Simon Sobeloff

Sobeloff was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Jacob and Mary Hilda (Kaplan) Sobeloff, who were Russian Jewish immigrants.[1] Sobeloff attended public schools including Baltimore City College and the University of Maryland School of Law, where he received his Bachelor of Laws in 1915.[1] He served as a Page in the United States House of Representatives in 1910.[1] He was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1914, was a law clerk in Baltimore the same year, and subsequently went into private practice.[1] From 1919 through 1924 he served as the assistant city solicitor for Baltimore and was appointed the deputy city solicitor for Baltimore from 1927 to 1931.[1] In 1931 he became the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, where he served until 1934.[1] Subsequently, he was selected to be the Baltimore City Solicitor and the special counsel to Baltimore City Housing Commission.[1] He served as Chairman of the Commission on the Administrative Organization of the State of Maryland from 1951 to 1952.[2] In 1952, he was appointed to the position of Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals, where he served until 1954.[1]

From 1954 through 1956, Sobeloff served as United States Solicitor General in the Administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.[1] Sobeloff presented the government's arguments on the implementation of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education, to outlaw segregation in public schools.[1]

Soveloff's court portrait.

Sobeloff was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 12, 1956, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated by Judge Morris Ames Soper.[2] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 16, 1956, and received his commission on July 18, 1956.[2] He served as Chief Judge and as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1958 to 1964.[2] He assumed senior status on December 31, 1970.[2] Sobeloff served in that capacity until his death on July 11, 1973, in Baltimore, MD.[2] Sobeloff is buried in Hebrew Friendship Cemetery in Baltimore.[1]

Sobeloff married Irene Ehrlich in May 1918 and they had two daughters and four grandchildren.[1]

• List of Jewish American jurists

• Solicitor General's Website

• Simon Sobeloff at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Judge Simon E. Sobeloff, 1894–1973
• Simon Sobeloff at Find a Grave
• Simon Sobeloff at the Justice Department bio page