William C. Perry (March 11, 1900 – October 27, 1985) was an American attorney and jurist in Oregon. He was the 34th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. He served in that role twice for a total of five years. Perry was appointed to the court by soon to be ex-governor

Douglas McKay James Douglas McKay (June 24, 1893 – July 22, 1959) was an American businessman and politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. He served in World War I before going into business, where he was most successful as a car dealership owner in Salem ...

after McKay had already appointed him as a county circuit court judge. A native of Kansas, he also worked as a county prosecuting attorney and city attorney prior to joining the state's highest court.

Early life

William C. Perry was born on March 11, 1900 in

Belleville, Kansas Belleville is a city in and the county seat of Republic County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,007. History Belleville was founded in 1869, and incorporated as a city in 1878. It was named for A ...

, where he then grew up before he served in the military during World War I.Former justice dies at age 85. '' Statesman Journal'', November 1, 1985. He graduated from the University of Kansas in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

in 1922.Phi Gamma Deltas in Politics.
Phi Gamma Delta. Retrieved on January 25, 2008. There Perry was a member of the fraternity

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Phi ...

and earned both his undergraduate degree and a law degree. He married Enola Miller of Riley, Kansas in June 1924 at Salina, Kansas, and they had one son, William junior, and one daughter, JoAnne Kay (1930–1944). In Kansas, he worked for the county as a prosecutor, earning $75 per month. In 1937, the family moved to Pendleton, Oregon, where he served as the city's attorney from 1944 to 1950.

Judicial career

Perry was appointed to the county court for Umatilla County in 1950 by

. On December 26, 1952,

Oregon Governor The governor of Oregon is the head of government of Oregon and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The title of governor was also applied to the office of Oregon's chief executive during the provisional and U.S. ter ...

McKay appointed Perry to the Oregon Supreme Court to fill the vacancy created by the death of Arthur Hay, who had died on December 19.Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Supreme Court Justices of Oregon.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 25, 2008. McKay resigned as governor the following day. Then in 1954 Perry won election to a full six-year term followed by re-election in 1960 and 1966. During his tenure on Oregon's highest court, he was selected to serve as chief justice twice. First in 1957 until 1959, and then from 1967 to 1970. Justice Perry then resigned from the court on June 1, 1970. After leaving the bench he criticized 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 ...

for their decisions regarding free lawyers for defendants and the one person one vote principle.

Other

One of Justice Perry's law clerks while he was Chief Justice was Jack Gore Collins, who later was the assistant U.S. Attorney who signed the indictment for skyjacker

D. B. Cooper D. B. Cooper is a media epithet for an unidentified man who hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, a Boeing 727 aircraft operated by Northwest Orient Airlines, in United States airspace on November 24, 1971. During the flight from Portla ...

just prior to the statute of limitations running out in 1976. Another clerk, Ken Morrow, was a high-profile defense attorney in Oregon. After retiring from the bench, Perry served as Chair of the Natural Resources section at the House of Delegates for the American Bar Association in 1974.American Bar Association Resolution Re Environmental Quality Adopted by the House of Delegates August, 1974. 7 ''Nat. Resources Law''. 687 (1974). William C. Perry died in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

, on October 27, 1985 at the age of 85 years.

Decisions authored

*''State v. Edwards'', 243 Or. 440, 412 P.2d 526 (1996) ( sodomy)

External links

Picture of Perry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, William C. 1900 births 1985 deaths People from Belleville, Kansas University of Kansas alumni Politicians from Pendleton, Oregon Chief Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court People from Chula Vista, California 20th-century American judges Oregon city attorneys Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court