Clarence E. Case

{{Short description|American judge}}

{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|image= Clarence Edwards Case.jpg

|office1= Acting Governor of New Jersey

|term_start1= January 13, 1920

|term_end1= January 20, 1920

|predecessor1= William Nelson Runyon (acting)

|successor1= Edward I. Edwards
as Governor

|office2= Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

|term_start2= 1945

|term_end2= 1948

|predecessor2= Thomas J. Brogan

|successor2= Arthur T. Vanderbilt

|office3= Member of the New Jersey Senate

|term3= 1918-1929

|spouse= Anna Gist Rogers
Mrs. Ruth Weldon Griggs

|birth_name= Clarence Edwards Case

|birth_date= {{Birth date |1877|09|24}}

|birth_place= Jersey City, New Jersey

|death_date= {{death date and age|1961|09|3|1877|09|24}}

|death_place= Somerville, New Jersey

|party= Republican

}}

Clarence Edwards Case (September 24, 1877, Jersey City, New Jersey – September 3, 1961, Somerville, New Jersey) was the acting governor of New Jersey in 1920.

Case graduated from Rutgers University in and was awarded a LL.B. degree from New York Law School in 1902. He practiced as a lawyer, and was clerk of the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee from 1908 to 1910. From 1918 to 1929, he was a member of the New Jersey Senate representing Somerset County. As senate president he served as acting governor from January 13, 1920, until January 20, 1920, in the week between the end of the term of William Nelson Runyon, the preceding acting governor, and the start of Edward I. Edwards' term as governor.{{cite news|last=Peterson |first=Iver |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/21/nyregion/on-politics-the-state-s-next-governor-it-isn-t-who-you-think-it-is.html|title=On Politics: The State's Next Governor? It Isn't Who You Think It Is|work=The New York Times|date=October 21, 2001|accessdate=August 2, 2007|page=14NJ-2}} "Senate President Clarence Case was acting governor for a week in 1920 and then went on to become a state Supreme Court justice, serving as a role model for his nephew, the late senator Clifford Case, who always cited his uncle as his reason for going into public life." Case served on the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1929 to 1952, and was the Chief Justice from 1946 to 1948.

Case died on September 3, 1961, in Somerville, New Jersey, where he resided after retiring.

His nephew, Clifford P. Case represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives (1945–1953) and United States Senate (1955–1979).[https://web.archive.org/web/20121019110033/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,936494-3,00.html "A Political Microcosm"], Time, October 18, 1954. Accessed August 3, 2007. "His uncle, Clarence E. Case, now living in retirement in Somerville, was a state senator and for 23 years a State Supreme Court Justice."