John Hart Ely ’60

John, one of our most distinguished class members, died of cancer Oct. 25, 2003. He was 64.

A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, John was dean of the Stanford Law School (1982-96), and a professor at Yale (1968-73), Harvard (1973-82), and the U. of Miami (1996-2003) law schools. At Princeton, he majored in philosophy, then studied at the London School of Economics as a Fulbright scholar. He graduated from Yale Law School.

As a law student, he worked for future Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas, drafting the landmark Gideon v. Wainwright brief that led the Supreme Court to require courts to appoint counsel for the poor. He went on to clerk for Chief Justice Earl Warren, and was the youngest staff member of the Warren Commission, which investigated Pres. Kennedy's assassination.

He wrote Democracy and Distrust, (1981), and War and Responsibility (1993) and On Constitutional Ground (1996). Democracy and Distrust won the Order of the Coif for the best legal study published from 1980-83. Professor Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School said, "John Ely was a towering figure in constitutional law and constitutional theory. No one in his generation contributed so much to a clear understanding of the genius of the Constitution."

He leaves his wife, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Gisela Cardonne Ely; sons Robert D. and John D.; and two granddaughters. The class joins them in mourning the loss of John, whose towering intellect, superior administrative skills, and writings have enhanced not only the law but the world.

The Class of 1960