Stanley Mosk
Encyclopedia
Stanley Mosk was an Associate Justice
of the California Supreme Court for 37 years (1964-2001), and holds the record for the longest-serving justice on that court. Before sitting on the Supreme Court, he served as Attorney General of California and as a trial court judge, among other governmental positions. Mosk was the last Justice of the California Supreme Court to have served in non-judicial elected office prior to his appointment to the bench.
, but his parents moved when he was three years old, and he grew up in Rockford, Illinois
. His parents, Paul and Minna, were Reform Jews
(of Hungarian and German descent, respectively) who did not believe in strict religious observances. Since Rockford sits next to the Wisconsin
border, Mosk's parents followed Wisconsin politics and were strong supporters of Progressive Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Mosk graduated from the University of Chicago
in 1933 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy
.
Mosk's life was strongly affected by the Great Depression
. Because his father's business in Rockford was floundering, his parents and brother relocated to Los Angeles
, and Mosk ended up following them after graduating from college, as they could not afford to support him for any further studies in Chicago
. At the time, it was still possible to use the last year of a bachelor's degree as the first year of a three-year law degree program, so while living with his parents, Mosk was able to obtain a law degree in only two years. He earned a LL.B
from Southwestern University School of Law
in 1935 and was admitted to the bar that same year. Thanks to the Depression, none of the major L.A. firms were hiring; Mosk opened his own solo practice and shared an office with four other solos, each of whom maintained separate practices. During those difficult years, Mosk was a general practitioner who took whatever walked in the door.
While practicing law, Mosk occasionally assisted the Democratic politician Culbert Olson
with campaigning, and in 1939 was given the job of executive secretary to Olson, the first Democrat elected Governor of California in the 20th century. During Olson's last days in office, after his defeat for re-election by Republican Earl Warren
, he appointed Mosk a Superior Court
judge at the age of 31, the youngest in the state. Mosk faced opposition at his first retention election (California is a modified Missouri Plan
state), but prevailed.
Mosk left the Superior Court to volunteer for service in the U.S. Army during World War II
as a private
, but spent most of the war in a transportation unit in New Orleans and was never sent abroad. After his honorable discharge, he returned to California and resumed his judicial career. As a Superior Court judge, in 1947, he declared the enforcement of racial restrictive covenants unconstitutional before the U.S. Supreme Court did so in Shelley v. Kraemer
. He also presided over many widely reported cases.
and was an early supporter of John F. Kennedy
for President. He remained close to the Kennedy family.
As attorney general
for nearly six years, he issued approximately 2,000 written opinions and appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Arizona v. California water case and other landmark cases.
Mosk established the Attorney General's Civil Rights Division and successfully fought to force the Professional Golfers' Association of America
to amend its bylaw
s denying access to minority golfers. He also established Consumer Rights, Constitutional Rights, and Antitrust divisions. As California's chief law enforcement officer, he sponsored legislation creating the California Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training (POST).
Mosk also commissioned a study of the resurgence of right-wing extremism in California which famously characterized the secretive John Birch Society
as a "cadre" of "wealthy businessmen, retired military officers and little old ladies in tennis shoes."
after the death of incumbent Clair Engle
, Mosk was appointed to the California Supreme Court in September 1964 by Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown
to succeed the elevated Roger J. Traynor
. He would go on to be retained by the electorate in 1964, and to three full twelve year terms from 1974.
Although he was a self-described liberal
, he often displayed an independent streak that sometimes surprised his admirers and critics alike. For example, in Bakke v. Regents of the University of California, 18 Cal. 3d 34 (1976), Mosk ruled that the minority admissions program at the University of California, Davis
violated the equal protection clause
of the U.S. Constitution. This decision was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
, 438 U.S. 265 (1978), which, unlike Mosk's opinion held that race could be factored in admissions to promote ethnic diversity. The United States Supreme Court agreed with Mosk in rejecting racial quotas. He also voted to uphold the constitutionality of a parental consent for abortion law—a law ultimately struck down by a majority of the court.
Although personally opposed to the death penalty, Mosk voted to uphold death penalty convictions on a number of occasions. He believed he was obligated to enforce laws properly enacted by the people of the state of California, even though he personally did not approve of such laws. One example of how he articulated his beliefs is his concurrence in In re Anderson, 69 Cal. 2d 613 (1968):
One of Mosk's contributions to jurisprudence
was development of the constitutional doctrine
of "independent state grounds". This is the concept that individual rights are not dependent solely on interpretation of the U.S. Constitution by the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts
, but also can be found in state constitutions, which often provide greater protection for individuals.
Although Mosk was widely viewed as a liberal, he was not a close ally of Chief Justice Rose Bird
. As a result of that and his independence, he won reelection to the court in 1986 with 75% of the vote while Bird and two other justices closely allied with her were defeated for reelection. In November 1998 at age 86, Mosk was retained by the electorate for another twelve-year term.
Mosk served until his death in 2001, having surpassed Justice John W. Shenk to become the longest-serving justice in the history of the Court in 1999. He authored many significant opinions, some of which have been included in law school casebooks. In 1999, Albany Law School
Professor Vincent Martin Bonventre described Mosk as, "An institution, an icon, a trailblazer, a legal scholar, a constitutional guardian, a veritable living legend of the American judiciary, . . . one of the most influential members in the history of one of the most influential tribunals in the western world."
He is the father of California Court of Appeals Justice Richard M. Mosk
.
The Stanley Mosk Courthouse, which is the main civil branch of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County
, is located at 111 North Hill Street in Los Angeles and is part of the complex that includes the County of Los Angeles Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration. The courthouse is often seen in the Perry Mason
TV series, when Perry parks his car on Hill Street to go inside the building. The Stanley Mosk Library & Courts Building is in the Capitol Mall in Sacramento, California.
Associate Justice
Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...
of the California Supreme Court for 37 years (1964-2001), and holds the record for the longest-serving justice on that court. Before sitting on the Supreme Court, he served as Attorney General of California and as a trial court judge, among other governmental positions. Mosk was the last Justice of the California Supreme Court to have served in non-judicial elected office prior to his appointment to the bench.
Early life and career
Mosk was born in San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, but his parents moved when he was three years old, and he grew up in Rockford, Illinois
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
. His parents, Paul and Minna, were Reform Jews
Reform Judaism (North America)
Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W...
(of Hungarian and German descent, respectively) who did not believe in strict religious observances. Since Rockford sits next to the Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
border, Mosk's parents followed Wisconsin politics and were strong supporters of Progressive Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...
Mosk graduated from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1933 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
.
Mosk's life was strongly affected by the Great Depression
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
. Because his father's business in Rockford was floundering, his parents and brother relocated to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and Mosk ended up following them after graduating from college, as they could not afford to support him for any further studies in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. At the time, it was still possible to use the last year of a bachelor's degree as the first year of a three-year law degree program, so while living with his parents, Mosk was able to obtain a law degree in only two years. He earned a LL.B
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
from Southwestern University School of Law
Southwestern University School of Law
Southwestern Law School is a private ABA-accredited law school located in Los Angeles, California , with about 1,000 students. Its campus includes the Bullocks Wilshire building, an admired art deco National Register of Historic Places landmark built in 1929...
in 1935 and was admitted to the bar that same year. Thanks to the Depression, none of the major L.A. firms were hiring; Mosk opened his own solo practice and shared an office with four other solos, each of whom maintained separate practices. During those difficult years, Mosk was a general practitioner who took whatever walked in the door.
While practicing law, Mosk occasionally assisted the Democratic politician Culbert Olson
Culbert Olson
Culbert Levy Olson was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, Olson was involved in Utah and California politics and was elected as the 29th Governor of California from 1939 to 1943.-Personal background:...
with campaigning, and in 1939 was given the job of executive secretary to Olson, the first Democrat elected Governor of California in the 20th century. During Olson's last days in office, after his defeat for re-election by Republican Earl Warren
Earl Warren
Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
, he appointed Mosk a Superior Court
Superior Courts of California
The Superior Courts of California are the superior courts in the U.S. state of California with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a government agency...
judge at the age of 31, the youngest in the state. Mosk faced opposition at his first retention election (California is a modified Missouri Plan
Missouri Plan
The Missouri Plan is a method for the selection of judges. It originated in Missouri in 1940, and has been adopted by several states of the United States...
state), but prevailed.
Mosk left the Superior Court to volunteer for service in the U.S. Army during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as a private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
, but spent most of the war in a transportation unit in New Orleans and was never sent abroad. After his honorable discharge, he returned to California and resumed his judicial career. As a Superior Court judge, in 1947, he declared the enforcement of racial restrictive covenants unconstitutional before the U.S. Supreme Court did so in Shelley v. Kraemer
Shelley v. Kraemer
Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 , is a United States Supreme Court case which held that courts could not enforce racial covenants on real estate.-Facts of the case:...
. He also presided over many widely reported cases.
Attorney General of California
He was elected Attorney General of California in 1958 by the largest margin of any contested election in the country that year, and was the first person of Jewish descent to serve as a statewide executive branch officer in California. He was re-elected by a large margin in 1962. He served as the California National Committeeman to the Democratic National CommitteeDemocratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
and was an early supporter of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
for President. He remained close to the Kennedy family.
As attorney general
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
for nearly six years, he issued approximately 2,000 written opinions and appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Arizona v. California water case and other landmark cases.
Mosk established the Attorney General's Civil Rights Division and successfully fought to force the Professional Golfers' Association of America
Professional Golfers' Association of America
Founded in 1916, the Professional Golfers' Association of America is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and is made up of more than 28,000 men and women golf professional members...
to amend its bylaw
Bylaw
By-law can refer to a law of local or limited application passed under the authority of a higher law specifying what things may be regulated by the by-law...
s denying access to minority golfers. He also established Consumer Rights, Constitutional Rights, and Antitrust divisions. As California's chief law enforcement officer, he sponsored legislation creating the California Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training (POST).
Mosk also commissioned a study of the resurgence of right-wing extremism in California which famously characterized the secretive John Birch Society
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society is an American political advocacy group that supports anti-communism, limited government, a Constitutional Republic and personal freedom. It has been described as radical right-wing....
as a "cadre" of "wealthy businessmen, retired military officers and little old ladies in tennis shoes."
State Supreme Court Justice
While an early favorite to be elected to the United States SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
after the death of incumbent Clair Engle
Clair Engle
Clair Engle was an American politician of the Democratic Party and a United States Senator from California.- Early years :Engle was born in Bakersfield...
, Mosk was appointed to the California Supreme Court in September 1964 by Governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown
Pat Brown
Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr. was the 32nd Governor of California, serving from 1959 to 1967, and the father of current Governor of California Jerry Brown.-Background:...
to succeed the elevated Roger J. Traynor
Roger J. Traynor
Roger John Traynor served as the 23rd Chief Justice of California from 1964 to 1970, and as an Associate Justice from 1940 to 1964...
. He would go on to be retained by the electorate in 1964, and to three full twelve year terms from 1974.
Although he was a self-described liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, he often displayed an independent streak that sometimes surprised his admirers and critics alike. For example, in Bakke v. Regents of the University of California, 18 Cal. 3d 34 (1976), Mosk ruled that the minority admissions program at the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
violated the equal protection clause
Equal Protection Clause
The Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, provides that "no state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"...
of the U.S. Constitution. This decision was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that ruled unconstitutional the admission process of the Medical School at the University of California at Davis, which set aside 16 of the 100 seats for African American...
, 438 U.S. 265 (1978), which, unlike Mosk's opinion held that race could be factored in admissions to promote ethnic diversity. The United States Supreme Court agreed with Mosk in rejecting racial quotas. He also voted to uphold the constitutionality of a parental consent for abortion law—a law ultimately struck down by a majority of the court.
Although personally opposed to the death penalty, Mosk voted to uphold death penalty convictions on a number of occasions. He believed he was obligated to enforce laws properly enacted by the people of the state of California, even though he personally did not approve of such laws. One example of how he articulated his beliefs is his concurrence in In re Anderson, 69 Cal. 2d 613 (1968):
One of Mosk's contributions to jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
was development of the constitutional doctrine
Doctrine
Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
of "independent state grounds". This is the concept that individual rights are not dependent solely on interpretation of the U.S. Constitution by the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts
United States federal courts
The United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...
, but also can be found in state constitutions, which often provide greater protection for individuals.
Although Mosk was widely viewed as a liberal, he was not a close ally of Chief Justice Rose Bird
Rose Bird
Rose Elizabeth Bird served for 10 years as the 25th Chief Justice of California. She was the first female Justice, and first female Chief Justice, on that court, appointed by then Governor Jerry Brown...
. As a result of that and his independence, he won reelection to the court in 1986 with 75% of the vote while Bird and two other justices closely allied with her were defeated for reelection. In November 1998 at age 86, Mosk was retained by the electorate for another twelve-year term.
Mosk served until his death in 2001, having surpassed Justice John W. Shenk to become the longest-serving justice in the history of the Court in 1999. He authored many significant opinions, some of which have been included in law school casebooks. In 1999, Albany Law School
Albany Law School
Albany Law School is an ABA accredited law school based in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 by Amos Dean , Amasa Parker, Ira Harris and others....
Professor Vincent Martin Bonventre described Mosk as, "An institution, an icon, a trailblazer, a legal scholar, a constitutional guardian, a veritable living legend of the American judiciary, . . . one of the most influential members in the history of one of the most influential tribunals in the western world."
He is the father of California Court of Appeals Justice Richard M. Mosk
Richard M. Mosk
Richard M. Mosk is an associate justice of the California Courts of Appeal, Second District. Richard M...
.
Stanley Mosk Courthouse
Superior Court of Los Angeles County
The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the Superior Court located in Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States....
, is located at 111 North Hill Street in Los Angeles and is part of the complex that includes the County of Los Angeles Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration. The courthouse is often seen in the Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
TV series, when Perry parks his car on Hill Street to go inside the building. The Stanley Mosk Library & Courts Building is in the Capitol Mall in Sacramento, California.
Biographic Sources
- Stanley Mosk, Oral History interview, Regional Oral History Office, University of California, Berkeley, 1998
- Text of speeches given in memory by Justices of the California Supreme Court, from the California Supreme Court Historical Society
- Uelmen, Gerald F., "Tribute to Justice Stanley Mosk", Albany Law Review, June 22, 2002