Judge James L. Oakes, a former Vermont state senator, attorney general and federal judge who was appointed to the U.S. appeals court by President Richard M. Nixon, died on Oct. 13 on the Vineyard following a brief illness. He was 83 and was a resident of Brattleboro, Vt., and Edgartown, where he had summered since 1969.

He was born Feb. 21, 1924, in Springfield, Ill., the son of Della Kuykendall Oakes and James Lowell Oakes. His mother died when he was six months old, and he lived with his beloved grandmother, Orinta Kuykendall, until the age of six.

He attended the Haverford School in Haverford, Pa., and graduated from North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, Ill., in 1941. In 1945, he graduated cum laude from Harvard College with an A.B. in American History and literature.

During his college years he was in the Army R.O.T.C., but was unable to pass the physical test for service, a lifelong regret. Therefore, in addition to his studies, he worked the graveyard shift at Simplex Wire and Cable Company as a cable spooler to contribute to the war effort.

Graduating cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1947, he served as book review editor and articles editor of the Harvard Law Review from 1945 to 1947. He later received honoris causa from New England College in 1976, and from Suffolk University in 1995. After graduation from law school, he served as a law clerk for Second Circuit Judge Harrie B. Chase from 1947 to 1948.

In 1948, he moved to California and worked as an associate at McCutchen, Thomas, Matthews, and Griffith & Greene in San Francisco, California. He returned to Vermont in 1949 to serve another term as a law clerk for Judge Chase, and subsequently became a partner with Robert T. Gannett 2nd at Gannett & Oakes in Brattleboro, Vt.

Judge Oakes held a lifelong interest in politics. He served as a Vermont state senator for Windham County from 1961 to 1965, and as attorney general of Vermont from 1967 to 1969, the only Republican state official elected that year.

Even more important to Judge Oakes than politics was his commitment to social justice and human rights. In March 1965, he joined protesters on the march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., at one point finding himself wedged between two older women of color and police attempting to stop the march. It was an experience he later described as one of the most profound of his life, and one that deeply influenced his later work.

In May 1970, he was appointed by President Nixon to the United States District Court and in 1971 was elevated to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He served as chief judge from 1989 to 1992, and earned senior status on July 1, 1992. He retired in January 2007.

“Judge James L. Oakes had a first- rate legal mind and was a person who could lead the court into being the most significant of courts. He would have been extremely well qualified to be on the Supreme Court, perhaps even more than many who’ve served there,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. “I always appreciated his many talents.”

During the 1960s Judge Oakes was serving as Vermont state attorney general when Mr. Leahy was Chittenden County state’s attorney. The two became lifelong friends.

“I used to see him and we’d pick up a conversation in mid-sentence from one we might have had weeks before. He was that sharp. I am a tremendous fan of Jim’s. He is a man that all of Vermont, regardless of politics or party, can appreciate. We can all be proud of his intellect, his sense of social justice, and be thankful for his many years of service to this state and the nation,” Mr. Leahy said.

Authored by two former law clerks, Kathleen M. Sullivan, former Dean of Stanford Law School, and William Treanor, the Dean of Fordham Law School, a tribute to Judge Oakes was printed in the New York Law Journal at the time of his retirement which said: “Few judges have elicited so much affection from their law clerks or respect and admiration from their peers and with just reason. James L. Oakes defied easy political typecasting. Like other Vermont Republicans before and after him, he believed strongly in protecting constitutional rights and liberties. He counted among his proudest rulings his decision applying Title IX to educational sex discrimination in North Haven Board of Education v. Hufstedler, his decision applying one person one vote to New York City’s Board of Estimate Morris v. Board of Estimate, and his decision in St. Cyr v. INS permitting aliens to challenge petitions for removal — all decisions upheld upon review by the Supreme Court. He prized the Supreme Court’s vindication of his en banc dissent in favor of the New York Times in the Pentagon Papers case.”

Judge Oakes received many awards and tributes. The Environmental Law Institute honored him in 1983 in recognition of his leadership. He earned the Learned Hand Award for Excellence in Jurisprudence, the Louis Dembitz Brandeis Medal for Distinguished Legal Service, the William J. Brennan Jr. Award for Commitment to Individual Rights and Civil Liberties, the Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service in the Law and the Edward Weinfeld Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Administration of Justice.

He was married in 1946 to Rosalyn Landon, with whom he had three children: Cynthia O. Meketa of Bonsall, Calif.; Elizabeth H. Oakes of Baltimore, Md.; and James L. Oakes Jr. of Fairfield, Conn. That marriage ended in divorce.

He married Evelena (Deede) Stevens Kenworthy in 1973. She died in 1997. In 1999 he married Mara Williams.

In addition to his wife he is survived by stepsons Richard Kenworthy of Glastonbury, Conn., Scott Kenworthy of Stamford, Conn., Albert Kenworthy of Redding, Conn., and Michael Kenworthy of New York, N.Y.; and a brother, John D. F. Oakes of Wayne, Pa. His brother Eugene Oakes predeceased him.

Also surviving are six Oakes granddaughters. On the Kenworthy side of the family a grandson, granddaughter and four step-grandsons survive.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, Oct. 27 at 2 p.m. at the Whittemore Theatre at Marlboro College, Marlboro, Vt.. Arrangements are under the direction of the Atamaniuk Funeral Home. A second celebration of his life will take place in Edgartown early in the 2008 season.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Oakes Public Service Law Endowment at the Vermont Law School or the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.