James L. Roberts Jr.

{{Short description|American judge (born 1945)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{infobox officeholder

|name=James L. Roberts Jr.

|office=Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi

|term_start=1992

|term_end=1999

|predecessor=James L. Robertson

|successor=Kay B. Cobb

|birth_name=James Lamar Roberts Jr.

|birth_date={{birth date and age|1945|6|8}}

|birth_place=Pontotoc, Mississippi, U.S.

|party=Democratic

|education=University of Mississippi School of Law (JD)

|profession=Judge

}}

James Lamar Roberts Jr. (born June 8, 1945){{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinamerica0000unse_f8j3/page/540/mode/2up|title=Who's Who in American Law, 2002-2003|year=2002|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|page=541}} is an American retired jurist who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi from 1992 to 1999.Leslie Southwick, [https://dc.law.mc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1410&context=lawreview Mississippi Supreme Court Elections: A Historical Perspective 1916-1996], 18 Miss. C. L. Rev. 115 (1997-1998).

Born in Pontotoc, Mississippi, Roberts received a J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1971,{{cite web|url=https://www.djournal.com/news/circuit-judge-james-roberts-resigns/article_cee42cdc-1457-5f3c-b30a-280549cd4029.html |title=Circuit Judge James Roberts resigns|first1=William|last1=Moore|work=Daily Journal|date=January 23, 2020}} and served as the prosecuting attorney for Pontotoc County, Mississippi from 1972 to 1983. In 1984, Governor Bill Allain appointed him State Commissioner of Public Safety, a position he held for four years.

Roberts became a justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi in 1992.{{Cite web|url=https://courts.ms.gov/news/2019/01.21.19Jim%20Roberts%20portrait%20afterstory.php|title=State of Mississippi Judiciary|website=courts.ms.gov}} In April 1999, Roberts resigned form his seat on the Supreme Court to campaign for the office of governor in that year's election.{{cite news| last = Helms| first = David| title = Judge James L. Roberts, Jr., tenders resignation| newspaper = Pontotoc Progress| date = January 29, 2020| url = https://www.djournal.com/pontotoc/judge-james-l-roberts-jr-tenders-resignation/article_022fc657-6f8a-56c0-b71d-7a8e11f168f1.html| access-date = August 26, 2023}} He sought the Democratic nomination, facing Lieutenant Governor Ronnie Musgrove.{{sfn|Watson|Campbell|2003|p=133}} Roberts did little to build a gubernatorial platform and spent most of his time attacking Musgrove for his use of state vehicles for campaign activities.{{sfn|Watson|Campbell|2003|p=134}} Musgrove won the August 3 Democratic primary, taking 57 percent of the vote to Roberts' 26 percent.{{cite news| last = Ammerman| first = Joseph| title = It's Musgrove vs. Parker for Governor's Mansion| newspaper = The Clarion-Ledger| pages = 1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119798030/clarion-ledger/ 6A]| date = August 4, 1999| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119797735/clarion-ledger/}}

In January 2019, Roberts suffered a stroke. He tendered his resignation from his circuit court judgeship effective February 29, 2020.