Clarence W. Sessions

Clarence William Sessions (February 8, 1859 – April 1, 1931) was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

Born in North Plains Township, Ionia County, Michigan, Sessions received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from the University of Michigan in 1881 and read law to enter the bar in 1883. He was in private practice in Ionia, Michigan from 1883 to 1885, and in Muskegon, Michigan from 1885 to 1906. He was a Judge of the Circuit Court of Michigan from 1906 to 1911.

On February 25, 1911, Sessions was nominated by President William Howard Taft to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan vacated by Judge Arthur Carter Denison. Sessions was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 2, 1911, and received his commission the same day, serving thereafter until his death on April 1, 1931, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Disability

As a result of the performance of his judicial duties, Sessions health broke down, circa 1924, leaving him unable to handle the full extent of his duties. Sessions was the only Judge assigned to the Western District of Michigan at that time. Consequently, Congress enacted Pub.L. 68–423, 43 Stat. 949, effective February 17, 1925, which established a second judgeship for the district and directed that the Judge appointed to that judgeship would be treated as if senior in commission to Sessions, thus relieving Sessions of administrative responsibilities for the court. The statute also provided that upon Session's death, resignation or retirement, the resulting vacancy would not be filled. Fred Morton Raymond was appointed to the new judgeship by President Calvin Coolidge on May 8, 1925. After Raymond's appointment, Session's shortly thereafter ceased the performance of any judicial duties, but remained a judge until his death.

• Clarence W. Sessions at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.