John Benjamin Sanborn, Jr., served as a judge on the Ramsey County District Court from 1922 to 1925, when he was nominated and confirmed as Judge of the United States District Court of Minnesota. He served in that post until January 19, 1932, when the Senate confirmed his appointment by President Hoover to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. He served on the appellate court until June 30, 1959, when he took senior status. He died on March 7, 1964, at age eighty.
In 1997 Thomas H. Boyd's lengthy, in depth study of Judge Sanborn was published in the "William Mitchell Law Review." It is a biographical portrait of the man on and off the bench, from his early days in St. Paul through his three decades of service on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was considered to be the most influential member of his Court during these years. He is said to have participated in more than 2,400 cases, and Thomas Boyd seems to have read every one, and cited most.
This well-written and meticulously documented study of Judge John B. Sanborn is a model for one of the most challenging areas of legal history--a biographical study of a federal appeals court judge. It is posted here.
It is a companion of the author's biographical portrait of Judge Walter Sanborn published in "Ramsey County History" (Summer 1991), and posted separately in the "Federal Courts" category of this website.
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