Clarence A. Southerland (1889 – June 16, 1973) was

Attorney General of Delaware The attorney general of Delaware is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of Delaware, and is the chief law officer and the head of the State Department of Justice. On January 1, 2019, Kathy Jennings was sworn in as the 46th attorney genera ...

from 1925 to 1929, and chief justice of the

Delaware Supreme Court The Delaware Supreme Court is the sole appellate court in the United States state of Delaware. Because Delaware is a popular haven for corporations, the Court has developed a worldwide reputation as a respected source of corporate law decisions, ...

from 1951 to 1963, the first to hold the latter role in the newly established restructuring of the Delaware judiciary. Born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, Southerland's family moved to Delaware during his childhood. He received a law degree from

Georgetown Law School Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment, with over ...

in 1913, and entered the practice of law in Delaware the following year. He served in the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

in France during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and was a deputy attorney general of Delaware from 1921 to 1925, being elected

from 1925 to 1929. In 1935, he successfully defended the case of ''

New Jersey v. Delaware ''New Jersey v. Delaware'', 552 U.S. 597 (2008), is a United States Supreme Court case in which New Jersey sued Delaware, invoking the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction under (a), following Delaware's denial of oil company BP's petition to ...

'' upholding Delaware's claim to the

Twelve-Mile Circle The Twelve-Mile Circle is an approximately circular arc that forms most of the boundary between Delaware and Pennsylvania. It is a combination of different circular arcs that have been feathered together. It is nominally a circle with a variab ...

around the city of

New Castle, Delaware New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of 2020, the city's population was 5,551. New Cast ...

. In 1951, he was appointed as the first chief justice of the newly established

by Governor Elbert N. Carvel. Southerland died at his home in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, at the age of 84.

References

1889 births 1973 deaths Lawyers from Baltimore Georgetown University Law Center alumni Delaware attorneys general Justices of the Delaware Supreme Court 20th-century Delaware state court judges {{Delaware-state-judge-stub