, 1959. His service was terminated on September 8, 1959, due to appointment to a different judicial seat, never having been confirmed by the United States Senate for Judge Trimble's seat. His service would have otherwise terminated on September 11, 1959, due to the pending adjournment of the Senate.[1]

Henley was nominated by President Eisenhower on August 18, 1959, to a joint seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas and the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas vacated by Judge Harry Jacob Lemley. He was confirmed by the Senate on September 2, 1959, and received his commission on September 8, 1959. He served as Chief Judge of the Eastern District from 1959 to 1975. His service was terminated on March 24, 1975, due to his elevation to the Eighth Circuit.[1]

Henley was nominated by President Gerald Ford on January 28, 1975, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Judge Pat Mehaffy. He was confirmed by the Senate on March 13, 1975, and received his commission on March 14, 1975. He assumed senior status on May 31, 1982. His service was terminated on October 18, 1997, due to his death in Harrison, Arkansas.[1]

The J. Smith Henley Federal Building in Harrison is named in Henley's honor. On April 28, 1999, Representative Asa Hutchinson introduced H.R.1605 - To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 402 North Walnut Street in Harrison, Arkansas, as the `J. Smith Henley Federal Building and United States Courthouse'.[3]

• Jesse Smith Henley at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.