James DeAnda

Background

DeAnda, James was born on August 21, 1925 in Houston, Texas, United States. Son of Javier and Mary Louise DeAnda.

Education

Bachelor, Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University. Bachelor of Laws, University Texas, 1950.

Career

Texas.

Born in Houston, Texas to Mexican immigrants, DeAnda"s attendance at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical was interrupted by World World War II service in the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific. Graduating from Texas Agricultural and Mechanical in 1948, he then received an Bachelor of Laws from the University of Texas in 1950. DeAnda reported later in life that he had not faced much discrimination during his schooling, possibly due to his more Mediterranean-sounding surname and light complexion.

As a result, he ended up practicing law alongside other Mexican-American lawyers in Houston like John Herrera, working to provide counsel to Hispanic up and down the Gulf Coast who could not find equitable representation elsewhere.

lieutenant was in this capacity that he came face to face with the discrimination Mexican-Americans faced daily in the 1950s. He was in private practice in Houston, Texas from 1951 to 1955, and in Corpus Christi, Texas from 1955 to 1979.

In the early 1950s, he was on the plaintiff"s team in Hernandez v. Texas, writing most of the briefs.

In the late 1960s, he was among those who organized the Texas Rural Legal Assistance Organization and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

On February 13, 1979, DeAnda was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas created by 92 Statistics 1629. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 10, 1979, and received his commission on May 11, 1979. He served as chief judge from 1988 until retiring from the bench on October 1, 1992.

After retirement, he returned to private practice in Houston until 2005.

He died of prostate cancer at his vacation home in Traverse City, Michigan, aged 81.

Achievements

• James DeAnda has been listed as a reputable federal judge by Marquis Who's Who.

Membership

Member American Bar Association, American Judicature Society.

Connections

Married Joyce Anita DeAnda.

Father:

Javier DeAnda

Mother:

Mary Louise DeAnda

Spouse:

Joyce Anita DeAnda.