Hutcheson, Joseph C. (Joseph Chappell), 1879-1973

A nationally known jurist and legal scholar, Joseph C. Hutcheson, Jr. served as federal judge for the Southern District of Texas (1918-1931) and on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1931-1964), including 12 years as chief judge (1948-1959). He authored three books and numerous articles for legal journals, including an influential 1929 Legal Realist essay on the role of the "hunch" in judicial decisions. Valedictorian of the class of 1900 at the University of Texas School of Law, Hutcheson practiced law in his native Houston, 1900-1918, and was elected mayor of Houston in 1917. In 1946 he served as co-chairman of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Jewish Problems in Palestine and Europe as a homeland for Jewish refugees from the Holocaust.

From the description of Joseph C. Hutcheson, Jr. papers, ca. 1853-1979 1900-1970. (University of Texas, Tarlton Law Library). WorldCat record id: 82081146