John Code Mowbray

John Code Mowbray (September 20, 1918 – March 5, 1997)^[1][2][3] was a Nevada attorney and judge who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada from 1967 to 1993.

John Code Mowbray
Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court (Seat A)
In office October 1, 1967 – January 4, 1993
Preceded by	Position Created
Succeeded by	Miriam C. Shearing
Personal details
Born	(1918-09-20)September 20, 1918 Bradford, Illinois, U.S.
Died	March 5, 1997(1997-03-05) (aged 78) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Education	Western Illinois University University of Notre Dame
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1942–1946
Rank	Major
Unit	United States Army Air Corps
Battles/wars	World War II

Early life, education, and military service

Born in Bradford, Illinois, to Thomas J. and Ellen Driscoll (Code) Mowbray,^[1][2] Mowbray received a degree in education from Western Illinois University in 1940, and was a high school teacher from then until 1942, when he enlisted in the United States Army to fight in World War II.^[1] He served as an aircraft pilot in the United States Army Air Corps,^[2] remaining in the service until 1946, and attaining the rank of major.^[1]

After the war, Mowbray received his law degree from the Notre Dame Law School in 1949,^[1] where he served as president of the student body,^[3] and on the advice of Senator Pat McCarran, moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to enter the practice of law that year.^[1] He worked as deputy in the office of the district attorney for Clark County, Nevada, until 1953, when he entered private practice.^[2]

Judicial service

From 1955 to 1959, Mowbray served as a Referee in Bankruptcy,^[1] and in 1959, Governor Grant Sawyer named Mowbray to a seat on the Nevada Eighth Judicial District Court, where Mowbray served for twelve years, from 1959 to 1967.^[1][2] During this time, Mowbray addressed a substantial backlog in cases and championed legislation to protect abused children and provide public defenders for indigent defendants.^[1]

On August 11, 1967, Governor Paul Laxalt appointed Mowbray to a newly established seat on the state supreme court. Mowbray was subsequently reelected four times, and served for several periods as Chief Justice of the court.^[1] Towards the end of his career on the state supreme court, Mowbray was troubled by glaucoma slowly causing blindness, and bitterly disputed criticisms from other members of the court asserting a decline in his work.^[2][3] Mowbray retired from the bench in January 1993, after twenty-five years on the high court.^[1]

Death

Mowbray died in a Las Vegas hospital, where he was being treated for kidney problems, at the age of 78.^[2]