Clarence Victor Opper (April 13, 1897 – June 19, 1964) was a judge of the

United States Tax Court The United States Tax Court (in case citations, T.C.) is a federal trial court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, section 8 of which provides (in part) that the Congress has the power to "constitute Trib ...

from 1938 to 1964.

Early life, education, and military service

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to Victor M. and Alice G. Opper, he enlisted in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, 301st Field Signal Battery during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in May 1917. He served until February 1919, achieving the rank of second lieutenant, and during his service also received an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1918. He received an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1921, and was an editor of the ''

Columbia Law Review The ''Columbia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. The journal publishes scholarly articles, essays, and student notes. It was established in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who se ...

'' from 1920 to 1921.''Official Congressional Directory'' (1964), p. 663.

Legal career

Following his graduation, he was admitted to the New York State Bar. He entered the practice of law in New York City from 1921 to 1931, and was then counsel to the City Housing Corporation until 1933. He was than appointed assistant general counsel of the

Farm Credit Administration The Farm Credit Administration is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States. Its function is to regulate the financial institutions that provide credit to farmers. Authority The Farm Credit Administration is an indepen ...

until 1934, when he became assistant general counsel to the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

, supervising legal work concerned with fiscal, monetary banking, and foreign exchange questions. He conducted the Treasury Department's participation in gold and monetary litigation, specifically the

Gold Clause Cases The ''Gold Clause Cases'' were a series of actions brought before the Supreme Court of the United States, in which the court narrowly upheld restrictions on the ownership of gold implemented by the administration of U.S. President Franklin D. Roo ...

decided by the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

. In the period before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he helped craft the legal justification for the Roosevelt Administration's refusal to export

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

to Nazi Germany.

Judicial service

On February 28, 1938, President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

appointed Opper to fill a seat on the

United States Board of Tax Appeals The United States Tax Court (in case citations, T.C.) is a federal trial court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, section 8 of which provides (in part) that the Congress has the power to "constitute Trib ...

(now the United States Tax Court) vacated by the resignation of

Logan Morris Logan Meyer Morris (October 25, 1889 – October 20, 1977) was a judge of the United States Board of Tax Appeals (later the United States Tax Court) from 1925 to 1937. Born in Logan, Utah, Morris received a bachelor's degree from the University o ...

. This was one of several appointments which went against a previously observed Senate Resolution prohibiting the appointment to that body of persons recently employed by the Treasury Department.Harold Dubroff and Brant J. Hellwig, ''The United States Tax Court: An Historical Analysis'' (2014), p. 159. Opper was reappointed for a full term on June 2, 1938, and was reappointed by President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

on June 2, 1950, and by President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

on June 2, 1962.

Personal life

He married Lucy Berlin in 1931, with whom he had a daughter, Susanna. Two years into his last term on the Tax Court, Opper died at the

George Washington University Hospital The George Washington University Hospital is a for-profit hospital, located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is affiliated with the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The current facility opened on ...

, at the age of 67.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opper, Clarence V. 1897 births 1964 deaths Dartmouth College alumni United States Army personnel of World War I Columbia Law School alumni Members of the United States Board of Tax Appeals Judges of the United States Tax Court United States Article I federal judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt United States Article I federal judges appointed by Harry S. Truman United States Article I federal judges appointed by John F. Kennedy Lawyers from New York City 20th-century American judges