Robersonville native nominated to U.S. Court of Appeals

A Martin County native has been nominated to the second highest court in the nation.

Judge James Andrew Wynn Jr. was nominated Wednesday to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which serves North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, U.S. Sen. Kay R. Hagan, D-N.C., announced.

President Barack Obama nominated Wynn and Judge Albert Diez to fill two vacancies on the panel.

Wynn, who sits on the North Carolina Court of Appeals, was born and raised in Robersonville. He is the son of James Sr. and the late Naomi Wynn. He was unavailable for comment this morning.

Wynn previously was nominated to this court by President Bill Clinton but the late U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., blocked the nomination.

Prior to taking the bench in 1990, he served as an appellate public defender and worked in private practice, according to a White House news release.

Wynn received a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1975, his law degree from the Marquette University Law School in 1977 and a Master of Laws from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1995 .

He is a certified military trial judge and a captain in the U.S. Navy Reserves. He served on active duty in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General Corps from 1979 to 1983. He has received the Meritorious Service Medal three times, the Navy Commendation Medal twice, the Naval Reserve Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Medal.

He is the chairman of the American Bar Association Judicial Division, a former chairman of the Association's Appellate Judges Conference, and a member of the standing committee on Minorities in the Judiciary.

Wynn received a rating of unanimous well-qualified from the American Bar Association.

Diaz currently serves as a special superior court judge for complex business cases, one of only three in the state of North Carolina. Diaz began his legal career in the United States Marine Corps Legal Services Support Section, where he served as a prosecutor, defense counsel and, ultimately, Chief Review Officer.