Louis Falk Oberdorfer (February 21, 1919 – February 21, 2013) was a

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of the

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Early life and education

Oberdorfer was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, to A. Leo Oberdorfer, an attorney and author, and Stella Falk Oberdorfer. His family was Jewish. He graduated 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 ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts 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 ...

degree in 1939. He then attended

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

from 1939 until fall 1941, when he was drafted to serve in the

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. After four years of military service during

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, he returned to Yale and graduated with a

Bachelor of Laws 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 ...

in 1946. Oberdorfer served as a

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for

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Justice Hugo L. Black, an Alabamian who had been a friend and law colleague of Oberdorfer's father.

Professional career

After working as Justice Black's sole law clerk from 1946 to 1947, Oberdorfer went into private practice in

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, with the firm Paul, Weiss, Wharton & Garrison as a

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

attorney until his friend and law school classmate

deputy attorney general The Deputy Attorney General (DAG) is the second-highest-ranking official in a department of justice or of law, in various governments of the world. In those governments, the deputy attorney general oversees the day-to-day operation of the departme ...

Byron White Byron "Whizzer" Raymond White (June 8, 1917 April 15, 2002) was an American professional football player and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1962 until his retirement in 1993. Born and raised in Color ...

asked him to join the

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in 1961. He was appointed assistant attorney general of the Tax Division but, because the division was well organized and largely self-sustaining, he focused his energies on other law-related issues, particularly civil rights. During this time he befriended attorney general

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

. Oberdorfer returned to private practice in 1965 with Wilmer, Cutler, & Pickering. In 1968, Oberdorfer was elected co-chairman of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He served as president of the District of Columbia Bar Association from 1977 to 1978. When

Griffin Bell Griffin Boyette Bell (October 31, 1918 – January 5, 2009) was the 72nd Attorney General of the United States, having served under President Jimmy Carter. Previously, he was a U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fift ...

became attorney general in 1977, Oberdorfer was considered for the deputy position but was instead appointed to the federal bench.

Federal judicial service

Oberdorfer was nominated by President

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on September 16, 1977, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge William Blakely Jones. He was confirmed by the

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on October 7, 1977, and received his commission on October 11, 1977. He assumed senior status on July 31, 1992. His service terminated on February 21, 2013, due to his death. As a judge, Oberdorfer opposed

mandatory sentencing Mandatory sentencing requires that offenders serve a predefined term for certain crimes, commonly serious and violent offenses. Judges are bound by law; these sentences are produced through the legislature, not the judicial system. They are inst ...

policies, especially with respect to drug offenders. He taught part-time at

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

from 1993 until his death.

Death

Oberdorfer died at his home in

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxim ...

on his 94th birthday, February 21, 2013.

References

Sources