Fall / Winter 2013 Newsletter
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California Supreme Court Historical Society newsletter · fall/winter 201 3 Special issue Former Chief Justice Ronald George Tells HIS STORY A Second Draft of History The Retired Chief Justice Records an Oral History — and Makes It Public By Thomas R. Reynolds istory will be kind to me,” Winston The resulting book is made companionable, despite “ Churchill is credited with saying, “for I intend its hefty comprehensiveness, by its conversational for- Hto write it.” * mat. He was interviewed by Laura McCreery, director Surely history will also be kind to former California of the Supreme Court oral history project at UC Berke- Chief Justice Ronald George. After all, during his career ley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, who also inter- he remade the state’s judicial branch by leading the viewed former Chief Justice Lucas and former Justices charge to unify the trial courts, implement state funding, John Arguelles, Armand Arabian and Edward Panelli. and take ownership of all courthouses — as well as serv- McCreery leads the Chief through questions and ing as a judge at all four levels of the state judiciary and answers about his early years growing up in Beverly writing many major Supreme Court decisions, including Hills as the privileged son of a French father and a the decision in the same-sex marriage case. But just to Hungarian mother, through the International School be sure, he has now recorded his own life’s story. in Geneva and Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Chief: The Quest for Justice in California, an edited Public and International Affairs — when he thought oral history, was published by Berkeley Public Policy he wanted to be a diplomat — and on to Stanford Law Press on November 6, 2013. The 808-page tome explores School. He became disillusioned with the U.S. Foreign the many facets of Ronald Marc George’s remarkable Service during a college trip to Africa, but still felt the life, filling in biographical details, telling inside sto- calling to public service. So he sought his first job after ries, settling a few scores. There are surprises, even for law school with the California Department of Justice, the court’s closest observers. Perhaps most surprising where he was hired by Attorney General Stanley Mosk, of all is that the book exists only three short years after later his colleague on the Supreme Court. his retirement, published between hard covers, avail- He tells war stories from his work as a deputy attor- able at Amazon, even in a Kindle version. ney general, where he argued 11 cases before the Cali- He talked himself into the task years ago when he fornia Supreme Court and six before the U.S. Supreme went, on behalf of the court’s oral history project, to Court. He wanted to become a judge, and he pushed urge his predecessor Malcolm Lucas to record his own for an appointment. He got his first black robe at history. Lucas eventually did, but it exists only as a man- the tender age of 32 when he joined the Los Angeles uscript in Berkeley’s Bancroft Library and won’t be pub- Municipal Court. lic until five years after his death. “One step in my life always seemed to lead some- “I admit being reluctant when the California Supreme what naturally to the next stage,” he writes in Chief. Court Historical Society asked me more than a year But keep reading and you learn that nothing hap- before I announced my intended retirement whether pened by accident. He actively sought appointment to I would provide a series of oral history interviews,” he the municipal court. When a move up to the superior says in the book’s preface. “But once retirement set in court didn’t come quickly enough, he flew to Sacra- in earnest, my reluctance dissolved.” mento to ask why — and promised to pick an incum- He reasons: “Retrospective journeys are best under- bent judge to run against unless he got a promotion, taken while memories are fresh, before time and vanity which soon came through. rearrange facts.” “One acquires some degree of self-confidence,” he Beginning on May 26, 2011 — less than six months writes. after he retired — the Chief expounded on his life and When positions on the state appellate court went to career in 20 interview sessions which, after a final all- others, he applied for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals day marathon on November 16, 2011, resulted in 65 for the Ninth Circuit, but ultimately turned down an hours of recorded conversation. appointment when it was offered a few months after he joined the state Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. * What Churchill actually said, in a speech in the House of All of that happens in the first 222 pages, even Commons on January 23, 1948: “For my part, I consider that before his friend Governor Pete Wilson — who would it will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to stop by now and then for dinner with the Georges and history, especially as I propose to write that history.” a cigar on the balcony — appointed him as an associate 2 fall/winter 2 0 13 · cschs newsletter The Chief says there were in each of the state’s 58 counties, and the CHI n May of 2008, in a case that was watched construction and renovation of court facilities Advance Praise for CHIEF The Quest for Justice in California acrosssome the nationconfidences and around the world, he themain around the state. ICalifornia Supreme Court threw out the state’s - requirement that marriages involve a man and a • Alarmed by the decline in civics education, The Quest “Ronald George’s life is an epic in modern American law. In the Supreme Court of the United States and that of Cali- woman,tained opening and the door some for same-sex names unions. he left George initiates annual sessions of the Cali- fornia—where he was a distinguished Chief Justice—George touched and shaped all the great legal issues of his The court became the first high court in the nation fornia Supreme Court in various locations to ruleout that — sexual “the orientation point is a protected of the class story around the state, often arranging for students day. His remarkable oral history, which covers everything from the Hillside Strangler case to the battle over same-sex for Justice in like race and gender, and that any classification on to attend oral arguments and ask questions of marriage, is a wonderful introduction to this remarkable man.” thewas basis of what sexual orientation happened is subject toand strict not the justices. —Jeffrey Toobin California scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause of the California’s extraordinary stature in Ameri- Author of The Nine and The Oath statewho constitution. did Now it” in — Chief: but The thatQuest for he tried can life extends not only to its politics, geography, Justice in California, the author of that landmark and culture, but also to its judicial system. Vast “Forty years of service on the bench earned for Ronald M. George, retired Chief Justice of California, the reputation of decision,to be former open Chief Justice to all Ronald questions M. George, and complicated, as befits its state, the California describes that extraordinary case, a critical mo- judiciary has a long history of breaking new legal being a judges’ judge, at once learned, fair, and compassionate, yet clear-minded and exacting. These same qualities mentput to in the nation’s him. ongoing legal and political E ground. The California Supreme Court was the inform this unique memoir. Chief will attain an honored place in the history and literature of law and judicial practice.” controversy over the nature of marriage. first in the nation, for example, to rule that pro- —Kevin Starr ButAfter Chief provides retiring, far more than “I a descripfelt - I could hibiting interracial marriage was unlawful, just as, University of Southern California tion of a single case. It chronicles an extraordi- more than half a century later, it would provide narydiscuss career of public some service, of from the George’s court’s time California State Librarian Emeritus path-breaking leadership on the issue of gay mar- F as a young deputy attorney general to his rise riage. throughworkings the ranks of theand California my judiciary. interrelation This In Chief, readers see not only the inside story This book-length interview with Ron George provides a riveting account of an extraordinary person’s life and accom- vivid account, as described to an oral historian - of a career at the center of California’s legal life— plishments. All who are interested in the judiciary and the American legal system will benefit enormously from this interviewingship with the former the Chief, other offers an two insider’s branches but also a story that offers insight and detail on detailed view of the recent legal history of Amer- oral history from one of the great jurists in California history. many of the legal issues and controversies that ica’smore most dynamic candidly,” state: he says. have grasped the attention of the nation and the —Irwin Chemerinsky • As a young lawyer, George goes before the world. Dean, School of Law Leaving the court and pre U.S. Supreme Court to argue the constitu- - University of California, Irvine tionality of the death penalty. Ronald M. George Ronald paring for the oral history • At the age of 32, George is appointed a mu- “California has been most fortunate in having been served by several truly great Chief Justices: One thinks immedi- interviewsnicipal judge by gaveGovernor him Ronald timeReagan, and ately of Stephen J.