District: 5
Hometown: Beaver, Oklahoma; Beaver County
Birthplace: Chattanooga, Tennessee
Spouse: Josephine Lane
Children: James Nelson Lane and Jeff Lane
Judge James F. Lane was appointed to the Court in 1988. He served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956. From 1957 to 1960, he served as County Attorney in Beaver County, and was in private practice from 1960 to 1964. Lane served as Beaver County Judge, 1964-1969 and Associate District Judge from 1969 until his appointment to this Court. While on the Court of Criminal Appeals, he helped the Court to create a cutting-edge legal research system that still is a model for other state bars. During Lane’s service as Presiding Judge, the Court went from being so desperately backlogged that its fundamental fairness was challenged in the federal courts, to being one of the most efficient courts of last resort in the United States. More than these milestones, however, Judge Lane was proud that upon his retirement, his fellow judges praised him for leading his staff and other members of the bar to expand their perspective and knowledge of the law in the service of real social and human needs, and for his irrepressible good humor.