John W. Preston
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John White Preston (May 14, 1877 – February 18, 1958) was 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 December 27, 1926, through October 1935.


Biography

Born in
Woodbury, Tennessee Woodbury is a town in Cannon County, Tennessee, United States. Woodbury is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located southeast of downtown Nashville. The population of Woodbury was 2,680 at the 2010 census. It is the coun ...
, his parents were Hugh L. Preston and Thankful C. Preston, née Doak. In 1894, when he was 17 years of age, he obtained his undergraduate degree from Burritt College. In 1897, at the age of 19, he was
admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
in Tennessee. In 1902, he moved to
Ukiah, California Ukiah ( ; Pomo: ''Yokaya'', meaning "deep valley") is the county seat and largest city of Mendocino County, California, with a population of 16,607 at the 2020 census. With its accessible location along the U.S. Route 101 corridor, Ukiah serves ...
. In 1908, he was appointed to the state legislature. He served until 1910. From 1914 through 1918, he served as
United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...
for the Northern District of California. In November 1926, Preston was elected as Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court for the remaining four-year term ending January 5, 1931, of Thomas J. Lennon, who died in August. In November 1930, he successfully ran for a full term and was re-elected. In June 1935, Preston announced he would retire before the end of his term to serve as special government attorney in the Elk Hills naval oil reserves case, part of the
Teapot Dome scandal The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribery scandal involving the administration of United States President Warren G. Harding from 1921 to 1923. Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyomin ...
. On October 6, 1935, he stepped down from the bench and was replaced by Nathaniel P. Conrey. While on the Supreme Court, Preston is perhaps best known for acting as prosecutor at the 1930 pardon hearing of
Warren K. Billings Warren Knox Billings (July 4, 1893 – September 4, 1972) was a labor leader and political activist, who was convicted with Thomas Mooney of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916. It is believed that the two were wrongly convicted of ...
, who was convicted in connection with the 1916
Preparedness Day Bombing The Preparedness Day Bombing was a bombing in San Francisco, California, United States, on July 22, 1916, of a parade organised by local supporters of the Preparedness Movement which advocated American entry into World War I. During the parade a ...
. After retiring from the Supreme Court, he continued to practice law. Preston died on February 18, 1958, in San Francisco.


Personal life

His brother, Hugh L. Preston, was a judge of the Mendocino County Superior Court for 11 years, and in May 1931 was appointed by Governor
James Rolph James "Sunny Jim" Rolph Jr. (August 23, 1869 – June 2, 1934) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to a single term as the 27th governor of California from January 6, 1931, until his death on June ...
as an associate justice to 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.
, Third District.


Notes


External links


John W. Preston
California Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved July 24, 2017.

California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
Join California John White Preston


See also

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List of justices of the Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest judicial body in the state and sits at the apex of the judiciary of California. Its membership consists of the Chief Justice of California and six associate justices who are nominated by the Governor ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preston, John W. 1877 births 1958 deaths Justices of the Supreme Court of California United States Attorneys for the Northern District of California U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers Lawyers from San Francisco People from Woodbury, Tennessee Burritt College alumni 20th-century American legislators Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly 20th-century California politicians