Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California William Newsom POLITICS, LAW, AND HUMAN RIGHTS Interviews conducted by Martin Meeker in 2008-2009 Copyright © 2009 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and William Newsom, dated August 7, 2009, and Barbara Newsom, dated September 22, 2009 (by her executor), and Brennan Newsom, dated November 12, 2009. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: William Newsom, “Politics, Law, and Human Rights” conducted by Martin Meeker, 2008-2009, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2009. Presented to Bill Newsom by Friends and Family on December 16, 2009 Gordon P. Getty Hilary Newsom Callan Jim Halligan Bob Leberman David Nasaw Gavin Newsom Bill Pace Alan Reid Tom Woodhouse Judge William Newsom (photo courtesy of the Newsom family) v Discursive Table of Contents—William Newsom Interview #1: August 5, 2008 [with Barbara Newsom and Brennan Newsom] [Audio File 1] 1 Newsom and Brennan family histories—Roots in San Francisco banking and politics—Family characters and traditions—“Irishness.” [Audio File 2] 27 Education of the Newsom children at Notre Dame des Victoire, St. Ignatius— Differences between Irish and French approaches to Catholicism—Home life, neighbors, ethnic diversity in San Francisco—Father’s politics and his engaging personal style—Kitchen-table discussions at the Newsom’s house— Involvement in Pat Brown’s political campaigns and Democratic politics in general. Interview #2: January 16, 2009 [Audio File 3] 57 Grandfather “Billy” Newsom and his work in building and construction—Bill Newsom’s upbringing in San Francisco on Fillmore Street and in the Marina—Brennan family history, grandmother’s hard work and her adventures with the horse races—Memories of World War II San Francisco— Bookies and politics—Ethnic groups in San Francisco—Democratic networks and connections in the city—The Burton machine. [Audio File 4] 75 Family life: ongoing lessons in civic duty—St. Ignatius High School and University of San Francisco, Army Reserve, Boalt and Stanford Law Schools—Father’s agenda as superintendent of banking; and Nixon—Family connections to Squaw Valley and the Russian River. Interview #3: January 27, 2009 [Audio File 5] 96 Experiences in postgraduate education and at Stanford Law School, including an evening with Aldous Huxley in the mid-1950s—Mid-1960s: Interest in environmental law and the Sierra Club, moving to Lake Tahoe—Work at the San Francisco Superior Court—Rome and the Getty Family—Living and working as a lawyer in Tahoe, courting Tessa—Early work in environmental law. [Audio File 6] 114 Starting a political career, campaigning for two offices—The changing political climate of San Francisco—Remembering Joe Alioto and Ronald Reagan—Hard times and the end of Newsom’s marriage to Tessa—The joy of children and grandchildren. Interview #4: February 24, 2009 [Audio File 7] 133 Newsom’s 1975 appointment to the Superior Court in Placer County—Jerry Brown—Politics and judicial appointments—Experiences in and out of the courtroom—Discussion of various cases. [Audio File 8] 153 Appointment to First District Court of Appeals, San Francisco—Judicial agendas, or the lack of them—Other judicial appointments; and excellent law clerks—Discussion of California gubernatorial administrations—Drug law, damages, specific cases, interpretation of the law. Interview #5: May 11, 2009 [Audio File 9] 176 The Pianezzi case—The Mafia’s attempts to get a foothold in San Francisco— The McDonough Brothers and vice in the city—Inez Burn’s abortion business—Punishment to fit the crimes? Cases of abuse of children, drug busts, etc.—Environmental law. [Audio File 10] 194 Tinsley v. the Menlo Park Elementary School District [1983]—Cases, sentencing, politics and public perception—Drug laws—Newsom’s love of the natural world, his wilderness adventures, environmental protection and the law Interview #6: June 16, 2009 [Audio File 11] 215 Dealing with conflicts of interest as a judge and an environmentalist—Sierra Club, Earth Justice—Social justice, environmental protection, population control—Catholicism and sin—Working for the Getty Family—Gavin Newsom as mayor of San Francisco and candidate for governor. [Audio File 12] 230 Establishing the Getty Trusts—The responsibilities of a trustee—The charitable trust versus the family trusts—Navigating periods of financial stress and the role of professional investors—The 1973 Getty kidnapping— Relationship with the Getty family—On being a divorced father of two children—Gavin Newsom’s career in politics—The 2010 gubernatorial race— Concluding thoughts 1 Interview #1: August 5, 2008 Begin Audio File 1 08-05-2008.mp3 Meeker: All right, well, let’s get started. Today is the fifth of August, 2008. My name is Martin Meeker, and this is the first session of the Judge William Newsom interview. And we are interviewing Judge William Newsom, Barbara Newsom, and Brennan Newsom. So what I want to start out by asking—and forgive me, this is a convoluted question; a lot of my questions end up being like that—when I think about my family history, and I come from a big Catholic family, as well: my father was the oldest of seven kids, and the next generations probably were even more. There’s a certain sort of family memory that I possess. And it goes back, I think for me, to the generation of my great-grandfather, whom I was told I met, but died before I remember an experience of him. But stories from my parents and my grandparents talk about that generation, my great-grandparents’ generation. Sometimes families have oral stories that go back further, maybe generations beyond that. And so I’m wondering—maybe we could start out with you, Barbara—if you could give a sense of what your, I guess, sort of oral tradition of the Newsom family is, how far back the stories that have been passed down reach. 01-00:01:45 Barbara: Well, they don’t reach very far back. They reach only, as far as I’m concerned, as [far as] my grandfather, who died the year I was born, 1935. And my other grandfather was never mentioned in the family. We can discuss the reasons for that later, I guess, but never mentioned. And it’s strange, now that you ask that question, that nobody ever mentioned my great-grandfather. Do you have any memory of that? Bill: No, I don’t. Brennan: I don’t, either. Meeker: Well, what stories, then, do you recall hearing about your grandfather? And that would have been William Newsom I, right? 01-00:02:28 Barbara: Yes. Well, dozens and dozens and dozens. He became an almost apocryphal figure, in terms of having been a person who— They were always entrepreneurs, it seems, as far back as anyone goes. And he was a partner of A. P. Giannini and so on, and so. And it seemed like he never said anything that wasn’t a large statement and gesture combined. And correct me if you have any different memories. And of course, none of us knew him, so we didn’t know that that was true. And he was involved in a lot of things in the city. Worked for city government at the time, as a commissioner and things like that, and was involved in, probably Golden Gate Bridge, 1901 [Panama- Pacific International Exposition] Fair. Was it 1901? Bill: 1915. 2 01-00:03:37 Barbara: [The] 1915 Fair, that kind of thing. And as I say, they grew and grew and grew. Bill: I’m laughing about another a memory. Go ahead, though. Barbara: No, I remember just a little bit. He died the year I was born. Our grandmothers, on the other hand, were part of our lives for a long, long, long time. And they spoke not at all. One, not at all about her husband, not even a mention. And the other, I don’t ever remember hearing her speak of her husband.