Clarence John Shearn (1869 – February 12, 1953) was a prominent

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

lawyer and judge and who served as president of the

New York City Bar Association The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, commonly referred to as the New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization has been headquartere ...

from 1935 to 1937.

Life

Shearn was born in

Leeds, Massachusetts Leeds is a village in the western portion of the city of Northampton, Massachusetts, United States, bordering Williamsburg—along the Mill River—and Florence. The ZIP Code for Leeds is 01053. History The village was named after the city o ...

in 1869. He graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1890 and

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private, American law school in the Tribeca neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The third oldest law school in New York City, its history predates its official founding in 1891 by Theodore William Dwight, T ...

in 1893, and was admitted that year to the New York bar. Shearn began a highly successful private practice in 1893, and soon became an attorney for

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

. With Hearst’s backing, Shearn unsuccessfully ran for

New York County District Attorney The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County, New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws (federal l ...

in 1905 and

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...

1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...

on the Independence Party ticket.''HEARST READS MORE LETTERS''
in NYT on September 25, 1908 (with sketches of the nominees) In 1914 Shearn was appointed as a justice of the

New York State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

for the First District, based in Manhattan. In 1916, he was elevated by Governor

Charles S. Whitman Charles Seymour Whitman (September 29, 1868March 29, 1947) was an American lawyer who served as the 41st governor of New York from January 1, 1915, to December 31, 1918. An attorney and politician, he also served as a delegate from New York to th ...

to the

Appellate Division, First Department The Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, or simply the First Department, is one of the four geographical components of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, the intermediate appellat ...

, where he served until 1919. In 1919 he left to pursue private practice with the law firm Shearn & Hare. In 1924 Shearn was counsel for the Transit Commission in the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

investigation conducted for Governor Al Smith by Supreme Court Justice John V. McAvoy, who found Mayor John F. Hylan responsible for subway congestion and exonerated the Transit Commission. In 1928 he was Governor Smith’s commissioner in an investigation of the

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

sewer system that resulted in the conviction of Queens Borough President Maurice E. Connolly of conspiracy to defraud the city. As president of the

from 1935 to 1937, Shearn was an initiator of the investigation into the ambulance-chasing racket. In 1938, William Randolph Hearst appointed him a voting trustee to reorganize the vast Hearst publishing and business holdings. Shearn died of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

on February 12, 1953 at the age of 83 in

References

External links

Biography of Clarence John Shearn on the New York Unified Courts Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shearn, Clarence J. 1869 births 1953 deaths People from Northampton, Massachusetts Lawyers from New York City Cornell University alumni New York Law School alumni Presidents of the New York City Bar Association New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department justices