Jerry D. Cline, Bloomington, IL., then Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller


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Jerry D. Cline.  A man of unimpeachable character, of unusual intellectual 
endowments, with a thorough knowledge of the law, and possessing patience, 
industry and urbanity in its application, Judge Jerry D. Cline, judge of 
the Fourteenth District of Louisiana, took to the bench the necessary 
qualifications for a discharge of its functions which have brought him 
honor and well merited popularity, both at Lake Charles, where he maintains 
his home, and throughout his district.

Judge Cline was born at Bloomington, Illinois March 5, 1871, a son of 
Rev. William Hamilton Cline, born in Logan County, Illinois, in 1831, and 
secured his degree of Bachelor of Philosophy from the Illinois Wesleyan 
College and became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  In 1861 
he and his wife crossed the plains to Oregon and in 1888 went to Lake Charles 
as organizer of the Gulf Mission Methodist Episcopal Church, which now belongs 
to the general conference of Louisiana and Texas.  In the meanwhile he 
studied law, was admitted to the bar, and in 1897 began the practice of 
law at Lake Charles with his sons, Charles R. and Jerry D. Cline.

Studying in the different schools at the several communities in which his 
father's work called him to locate, Judge Cline decided upon a professional 
career, and put himself through Winfield, Kansas, College, and studied in 
the law department of the Illinois Wesleyan University.  Subsequently he 
read law with Hon. D. B. Gorham of Lake Charles, and was admitted to the 
bar of Louisiana in 1896.  From 1897 to 1910 he was a member of the firm 
of Cline & Cline, but in the latter year the name became Cline, Cline & Bell, 
and this connection was maintained until 1916, when Mr. Cline was elected 
judge of the Fifteenth Judicial District, which includes Calcasieu, Allen, 
Beauregard, Cameron and Jeff Davis parishes, and again in 1920.

In 1921 Judge Cline was assigned by the Louisiana Supreme Court as judge of 
the First Circuit Court of Appeals, to assist in clearing up the congested 
docket.  He has been one of only two district judges in the entire state who 
under the new correlated court systems of Louisiana, has been honored by the 
Supreme Court by a call to the Court of Appeals.  Judge Cline served eight 
months, in 1921 and 1922, and again from October, 1923, until the summer 
of 1924.  The Circuit Court of Appeals is composed of three judges and has 
jurisdiction of all labor compensation, personal injury and other civil 
cases which do not go to the State Supreme Court.  Judge Cline's district 
comprised the southern half of the state excepting Orleans Parish, the 
headquarters of his court being at Baton Rouge.

In the summer of 1924 he again became a candidate for the primaries for 
reelection to the office of district judge of the Fifteenth Judicial 
District, for the term of six years.  His ability as a lawyer, his service 
as a judge, and his kindly and public spirited participation in the life 
of his section of the state have made him one of the best known citizens.  
He is now in the prime of life and his rich experience at the bar and on 
the bench, and his love for humanity are unsurpassed qualifications for 
his duties on the bench.  As an attorney he measures up to the highest 
ideals of his profession, and his firm has one of the largest law practices 
in Louisiana.

In Masonry Judge Cline has been advanced through all of the bodies of the 
York Rite, and belongs to the Lodge of Perfection in the Scottish Rite, 
and also to the Mystic Shrine.  He is a member of Lake Charles Lodge 
No. 35, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of the Louisiana Bar 
Association and the American Bar Association.  The Lake Charles Rotary 
Club has made him an honorary member of its organization and he belongs 
to the Methodist Episcopal Church.  During the late war, he served on 
the Southwestern Louisiana Legal Advisory Board.  Judge Cline has never 
married.  His opinions have ever been regarded by the profession as 
models of judicial soundness and at the same the he has ever evinced the 
keenest consideration for the equity of the case and even extends to the 
guilty every encouragement and aid not in violation of the principles of 
justice.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 306-307, by Henry E. Chambers.  
Published by The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New 
York, 1925.