James A. Belson was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1931. His family moved to the Washington, D.C. area when he was 11 years old. He attended Gonzaga College High School, graduating in 1949, and then enrolled at Georgetown University’s College of Arts and Sciences. There he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1953 before attending the Georgetown University Law Center where he served as an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. After graduating with a juris doctor degree in 1956, Judge Belson served as law clerk to the Honorable E. Barrett Prettyman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
In 1958, he and Rosemary Greenslade were married. They went on to have 4 children: Jim, Marie, Betty and Stephen. They began their married life in Germany where he served with the 4thArmored Division, U.S. Army. As an officer of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, he prosecuted or defended general court martial cases for almost three years. In September of 1960 he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal.
On return to the U.S., Judge Belson practiced law in Washington D.C. with the law firm of Hogan and Hartson, first as an associate and then as a partner. In April 1968, President Lyndon Johnson appointed him a judge of the D.C. Court of General Sessions, which soon became the D.C. Superior Court. There he served as a trial judge for 13 years, trying primarily civil cases and felonies and misdemeanors as well. He also served as the chairman of the Court’s Rules Committee. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the D.C. Court of Appeals where he served as a member of the nine judge appellate court and then as a senior appellate judge until retiring in 2017 after almost 50 years of judicial service.
Judge Belson’s Catholic faith and strong upbringing by his parents shaped his career in the law as well as his participation in organizations such as the John Carroll Society and the Order of Malta. He was a director of the John Carroll Society from 1978 to 1985 and was First Vice President from 1989 to 1991. He served three times as chairman of the Red Mass. Judge Belson was also President of the Order of Malta, Federal Association from 1991 to 1994, and served, first as chairman and then a member, of its Task Force on Cuba from 1994 to 2006, making 13 trips to the island in connection with furnishing food, clothing and medicines to the needy.
Judge Belson has been deeply involved in the founding and operation of Project SHARE, a self-help food program available to low-income families and others who wish to stretch their food dollars. SHARE brings together many volunteers with persons who seek to provide nourishing food for their families at an affordable price. In the late 1980’s, Judge Belson had observed SHARE operations in other cities and then, with other volunteers and strong participation of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, he helped prepare the launch of the program in the Washington area in September of 1990. SHARE now operates monthly through about 250 host sites, many of them churches, where persons order and pick up their food packages. It has distributed since 1990 roughly 4.5 million packages of nourishing food. Judge Belson worked as a volunteer at the warehouse assembling the monthly distributions of food for over 20 years, and now participates as a member of the SHARE Advisory Committee. SHARE is now an activity of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington.
Judge Belson and his family were active members of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Washington for many years. He is a currently a member at St. Mary’s Parish in Annapolis, MD. Sarahatau (talk) 20:13, 1 April 2023 (UTC)Reply
