William Clark

William Clark (February 1, 1891 – October 10, 1957) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Early life and education

Clark was born on February 1, 1891, in Newark, New Jersey. His parents were John William Clark (1867–1928), and Margaretta Cameron Clark (1869–1941). He had two brothers, John Balfour Clark, who became president of the Clark Thread Company, and James Cameron Clark. His father was president of the Clark Thread Company of Newark (Clark Thread Co. later merged with J. & P. Coats to become Coats & Clark Inc.).

His maternal grandfather was U.S. Senator and Secretary of War during the Grant administration, J. Donald Cameron, who himself was the son of Simon Cameron, also a U.S. Senator and the Secretary of War during the Lincoln administration. the founder of the Clark Thread Company in the United States.

He studied at the Newark Academy and St. Mark's School and earned successive degrees at Harvard University, starting with a Bachelor of Arts degree at the age of 20 in 1911, followed by a Master of Arts degree a year later, and finally a Bachelor of Law from Harvard Law School in 1915. He was nominated to the same position by President Coolidge on December 8, 1925. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 17, 1925, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on June 25, 1938, due to his elevation to the Third Circuit. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 16, 1938, and received his commission on June 25, 1938. His service terminated on March 24, 1943, due to his resignation.

Notable cases

Clark presided over many patent cases, only three of which were overturned by 1930.

In 1930, in the case of United States v. Sprague, Clark ruled that the Eighteenth Amendment was invalid on the grounds that its ratification by State Legislatures was not the method prescribed by the United States Constitution for amendments effecting a transfer of power from the individual states to the United States.

World War II

On March 24, 1943, Clark resigned his judgeship and became a full-time member of the United States Army, this time as part of World War II. He was originally commissioned a lieutenant colonel. A unanimous decision by the United States Court of Claims held that he was not entitled to resume his post he left to rejoin to Army. In January 1948, he was appointed a civilian member of the legal staff of Genenal Lucius D. Clay, who was commanding the occupation forces in Germany. In 1949, Clark became the chief justice of the Allied High Commission Court of Appeals in Nuremberg, Germany. He stayed in this position until 1954,

Personal life

On September 20, 1913, Clark married Marjory Bruce Blair (1893–1975), daughter of investment banker C. Ledyard Blair. Eight hundred guests were invited to the celebration at the Blairsden Mansion in Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey, not far from the Clark family's own estate, Peachcroft. Ledyard Blair Clark (1917–2000), who was a prominent journalist and Democratic Party activist. J. William Clark Clark married for the second time to Sonia Tomara (1897–1982), a foreign correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune, in Paris. Clark died of a heart attack on October 10, 1957, while on vacation in Colombo, Sri Lanka.