Allen Edgar Broussard (April 13, 1929 – November 5, 1996) was an American attorney who rose to become an associate justice of the

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...

from July 22, 1981, to August 31, 1991.

Biography

Broussard was born in Lake Charles,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, the son of Clemire and Eugenia Broussard. At the age of sixteen, he moved with his family to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where his father was a

longshoreman A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes. After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...

, and his mother worked as a

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Nota ...

. His parents were of Creole ancestry. As a young man, Broussard held various part-time jobs, including selling shoes and working in a canning plant. He financed his own education, first at

San Francisco City College City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local role, annually enrolling as many as one in nine San Franci ...

, then the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

, and the

University of California, Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...

. At Boalt, he was vice-president of the Boalt Hall Law Students Association and a contributor to the ''

California Law Review ''California Law Review'' (also referred to as ''CLR'') is the journal of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. It was established in 1912. The application process consists of an anonymous write-on competition, with grades playing ...

''. After graduating in 1953, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

for two years. After completing Basic Army Administration school as a clerk typist, he became a Chaplain's assistant in Germany, where he served for 19 months. After leaving the Army, he became the research attorney for Raymond E. Peters, Presiding Justice of the

California Court of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

, First District, Division One. In 1959, Broussard entered private practice with Wilson, Metoyer & Sweeny. Broussard was one of a group of influential African American leaders in East Bay politics, including Norvel Smith, and state

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

Justice Clinton White. He was part of a coterie that used to meet at the

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

William Byron Rumford William Byron Rumford (February 2, 1908 – June 12, 1986) was an American pharmacist and politician. He was the first African American elected to a state public office in Northern California. Family background Rumford was born in Courtland ...

, along with Lionel Wilson. In 1972, Broussard was the first African American to be elected President of the California Judges Association. He also became Chairman of the Board of the Center for Judicial Education and Research. After retiring from the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, Broussard served on the Oakland Port Commission, which involved visiting ports around the world, especially Asia. In 1987, he led a group of 72 lawyers, port officials including: port commissioner

Carole Ward Allen Carole Ward Allen is an American politician, professor, and political consultant. She is a member of the Democratic Party, and serves as the chief executive officer of CWA Partners, LLC. As a mass transportation executive in the State of Californ ...

, and city officials on a 3-week long trip to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

meeting the Mayor of

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as chairman of the Central Military Commission from 1989 to 2004, and as pres ...

. Shanghai is a " twin city" of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Judicial career

Broussard was one of the first

African-Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

to become a judge in California. In 1964,

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

Edmund G. "Pat" Brown appointed Broussard as a judge of the

Municipal Court City court or municipal court is a court of law with jurisdiction limited to a city or other municipality. It typically addresses "violations of city ordinances and may also have jurisdiction over minor criminal cases...and over certain civil cases ...

for the Oakland-Piedmont (later Oakland-Piedmont-Emeryville) Judicial District. His record caught the attention of Democratic Governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

, who, in 1975, appointed Broussard as a judge of the Superior Court of

Alameda County Alameda County ( ) is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and List ...

. He went on to serve as Presiding Judge of the Superior Court. In 1981 Governor Jerry Brown elevated Broussard to the California Supreme Court, where he served as Associate Justice until 1991. His term followed

Wiley Manuel Wiley William Manuel (August 28, 1927–January 5, 1981) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from 1977 to 1981 and the first African American to serve on the high court. Biography Manuel was born in Oakland, Californi ...

, who was on the bench 1977-1981. On the court, Broussard was a leading liberal in the court's majority, along with Chief Justice

Rose Bird Rose Elizabeth Bird (November 2, 1936 – December 4, 1999) was the 25th Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. Her career was marked by firsts. She was the first female clerk of the Nevada Supreme Court, the first female deputy publ ...

. He wrote the majority of opinions for the court at that time. By 1982, five of the seven justices on the court were Brown appointees, who were widely criticized as allegedly soft on crime and overly political. Even though the judges had different individual philosophies, they were lumped together by conservative politicians who derisively labeled them as "Jerry's Judges" and "Rosie & The Supremes." Critics repeatedly claimed that Broussard and other Brown appointees ruled on the basis of personal opinion and political bias rather than the law and the state Constitution. In 1982, Broussard was up for election reconfirmation. A campaign was waged against him and the other Brown appointees on the ballot that year (

Cruz Reynoso Cruz Reynoso (May 2, 1931 – May 7, 2021) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist. Reynoso was the first Chicano Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, serving from 1982 to 1987. He also served on the California Third D ...

and

Otto Kaus Otto Michael Kaus (January 7, 1920 – January 11, 1996) was an Austrian-born American lawyer and judge from the State of California. Early life and education Kaus was born in Vienna, Austria, as the first child of the writers Otto F. Kaus and ...

), something that was unprecedented in California history. Broussard was reconfirmed to a 12-year term, as expected, with 56% of the vote, but that was below the typical confirmation vote. In 1986, three of his colleagues (Bird, Cruz Reynoso, and

Joseph Grodin Joseph Raymond Grodin (born August 30, 1930) is a lawyer, law professor, and a former Presiding Justice of the California Court of Appeal and an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California.Hearn, Lorie (October 27, 1986) Grodin appeals t ...

) were resoundingly voted off the court, and they were replaced by conservative justices. Broussard was disturbed by this development and expressed fear that the judiciary would become politicized. On August 31, 1991, Broussard retired from the court and Governor Pete Wilson appointed

Ronald M. George Ronald Marc George (born March 11, 1940) is an American jurist. He previously served as the 27th Chief Justice of California from 1996 to 2011. Governor of California, Governor Pete Wilson appointed George as an associate justice of the Supreme Co ...

to the seat.

Personal life

As chairman of a civic organization called ''Men of Tomorrow,'' he contacted Odessa Monroe, the program director of the radio station KSAN, seeking free air time. He went on to marry her in 1959, and they had two sons, Keith and Craig.

References

Selected publications

* *

Papers and oral history

*
A California Supreme Court justice looks at law and society, 1964–1996: Allen E. Broussard
' oral history transcript. (1997). Interview by Gabrielle Morris. Bancroft Library, Regional Oral History Office, via Calisphere.
Allen Broussard Papers
California Judicial Center Library, Special Collections and Archives. Online Archives of California.

External links

California Supreme Court Historical Society.
California Supreme Court opinions
authored by Allen Broussard. Courtlistener.com.

California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.