California Legal History

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

California Legal History Volume 10: 2015 California Legal History Journal of the California Supreme Court Historical Society California Legal History Volume 10 2 0 1 5 Journal of the California Supreme Court Historical Society ii California Legal History is published annually by the California Supreme Court Historical Society, a non-profit corporation dedicated to recovering, preserving, and promoting California’s legal and judicial history, with particular emphasis on the California Supreme Court. S u b S c r i p t i o n i n f o r m at i o n : Membership in the Society is open to individuals at the rate of $50 or more per year, which includes the journal as a member benefit. For individual membership, please visit www.cschs.org, or contact the Society at (800) 353-7357 or 4747 North First Street, Suite 140, Fresno, CA 93726. Libraries may subscribe at the same rate through William S. Hein & Co. Please visit http://www.wshein.com or telephone (800) 828-7571. Back issues are available to individuals and libraries through William S. Hein & Co. at http://www.wshein.com or (800) 828-7571. Please note that issues prior to 2006 were published as California Supreme Court Historical Society Yearbook. (4 vols., 1994 to 1998–1999). S u b m i S S i o n i n f o r m at i o n : Submissions of articles and book reviews are welcome on any aspect of California legal history, broadly construed. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome as are prior inquiries. Submissions are reviewed by independent scholarly referees. In recognition of the hybrid nature of legal history, manuscripts will be accepted in both standard legal style (Bluebook) or standard academic style (Chicago Manual). Citations of cases and law review articles should generally be in Bluebook style. Manu- scripts should be sent by email as MS Word or WordPerfect files. Submissions and other editorial correspondence should be addressed to: Selma Moidel Smith, Esq. Editor-in-Chief, California Legal History Telephone: (818) 345-9922 Email: [email protected] Copyright © 2015 by the California Supreme Court Historical Society. All rights reserved. ISSN 1930-4943 California Legal History is indexed in The Index to Legal Periodicals. Design and Production: E. M. Holland Cover Photo: Twenty Founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Courtesy AMPAS. For complete caption, see page 163 in “The Loeb Firm and the Ori- gins of Entertainment Law Practice in Los Angeles, 1908-1940,” by Molly Selvin. iii c a lifornia Supreme c o u r t H i S t orical Society Boa r d of dir eCtor S Hon. Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chair Jennifer L. King, Esq., President Molly Selvin, Ph.D., Vice President George W. Abele, Esq., Treasurer John S. Caragozian, Esq., Secretary Dan Grunfeld, Esq., Immediate Past President John F. Burns Joseph L. Chairez, Esq. Joyce Cook, Esq. Jake Dear, Esq. David S. Ettinger, Esq. Hon. Barry P. Goode Prof. Roman J. Hoyos Eric H. Joss, Esq. Mitchell Keiter, Esq. Prof. Kristine S. Knaplund Donald M. Kolkey, Esq. Thomas J. McDermott, Jr., Esq. David L. McFadden Frank A. McGuire, Esq. Hon. George Nicholson Richard H. Rahm, Esq. Edward S. Renwick, Esq. Kent L. Richland, Esq. Jason D. Russell, Esq. Prof. Harry N. Scheiber James E. Shekoyan, Esq. Roman M. Silberfeld, Esq. Selma Moidel Smith, Esq. Kathleen Tuttle, Esq. Hon. Kathryn Mickle Werdegar Robert S. Wolfe, Esq. iv e ditorial Board Selma Moidel Smith Editor-in-Chief Harry N. Scheiber University of California, Berkeley Founding Editor (1994–2006) Boa r d M eM Ber S Stuart Banner University of California, Los Angeles Christian G. Fritz University of New Mexico Lawrence M. Friedman Stanford University Hon. Joseph R. Grodin UC Hastings College of the Law Laura Kalman University of California, Santa Barbara Peter L. Reich Whittier Law School Reuel E. Schiller UC Hastings College of the Law John F. Burns (ex officio) CSCHS Board of Directors v t a Ble of ContentS Spe Ci al SeCtion: Honoring JoSepH r . grodin The Honoree Speaks Joseph R. Grodin � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 3 A Tribute to Justice Joe Grodin Kathryn M. Werdegar � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 8 A “Founding Father” of the Doctrine of Independent State Constitutional Grounds Ronald M. George �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 13 Tribute to a Colleague Cruz Reynoso � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 18 Hercules in a Populist Age Hans A. Linde � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 20 The Roads Taken and Thoughts about Joe Grodin Arthur Gilbert � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 28 On My Teacher, Joe Grodin Nell Jessup Newton � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 34 Joseph Grodin’s Contributions to Public Sector Collective Bargaining Law Alvin L. Goldman � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 37 Open-Minded Justice Beth Jay � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 49 Walking with Grodin Jake Dear � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 55 A Trailblazer Jim Brosnahan � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 58 About Joe Grodin Ephraim Margolin � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 63 vi artiCleS In Search of California’s Legal History: A Bibliography of Sources Scott Hamilton Dewey � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 71 The Loeb Firm And the Origins of Entertainment Law Practice in Los Angeles, 1908–1940 Molly Selvin � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 135 Laura’s Law: Concerns, Effectiveness, and Implementation Jorgio Castro � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �175 Inverse Condemnation: California’s Widening Loophole David Ligtenberg � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 209 orH al iStorY Justice Cruz Reynoso: The People’s Justice Kevin R. Johnson � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 238 Oral History and the California State Archives Nancy Lenoil � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 243 Oral History of Cruz Reynoso, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (1982–87) � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 246 Hi StoriCal doCuMentS Agrarian Lifeways and Judicial Transitions for Hispanic Families in Anglo California: Sources for Legal History in the Autry National Center of the American West Michael M. Brescia � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 387 vii Student SYMpoSiuM Introduction: Student Symposium on Three Intersections of Federal and California Law John B. Oakley � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 409 The Death Penalty Debate: Comparing the United States Supreme Court’s Interpretation of the Eighth Amendment to that of the California Supreme Court and a Prediction of the Supreme Court’s Ruling in Glossip v. Gross Kelsey Hollander � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 417 Gender Equity in the Workplace: A Comparative Look at Pregnancy Disability Leave Laws in California and the United States Supreme Court By Megha Bhatt � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 447 Protecting Our Children: The California Public School Vaccination Mandate Debate Elaine Won � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 471 Book r eviewS Golden rules: The oriGins of California WaTer laW in The Gold rush Mark T� Kanazawa Review by Peter L. Reich � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 506 frno Gi G rivals: raCe, Class, laW, and The Collapse of posTWar liberalism Reuel Schiller Review by William Issel � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 510 Spe Cial SeCtion Honor ing JoSepH r . grodin 2 c a lifornia l e g a l H i S t o ry ✯ Volume 10, 2015 t a Ble of ContentS The Honoree Speaks Joseph R. Grodin �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 3 A Tribute to Justice Joe Grodin Kathryn M. Werdegar � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 8 A “Founding Father” of the Doctrine of Independent State Constitutional Grounds Ronald M. George � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 13 Tribute to a Colleague Cruz Reynoso � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 18 Hercules in a Populist Age Hans A. Linde � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 20 The Roads Taken and Thoughts about Joe Grodin Arthur Gilbert � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 28 On My Teacher, Joe Grodin Nell Jessup Newton � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 34 Joseph Grodin’s Contributions to Public Sector Collective Bargaining Law Alvin L. Goldman � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 37 Open-Minded Justice Beth Jay � � �
Recommended publications
  • CSCHS News Spring/Summer 2015
    California Supreme Court Historical Society newsletter · s p r i n g / summer 2015 Righting a WRong After 125 Years, Hong Yen Chang Becomes a California Lawyer Righting a Historic Wrong The Posthumous Admission of Hong Yen Chang to the California Bar By Jeffrey L. Bleich, Benjamin J. Horwich and Joshua S. Meltzer* n March 16, 2015, the 2–1 decision, the New York Supreme California Supreme Court Court rejected his application on Ounanimously granted Hong the ground that he was not a citi- Yen Chang posthumous admission to zen. Undeterred, Chang continued the State Bar of California. In its rul- to pursue admission to the bar. In ing, the court repudiated its 125-year- 1887, a New York judge issued him old decision denying Chang admission a naturalization certificate, and the based on a combination of state and state legislature enacted a law per- federal laws that made people of Chi- mitting him to reapply to the bar. The nese ancestry ineligible for admission New York Times reported that when to the bar. Chang’s story is a reminder Chang and a successful African- of the discrimination people of Chi- American applicant “were called to nese descent faced throughout much sign for their parchments, the other of this state’s history, and the Supreme students applauded each enthusiasti- Court’s powerful opinion explaining cally.” Chang became the only regu- why it granted Chang admission is Hong Yen Chang larly admitted Chinese lawyer in the an opportunity to reflect both on our United States. state and country’s history of discrimination and on the Later Chang applied for admission to the Califor- progress that has been made.
    [Show full text]
  • Becoming Chief Justice: the Nomination and Confirmation Of
    Becoming Chief Justice: A Personal Memoir of the Confirmation and Transition Processes in the Nomination of Rose Elizabeth Bird BY ROBERT VANDERET n February 12, 1977, Governor Jerry Brown Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office. It was an announced his intention to nominate Rose exciting opportunity: I would get to assist in the trials of OElizabeth Bird, his 40-year-old Agriculture & criminal defendants as a bar-certified law student work- Services Agency secretary, to be the next Chief Justice ing under the supervision of a public defender, write of California, replacing the retiring Donald Wright. The motions to suppress evidence and dismiss complaints, news did not come as a surprise to me. A few days earlier, and interview clients in jail. A few weeks after my job I had received a telephone call from Secretary Bird asking began, I was assigned to work exclusively with Deputy if I would consider taking a leave of absence from my posi- Public Defender Rose Bird, widely considered to be the tion as an associate at the Los Angeles law firm, O’Mel- most talented advocate in the office. She was a welcom- veny & Myers, to help manage her confirmation process. ing and supportive supervisor. That confirmation was far from a sure thing. Although Each morning that summer, we would meet at her it was anticipated that she would receive a positive vote house in Palo Alto and drive the short distance to the from Associate Justice Mathew Tobriner, who would San Jose Civic Center in Rose’s car, joined by my co-clerk chair the three-member for the summer, Dick Neuhoff.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 1995
    19 9 5 ANNUAL REPORT 1995 Annual Report Copyright © 1996, Board of Trustees, Photographic credits: Details illustrated at section openings: National Gallery of Art. All rights p. 16: photo courtesy of PaceWildenstein p. 5: Alexander Archipenko, Woman Combing Her reserved. Works of art in the National Gallery of Art's collec- Hair, 1915, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1971.66.10 tions have been photographed by the department p. 7: Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, Punchinello's This publication was produced by the of imaging and visual services. Other photographs Farewell to Venice, 1797/1804, Gift of Robert H. and Editors Office, National Gallery of Art, are by: Robert Shelley (pp. 12, 26, 27, 34, 37), Clarice Smith, 1979.76.4 Editor-in-chief, Frances P. Smyth Philip Charles (p. 30), Andrew Krieger (pp. 33, 59, p. 9: Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon in His Study, Editors, Tarn L. Curry, Julie Warnement 107), and William D. Wilson (p. 64). 1812, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1961.9.15 Editorial assistance, Mariah Seagle Cover: Paul Cezanne, Boy in a Red Waistcoat (detail), p. 13: Giovanni Paolo Pannini, The Interior of the 1888-1890, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon Pantheon, c. 1740, Samuel H. Kress Collection, Designed by Susan Lehmann, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National 1939.1.24 Washington, DC Gallery of Art, 1995.47.5 p. 53: Jacob Jordaens, Design for a Wall Decoration (recto), 1640-1645, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, Printed by Schneidereith & Sons, Title page: Jean Dubuffet, Le temps presse (Time Is 1875.13.1.a Baltimore, Maryland Running Out), 1950, The Stephen Hahn Family p.
    [Show full text]
  • Golden Gate Lawyer, Summer 2010
    Golden Gate University School of Law GGU Law Digital Commons Golden Gate Lawyer Other Law School Publications Summer 2010 Golden Gate Lawyer, Summer 2010 Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/ggulawyer Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Golden Gate Lawyer (Summer 2010). This Newsletter or Magazine is brought to you for free and open access by the Other Law School Publications at GGU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Golden Gate Lawyer by an authorized administrator of GGU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GoldenGolden GateGate SUMMER 2010 LAWYERLAWYER The magazine of golDen gate university School of laW Building AlliAnces on BehAlf of the Poor naaCP President John Payton and the Hon. thelton Henderson take part in Poverty law Conference Page 12 Plus Jesse Carter Program Celebrates JustiCe Cruz reynoso • Dean’s Keynote on Women in laW • laW reunion 2010 Summer 2010 s s pirited Q&a at the Cruz reynoso panel discussion s m ario arturo Jauregui, Jr., trevor nguyen, and Katrin s the Poverty law Conference in march anna rücker at Commencement golden gate university school of law FEATURES Dean’s advisory board the 12 BUilding AlliAncES on BEhAlF oF ThE PooR: Chair: Hon. Lee D. BAxter (JD 74, LLD 08)* ggU lAw hosts Poverty lAw conFEREncE (Retired) Superior Court, City and County of San Francisco millennium The School of Law and the Society of American Law Teachers co-sponsored a major Mark S. Anderson ( JD 89)* interdisciplinary conference to share information about the best way to meet the needs of society’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel society Dolby Laboratories most vulnerable populations—and to prepare future lawyers to serve them.
    [Show full text]
  • Hastings Law News Vol.18 No.2 UC Hastings College of the Law
    University of California, Hastings College of the Law UC Hastings Scholarship Repository Hastings Law News UC Hastings Archives and History 11-1-1984 Hastings Law News Vol.18 No.2 UC Hastings College of the Law Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.uchastings.edu/hln Recommended Citation UC Hastings College of the Law, "Hastings Law News Vol.18 No.2" (1984). Hastings Law News. Book 132. http://repository.uchastings.edu/hln/132 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the UC Hastings Archives and History at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Law News by an authorized administrator of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Hastings College of the Law Nov. Dec. 1984 SUPREME COURT'S SEVEN DEADLY SINS "To construe and build the law - especially constitutional law - is 4. Inviting the tyranny of small decisions: When the Court looks at a prior decision to choose the kind of people we will be," Laurence H. Tribe told a and decides it is only going a little step further a!ld therefore doing no harm, it is look- ing at its feet to see how far it has gone. These small steps sometimes reduce people to standing-room-only audience at Hastings on October 18, 1984. Pro- things. fessor Tribe, Tyler Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard, gave 5. Ol'erlooking the constitutil'e dimension 0/ gOl'ernmental actions and what they the 1984 Mathew O. Tobriner Memorial Lecture on the topic of "The sa)' about lIS as a people and a nation: Constitutional decisions alter the scale of what Court as Calculator: the Budgeting of Rights." we constitute, and the Court should not ignore this element.
    [Show full text]
  • California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA): Survival of a Poverty Law Practice
    UCLA Chicana/o Latina/o Law Review Title California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA): Survival of a Poverty Law Practice Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/04m0d3v9 Journal Chicana/o Latina/o Law Review, 1(1) ISSN 1061-8899 Authors Bennett, Michael Reynoso, Cruz Publication Date 1972 DOI 10.5070/C711020861 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California CALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE (CRLA): SURVIVAL OF A POVERTY LAW PRACTICE MICHAEL BENNETT* AND CRUZ REYNOSO** I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, one of fourteen children. My dad died when I was four years old. My mother raised all of us. I lived in what is commonly known as the barrio where it's 100 percent Mexican-American or Mexicano or Raza or Chicano. Most of the families were migrant families. And the Justices here from Wisconsin and the State of Colorado, I think, are probably aware of the plight of the migrant and the Chicano migrant .... In the small towns of America and the State of California, they had no one to resort to except the lawyer that was representing the Chamber of Commerce or the farmer or the farm corporation, the fellow that would hesitate to take a case because once having taken it, he would lose the business of the commercial people. And so the migrant had no recourse whatever. The only way he knew the courts and the court systems and the lawyers was when he was a defendant in a criminal case, when the police were out there serving him with warrants when he was arrested for minor and petty offenses.
    [Show full text]
  • IRA MARK ELLMAN Professor and Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar Sandra Day O'connor College of Law Arizona
    IRA MARK ELLMAN Professor and Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 85287-7906 (480) 965-2125 http://www.law.asu.edu/HomePages/Ellman/ EDUCATION: J.D. Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley (June, 1973). Head Article Editor, California Law Review. Order of the Coif. M.A. Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois (October, 1969). National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship. B.A. Psychology, Reed College, Portland, Oregon (May, 1967). Nominated, Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. JUDICIAL CLERKSHIPS: Associate Justice William O. Douglas United States Supreme Court, 1973-74. Associate Justice Mathew Tobriner, California Supreme Court, 1/31/72 through 6/5/72. PERMANENT AND VISITING AFFILIATIONS: 5/81 to Present: Professor of Law and (since 2001) Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar, Arizona State University. 9/2003 to Present Affiliate Faculty Member, Center for Child and Youth Policy, University of California at Berkeley. 9/2010 to 12/2010 Visiting Fellow Commoner, Trinity College, University of Cambridge 6/2007 to 12/2007 Visiting Scholar, Center for the Study of Law and Society, U.C. Berkeley 8/2006 to 12/2006 Visiting Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School 10/95 to 5/2001 Chief Reporter, American Law Institute, for Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution. Justice R. Ammi Cutter Reporter, from June, 1998. (Reporter, 10/92-10/95; Associate Reporter, 2/91 to 10/92). 8/2005 to 12/2005 Visiting Scholar, School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley 8/2004 to 12/2004 Visiting Scholar, Center for Law and Society, University of California, Berkeley 8/2003 to 12/2003 Visiting Scholar, Center for Law and Society, University of California, Berkeley 8/2000 to 5/2002 Visiting Professor, Hastings College of The Law, University of California.
    [Show full text]
  • Cruz Reynoso to Be Honored at Salt Dinner in San
    SALT Volume 1992, Issue 4 Society of American Law Teachers December 1992 CRUZ REYNOSO TO BE President's Column ... HONORED AT SALT DINNER SALT AND THE CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION IN SAN FRANCISCO - Sylvia A. Law New York University School of Law While SALT is a non-partisan organization, on many issues our concerns and priorities are closer to those of the new administration than the Reagan-Bush Executive that is about to leave office. Whether the new administration fulfills its promise depends largely on the quality, diversi- ty, energy and commitment of the people who design and implement its programs. As a group, SALT members possess extraordinary vision, talent and connection with other good people. Nearly 100 seats currently are vacant in the federal judiciary- -16 on the circuit courts of ap- peal, and 80 in the district courts. Judicial ap- pointments of the Bush administration have been overwhelmingly white, male, rich and Re- publican. Over 75% of those appointed report a net worth of over half a million dollars, and over one-third are millionaires. Only 5.5% of the PROFESSOR CRUZ REYNOSO judges appointed by Bush are African- Americans. In fact, the appointment of African- On Friday, January 8, 1993, during the Americans has failed to keep pace with their re- AAl.S Annual Meeting in San Francisco, SALT tirement from the bench, producing an absolute will present its Annual Teaching Award to Cruz decrease in the number of African-Americans. Reynoso, Professor of Law at University of Cali- Continued on page 3 fornia at Los Angeles School of Law.
    [Show full text]
  • Highlights from a New Biography of Justice Stanley Mosk by Jacqueline R
    California Supreme Court Historical Society newsletter · s p r i n g / summer 2014 A Life in The LAw The Longest-Serving Justice Highlights from a New Biography of Justice Stanley Mosk By Jacqueline R. Braitman and Gerald F. Uelmen* undreds of mourners came to Los Angeles’ future allies. With rare exceptions, Mosk maintained majestic Wilshire Boulevard Temple in June of cordial relations with political opponents throughout H2001. The massive, Byzantine-style structure his lengthy career. and its hundred-foot-wide dome tower over the bustling On one of his final days in office, Olson called Mosk mid-city corridor leading to the downtown hub of finan- into his office and told him to prepare commissions to cial and corporate skyscrapers. Built in 1929, the historic appoint Harold Jeffries, Harold Landreth, and Dwight synagogue symbolizes the burgeoning pre–Depression Stephenson to the Superior Court, and Eugene Fay and prominence and wealth of the region’s Mosk himself to the Municipal Court. Jewish Reform congregants, includ- Mosk thanked the governor profusely. ing Hollywood moguls and business The commissions were prepared and leaders. Filing into the rows of seats in the governor signed them, but by then the cavernous sanctuary were two gen- it was too late to file them. The secre- erations of movers and shakers of post- tary of state’s office was closed, so Mosk World War II California politics, who locked the commissions in his desk and helped to shape the course of history. went home, intending to file them early Sitting among less recognizable faces the next morning.
    [Show full text]
  • The California Recall History Is a Chronological Listing of Every
    Complete List of Recall Attempts This is a chronological listing of every attempted recall of an elected state official in California. For the purposes of this history, a recall attempt is defined as a Notice of Intention to recall an official that is filed with the Secretary of State’s Office. 1913 Senator Marshall Black, 28th Senate District (Santa Clara County) Qualified for the ballot, recall succeeded Vote percentages not available Herbert C. Jones elected successor Senator Edwin E. Grant, 19th Senate District (San Francisco County) Failed to qualify for the ballot 1914 Senator Edwin E. Grant, 19th Senate District (San Francisco County) Qualified for the ballot, recall succeeded Vote percentages not available Edwin I. Wolfe elected successor Senator James C. Owens, 9th Senate District (Marin and Contra Costa counties) Qualified for the ballot, officer retained 1916 Assemblyman Frank Finley Merriam Failed to qualify for the ballot 1939 Governor Culbert L. Olson Failed to qualify for the ballot Governor Culbert L. Olson Filed by Olson Recall Committee Failed to qualify for the ballot Governor Culbert L. Olson Filed by Citizens Olson Recall Committee Failed to qualify for the ballot 1940 Governor Culbert L. Olson Filed by Olson Recall Committee Failed to qualify for the ballot Governor Culbert L. Olson Filed by Olson Recall Committee Failed to qualify for the ballot 1960 Governor Edmund G. Brown Filed by Roderick J. Wilson Failed to qualify for the ballot 1 Complete List of Recall Attempts 1965 Assemblyman William F. Stanton, 25th Assembly District (Santa Clara County) Filed by Jerome J. Ducote Failed to qualify for the ballot Assemblyman John Burton, 20th Assembly District (San Francisco County) Filed by John Carney Failed to qualify for the ballot Assemblyman Willie L.
    [Show full text]
  • Cruz Reynoso, California's First Latino California Supreme Court Justice
    APPRECIATION Cruz Reynoso, California’s First Latino California Supreme Court Justice BY MARIA LA GANGA, GUSTAVO ARELLANO AND LEILA MILLER ruz Reynoso, a son of migrant workers who Supreme Court, he earned respect for his compassion. labored in the fields as a child and went on to He wrote the court’s opinion in a case that gave home- Cbecome the first Latino state Supreme Court jus- owners the precedent-setting right to sue airports for jet tice in California history, has died. noise that constituted a “continuing nuisance.” Reynoso passed away May 7 at an elder care facility And he penned the court’s opinion in a case that ruled in Oroville, according to his son, Len ReidReynoso. The non–English-speaking defendants must be provided cause of death was unknown. Reynoso was 90. with interpreters at every phase of the criminal process. In a legal career that spanned more than half a cen- Residents of the Golden State “require that all persons tury and took him from his first job in El Centro to tried in a California court understand what is happening Sacramento, the soft-spoken family man helped shape about them,” he wrote. “Who would have it otherwise?” and protect the first statewide, federally funded legal aid Reynoso had heatedly denied during the confirmation program in the country and guided young minority stu- process that he would favor the poor, minorities or crim- dents toward the law. inal defendants. And, during close questioning by Deuk- As an early director of California Rural Legal Assistance, mejian, he said that he would enforce the death penalty.
    [Show full text]
  • Governor Jerry Brown 2.0: Judicial Appointments, Now New and Improved
    Governor Jerry Brown 2.0: Judicial Appointments, Now New And Improved In this article we evaluate two points held by today’s conventional wisdom. One posits that Jerry Brown has, in his second stint as governor, been slow to fill judicial vacancies, and that there is an unusually high number of open judicial seats. The other is a suspicion that the judicial appointments by Governor Brown version 2.0 will be in the style of Governor Brown version 1.0. Our evaluation is that both theories are empirically less than true. (Recognizing that the first Governor Brown was Jerry Brown’s father Pat Brown, for convenience we will ignore that fact.) To the first point about vacancies, the available data does support several conclusions. The number of empty Superior Court seats in California began to increase significantly, coinciding with the beginning of the second Brown administration in January 2011. Presently, the average number of Superior Court vacancies since January 2011 is 63.5—compared with seven such vacancies in January 2011, the month the second Brown administration began. After an initial spike, the number of Superior Court vacancies has remained consistent over the course of Brown’s administration. But the available data does not strongly support the conclusion that the average number of vacancies is unusually high. Nor does it conclusively establish that the present Brown administration is slower or faster than other governors in filling vacancies. To the second point about appointee characteristics, there is no question that the justices appointed to the California Supreme Court during the first Brown administration were novel and in some cases controversial.
    [Show full text]