Walter E. Dellinger III
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Walter Estes Dellinger III (May 15, 1941 – February 16, 2022) was an American attorney and legal scholar who served as the Douglas B. Maggs Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law. He also led the appellate practice at
O'Melveny & Myers O'Melveny & Myers LLP is an American multinational law firm founded in Los Angeles, California in 1885. The firm employs approximately 740 lawyers and has offices in California, Washington, D.C., New York City, Beijing, Brussels, Hong Kong, Lon ...
in Washington, D.C. and the
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
's Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation Clinic. He served as Acting United States Solicitor General under the administration of President Bill Clinton, from 1996 to 1997.


Early life and education

Dellinger was born in Charlotte, North Carolina to Grace (Lawning) Dellinger, who worked selling men’s clothing, and Walter Dellinger II, who died at an early age. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1963 and a
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
from Yale Law School in 1966. He clerked for Justice
Hugo Black Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971. A ...
of the U.S. Supreme Court.


Career

In 1969, Dellinger became a professor at Duke University School of Law. In 1993, he joined the
Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...
as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the
Office of Legal Counsel The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General's position as legal adviser to the President and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the Attorney ...
. Because of his advocacy for liberal causes, his nomination was filibustered by the two conservative senators from his home state of North Carolina,
Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...
and Lauch Faircloth, but Dellinger was ultimately confirmed. Dellinger served as the acting United States Solicitor General for the 1996–1997 Term of the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. He argued nine cases and won five, including a case defending the president’s line-item veto and two cases defending laws that barred
assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...
. He also appeared as a commentator on '' This Week'', the ABC News Sunday morning program hosted by
George Stephanopoulos George Robert Stephanopoulos ( el, Γεώργιος Στεφανόπουλος ; born February 10, 1961) is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a coanchor with Robin Robe ...
. On March 18, 2008, he unsuccessfully represented the District of Columbia before the United States Supreme Court in ''
District of Columbia v. Heller ''District of Columbia v. Heller'', 554 U.S. 570 (2008), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, unconnected with service i ...
''. The District argued that its
Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 The Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975 was passed by the District of Columbia city council on June 29, 1976, and went into effect September 24, 1976. The law banned residents from owning handguns, automatic firearms, or high-capacity semi-auto ...
should not be restricted by the Second Amendment. The ban was overturned by the Supreme Court. In February 2008, Dellinger represented
ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
in the Supreme Court in ''
Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker ''Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker'', 554 U.S. 471 (2008), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court ruled in a 5-3 decision that the punitive damages awarded to the victims of the ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill should be re ...
'', which addressed whether certain punitive damages are available under federal maritime law. This case relates to the ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill of 1989. On March 5, 2010, the '' Washington Post'' published an op-ed by Dellinger defending Karl Thompson. In 2010, North Carolina Governor
Bev Perdue Beverly Eaves Perdue (born Beverly Marlene Moore; January 14, 1947) is an American businesswoman, politician, and member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who served as the List of governors of North Carolina, 73rd Govern ...
inducted Dellinger into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, calling him "North Carolina’s best friend, legally, that we’ve ever had." In early 2012, with Dellinger representing the defendant in '' United States v. Antoine Jones'', the US Supreme Court overruled the warrantless government use of a
GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
device on Jones' Jeep Grand Cherokee. Dellinger said the decision in the
drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
case was "a signal event in Fourth Amendment history".Bravin, Jess
"Justices Rein In Police on GPS Trackers"
''The Wall Street Journal'', January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.


Personal life and death

Dellinger and his wife, the former Anne Maxwell, had two sons: Andrew, a poet and professor; and Hampton, a lawyer. Dellinger died from pulmonary fibrosis at his home in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...
, on February 16, 2022, at the age of 80.


See also

* List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 1)


References


External links


Duke Law School biographyOffice of the Solicitor GeneralHarvard Law School Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation Clinic
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dellinger, Walter E., III 1941 births 2022 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Clinton administration personnel Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis Duke University School of Law faculty Harvard Law School faculty Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Lawyers from Charlotte, North Carolina Lawyers from Washington, D.C. North Carolina Democrats North Carolina lawyers United States Assistant Attorneys General for the Office of Legal Counsel United States Solicitors General Yale Law School alumni