Walter Estes Dellinger III was born on May 15, 1941, in Charlotte, North Carolina. His mother, Grace, worked in men’s clothing sales, and his father, Walter II, passed away during Dellinger’s early years. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1963 with a degree in political science. Three years later, in 1966, he earned a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School and subsequently clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.
Dellinger began his teaching career at Duke University School of Law in 1969. In 1993, he joined the Clinton administration as Assistant Attorney General overseeing the Office of Legal Counsel. Despite opposition from North Carolina Senators Jesse Helms and Lauch Faircloth, his confirmation was successful. From 1996 to 1997, he served as acting U.S. solicitor general, arguing nine cases before the Supreme Court and winning five. His notable defenses included the president’s line-item veto and laws prohibiting assisted suicide.
He later led the appellate practice at O’Melveny & Myers and directed the Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation Clinic at Harvard Law School. In 2008, Dellinger argued District of Columbia v. Heller, a landmark case that struck down the District’s handgun ban. In recognition of his contributions, Governor Bev Perdue awarded him the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2010.
In 2012, Dellinger participated in United States v. Antoine Jones, where the Supreme Court ruled against warrantless GPS tracking by the government, a decision he described as a major Fourth Amendment milestone. Walter Dellinger passed away from pulmonary fibrosis on February 16, 2022, in Chapel Hill. He is survived by his wife, Anne, and their two sons, Andrew and Hampton.
