James E. Kelley, a retired Iowa district court judge, died on Saturday, October 26, 2024, in Rockville, Maryland, after a short illness. He was 83. During his nearly 30-year service as a trial court judge in Iowa's Seventh Judicial District, Kelley became nationally known for his research and advocacy for addressing the stress experienced by jurors in murder and other difficult cases. His influential 1994 Drake Law Review article on the topic showed that a judge's meeting with jurors to debrief them after the conclusion of the trial could help reduce the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder experienced by many jurors in such trials. Judges across the country adopted his model for helping ease jurors' emotional strain. He also initiated several innovations for the court system, including helping to organize and oversee an effort to digitize all court records in Scott County, which became the first county in Iowa to have an all-digital records system. He served as president of the Iowa Judges Association from 1996 to 1997; on the jury standards and jury management committees of the Conference of State Trial Court Judges from 1994 to 1997; and chaired the Iowa Judicial Council Subcommittee on Records Management and Retention. Before then-Gov. Robert Ray appointed him to the bench in 1981, Kelley was a partner in the Davenport, Iowa firm Lane & Waterman, which he joined after his graduation from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1966. Kelley was an active member of the community in the Iowa Quad-Cities. He and his wife, Ellen, sang in the Handel Oratorio Society's annual performances of Handel's Messiah at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. They also were active members and took leadership roles in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad-Cities. Kelley continued his community service after his retirement from the bench in 2011, including taking a leadership role in the American Conifer Society. When he and his wife moved to Maryland to be closer to their children and grandchildren, they took leadership roles in their new congregation, the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda. Kelley was born in April 1941 in Des Moines, Iowa and grew up in nearby Ames, where he became an Eagle Scout. Kelley graduated from Ames High School in 1959, where he met his future wife, Ellen. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1963 and earned his master's degree in judicial studies from the University of Nevada at Reno in 1993. Kelley loved spending time with his family, traveling, hiking, and fishing. In the late 1970s, he became an instrument-rated pilot and enjoyed taking the family on plane rides. He is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Ellen; his brother, Patrick Kelley; daughter Jean Kelley; son Matthew (Chrys) Kelley; and grandchildren Elisha, Katherine, and Aven.

Cedar Lane Unitarian Church
Bethesda MD
Web: http://cedarlane.org

American Conifer Society
Web: http://conifersociety.org