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Joseph Raymond Grodin (born August 30, 1930) is a lawyer, law professor, and a former 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.
and an associate justice of the
Supreme Court of California 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 ...
.Hearn, Lorie (October 27, 1986) Grodin appeals to voters to examine his opinions. San Diego Union-Tribune Grodin lost his Supreme Court seat in a contentious 1986 retention election that also removed Justice
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 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 ...
.


Early life and education

Joseph R. Grodin was born in
Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
in 1930.Joseph R. Grodin
“Professor of Law and California Supreme Court Justice Joseph R. Grodin” conducted by Leah McGarrigle
2004, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2006.
Grodin's father had emigrated from
Vilkaviškis Vilkaviškis () is a city in southwestern Lithuania, the administrative center of the Vilkaviškis District Municipality. It is located northwest from Marijampolė, at the confluence of of and rivers. The city got its name from the Vilka ...
, Lithuania where his own father and grandfather had been rabbis. The family owned a successful men's clothing store on Broadway known as Schwartz & Grodin. Grodin went to Sunday school at Temple Sinai and graduated in 1948 from Piedmont High School, where he played fullback on the football team. Three years later Grodin graduated from the
University of California, 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 u ...
with honors.''Retrospect, Oral History: Justice Joseph R. Grodin''
16 Hastings Const. L.Q. 7 (1988).
While at Cal, Grodin was on the debate team with fellow future California Supreme Court Justice
Allen Broussard 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 from July 22, 1981, to August 31, 1991. Biography Broussard was born in Lake Charles ...
. Grodin enrolled in a Harvard
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
program to pursue his interest in
political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...
but local labor lawyer and future Justice
Mathew Tobriner Mathew Oscar Tobriner (April 2, 1904 – April 7, 1982) was an American lawyer and law professor who served as an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from 1962 to 1982. Early life and education A native of San Francisco, Tobriner ...
encouraged him to go to law school first. In 1951, Grodin matriculated at
Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
, with future Circuit Judge
Stephen Reinhardt Stephen Roy Reinhardt (born Stephen Roy Shapiro; March 27, 1931 – March 29, 2018) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in Los Angeles, California. He was the last federal ...
, future Justice
Ellen Ash Peters Ellen Ash Peters (born March 21, 1930 in Berlin) is an American lawyer and judge. She was appointed to the Connecticut Supreme Court in 1978. She was the first woman appointed to that court. Early life and education Ellen Ash was born in Berlin ...
and future congressman
Allard K. Lowenstein Allard Kenneth Lowenstein (January 16, 1929 – March 14, 1980)Lowenstein's gravestone, Arlington National Cemeteryphoto onlineon the cemetery's official website. Accessed online 28 October 2006.Friedrich Kessler Friedrich "Fritz" Kessler (August 25, 1901 – January 21, 1998) was an American law professor who taught at Yale Law School (1935–1938, 1947–1970), University of Chicago Law School, and University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He was ...
, civil procedure under Circuit Judge
Charles Edward Clark Charles Edward Clark (December 9, 1889 – December 13, 1963) was Dean of Yale Law School and a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Education and career Born on December 9, 1889, in Woodbrid ...
, property under
Myres S. McDougal Myres Smith McDougal (November 23, 1906 – May 7, 1998) was a scholar of international law and Sterling Professor of International Law at the Yale Law School, where he taught for fifty years. He also taught at New York Law School. He was an infl ...
, equity under Circuit Judge
Jerome Frank Jerome New Frank (September 10, 1889 – January 13, 1957) was an American legal philosopher and author who played a leading role in the legal realism movement. He was Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and a United States circu ...
, arbitration under
Wesley Alba Sturges Wesley Alba Sturges (1893-1962) was an American legal scholar who served as a professor of law at the Yale Law School from 1924 to 1961, and served as dean of the law school from 1945 to 1954. He received his LL.B. from Yale in 1923. He retired from ...
, future interests under
Ashbel Green Gulliver Ashbel Green Gulliver (November 23, 1897, Connecticut - July 3, 1974, Hanover, New Hampshire) was the dean of Yale Law School from 1940 to 1946. His nickname was "Pail"—from ashpail. Early life Gulliver went to Groton School for high school ...
, philosophy under
F. S. C. Northrop Filmer Stuart Cuckow Northrop (November 27, 1893 in Janesville, Wisconsin – July 22, 1992 in Exeter, New Hampshire) was an American legal philosopher and influential comparative philosopher. After receiving a B.A. from Beloit College in 19 ...
and jurisprudence under Felix S. Cohen. No other students enrolled in community property so the professor only met with him twice, once to tell him he could find books on the subject in the library, and next to tell him to write the exam questions then answer them. During both summers Grodin returned to work in Tobriner's
labor law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...
practice. Grodin graduated
cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
in 1954. Worried about Yale's lack of emphasis on
black letter law In common law legal systems, black letter laws are the well-established legal rules that are no longer subject to reasonable dispute. Some examples are the "black-letter law" that the formation of a contract requires consideration, or the "black- ...
, Grodin hired
Bernard E. Witkin Bernard Ernest Witkin (May 22, 1904 – December 23, 1995) was an American lawyer and author. He is best remembered as the founder of the California law treatise, ''Summary of California Law'', which came to be known as "Witkin" and gave rise t ...
to tutor him for the California Bar Exam. Grodin next received a
Fulbright grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
to study at the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...
under
Otto Kahn-Freund Sir Otto Kahn-Freund QC (17 November 1900 – 16 August 1979) was a scholar of labour law and comparative law. He was a professor at the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford. Biography Kahn-Freund was born in Frankfurt am ...
. He would extend the grant to finish a Ph.D. so as to get a draft exemption from the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.


Professional life


Legal practice

Grodin returned to California in 1955 and joined Tobriner's law firm. His clients included union boss
David Dubinsky David Dubinsky (; born David Isaac Dobnievski; February 22, 1892 – September 17, 1982) was a Belarusian-born American labor leader and politician. He served as president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) between 1932 ...
. In 1959, Grodin became a partner after both Tobriner and Leland Lazarus were appointed to the bench by Governor
Pat Brown Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he w ...
. Grodin began teaching labor law part-time at
University of California, Hastings College of Law The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a public law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the first law school of the University of California a ...
. Wanting to visit his close friend, future Justice
Hans A. Linde Hans Arthur Linde (April 15, 1924 – August 31, 2020) was a German Jewish American legal scholar who served as a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court from 1977 to 1990. Born in Berlin, Germany, Justice Linde relocated with his family to Denmark i ...
, in 1970 Grodin took a year off from the firm to teach at the
University of Oregon School of Law The University of Oregon School of Law is a public law school in the U.S. state of Oregon. Housed in the Knight Law Center, it is Oregon's only state funded law school. The school, founded in 1884, is located on the University of Oregon campus in ...
. When Grodin returned to San Francisco he began teaching full-time at UC Hastings. The
California Agricultural Labor Relations Board The Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) is an agency of the California state government that administers the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which establishes collective bargaining for farmworkers in the state.Hurt, R. Douglas ...
had just been created after a hard fought campaign by
Cesar Chavez Cesar Chavez (born Cesario Estrada Chavez ; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged ...
and California Secretary of Agriculture
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 ...
. 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 ...
, a Yale Law School graduate who clerked for Justice Tobriner, needed a
Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the u ...
voice on the board so he appointed Grodin, serving alongside future Cardinal
Roger Mahony Roger Michael Mahony (born February 27, 1936) is an American cardinal and retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011. Before his appointment, he served as Auxiliary Bishop of Fresno from ...
. Relations were contentious; the board was picketed by opposing sides at the same time and was shouted down in a Teamsters hall in
Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...
. When the legislature stopped paying board members, Grodin resigned. Regardless, in July 1979 Governor Brown appointed Grodin to a newly created seat on Division One 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.


Judicial service

When Grodin displayed unfamiliarity with the
California Penal Code The Penal Code of California forms the basis for the application of most criminal law, criminal procedure, penal institutions, and the execution of sentences, among other things, in the American state of California. It was originally enacted ...
at his first writ conference, Justice John Racanelli suggested he needed to "do a little homework." Grodin was further humbled when he had to dissent in the first labor case he heard, despite citing a book he had written on the topic. Governor Brown promoted Grodin to Presiding Justice on Division Two of the California Court of Appeal, First District, in March 1982. While in Sacramento, defense attorney
Terence Hallinan Terence Hallinan (December 4, 1936 – January 17, 2020) was an American attorney and politician from San Francisco, California. He was the second of six sons born to Progressive Party presidential candidate Vincent Hallinan and his wife, Vivian ...
convinced Grodin to give notorious farm worker serial killer
Juan Corona Juan Vallejo Corona (February 7, 1934 – March 4, 2019) was a Mexican serial killer who was convicted of the murders of twenty-five migrant farm workers found buried in peach orchards along the Feather River in Sutter County, California, U ...
a new trial. Affirming the judgment, the Supreme Court largely quoted from Grodin's opinion. Governor Brown appointed Grodin to the California Supreme Court in December 1982. With Grodin, Governor Brown had appointed all but two of the court's justices. When Grodin and a bare majority of the court found the
Federal Arbitration Act The United States Arbitration Act (, codified at ), more commonly referred to as the Federal Arbitration Act or FAA, is an act of Congress that provides for judicial facilitation of private dispute resolution through arbitration. It applies in bo ...
did not apply to California's
franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...
statute, he was reversed by the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in '' Southland Corp. v. Keating'' (1982). On the court, Grodin compiled a solid liberal record, voting mostly 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 was considered supportive of trial lawyers and defense attorneys, while seeming skeptical of law enforcement and business interests. He opposed the death penalty. The public at the time was highly critical of court's criminal justice jurisprudence. When the court abolished the death penalty in ''
People v. Anderson ''The People of the State of California v. Robert Page Anderson'', 493 P.2d 880, 6 Cal. 3d 628 ( Cal. 1972), was a landmark case in the state of California that outlawed capital punishment for nine months until the enactment of a constitutional ...
'' (1972) the electorate restored it with
California Proposition 17 (1972) Proposition 17 of 1972 was a measure enacted by California voters to reintroduce the capital punishment, death penalty in that state. The California Supreme Court had ruled on February 17, 1972, that capital punishment was contrary to the state c ...
and expanded it with
California Proposition 7 (1978) California Proposition 7, or the Death Penalty Act, is a ballot proposition approved in California by statewide ballot on November 7, 1978. Proposition 7 increased the penalties for first degree murder and second degree murder, expanded the list o ...
. While the court upheld Proposition 17, now Chief Justice Rose Bird and Justice Torbriner dissented. Nevertheless, Chief Justice Bird, a former public defender, voted to reverse every single one of the more than 60 death penalty cases she heard, usually joined by Justices
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 ...
,
Allen Broussard 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 from July 22, 1981, to August 31, 1991. Biography Broussard was born in Lake Charles ...
, and Grodin. She dissented from allowing a
victims' rights Victims' rights are legal rights afforded to victims of crime. These may include the right to restitution, the right to a victims' advocate, the right not to be excluded from criminal justice proceedings, and the right to speak at criminal jus ...
amendment to the constitution, Proposition 8 (1982), to even appear on the ballot. After it passed, Justice Grodin dissented in part along with Chief Justice Bird when a bare majority of the court upheld the proposition. The court drew continuing public ire for its assault on
direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate decides on policy initiatives without legislator, elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently establishe ...
. After the electorate exercised a 1982 veto referendum against what voters saw as Brown's gerrymandered redistricting plan, a bare majority of the court ordered the governor's plan to be used anyway. Grodin joined the anonymous majority blocking voters' subsequent attempt to redistrict directly through a 1983 proposition, even as dissenting Justice
Frank K. Richardson Frank Kellogg Richardson (February 13, 1914 – October 5, 1999) was an American attorney and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California, California Supreme Court. Early life and education Born in St. Helena, California, Richardson grad ...
inveighed the court "slams the door to the polling place in the face of the people". The court was attacked for these rulings as being partisan and overly political. Grodin joined the liberal majority when it granted the
American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
's 1984 original petition to block a
balanced budget amendment A balanced budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that a state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government. Balanced-budget provisions have been added t ...
proposition from even appearing on the ballot.


Retention election

California Supreme Court justices must be confirmed by the electorate at the first election for governor after their appointment. No incumbent had been defeated since Justice Frank G. Finlayson in 1926. Nevertheless, 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 ...
, Jerry Brown's Secretary of Agriculture and a former public defender, was only supported by 51.7% of voters in the 1978 general election, the same ballot that passed Proposition 17. New Governor
George Deukmejian Courken George Deukmejian Jr. (; June 6, 1928 – May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. Of Armenian descent, Deukmejian was a member of the Republican Party and he also serve ...
, elected in 1982 and who as Attorney General had voted to approve Grodin's appointment to the appeals and supreme court benches, was furious at the court's interference in redistricting, tax reform, and ballot propositions. Capitalizing on
moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usua ...
over the
crack epidemic The crack epidemic was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the United States throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in a number of social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in Ameri ...
and the public's intense dislike of Jerry Brown, Governor Deukmejian began a campaign to recall "Jerry's Justices" by labeling them soft on crime and overly political in their rulings. California prosecutors, upset that there had been zero executions since the electorate restored the death penalty, released a white paper attacking the justices as biased in favor of criminal defendants and trial lawyers. Commercial attorneys followed, releasing a paper accusing the court of being beholden to big labor. Grodin had served as treasurer on
Eugene McCarthy Eugene Joseph McCarthy (March 29, 1916December 10, 2005) was an American politician, writer, and academic from Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the United States Senate from 1959 to 1971. ...
's presidential campaign and had himself made an unsuccessful run for the Berkeley City Council. He raised money from labor unions and the California Trial Lawyers Association, and the state police union ran a TV ad endorsing Grodin. Nevertheless, his was outspent by his opponents and suffered from a series of TV attack ads highlighting the victims in murder sentences he had overturned. Grodin was removed by the California electorate at his first
retention election A judicial retention election (or retention referendum) is a periodic process in some jurisdictions whereby a judge is subject to a referendum held at the same time as a general election. The judge is removed from office if a majority of votes are ...
in 1986. Grodin was supported by 43.4% of voters, while Justice
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 ...
was supported by 39.8%, and Chief Justice Rose Bird was supported by 33.8%. Deukmejian, who had won a reelection rematch in a surprise 61% to 37% landslide, was now free to appoint a majority of the court. Grodin returned to being a law professor at UC Hastings and has written extensively about the need to abolish judicial elections.


Books

* California State Constitution: A Reference Guide (Reference Guides to the State Constitutions of the United States) Greenwood Press (1993) * Collective Bargaining in Public Employment West Publishing (1993) * Public Sector Employment: Cases and Materials West Group West Group Publishing (2004) * In Pursuit of Justice: Reflections of a State Supreme Court Justice University of California Press (1989) * Silver Lake (High Sierra Hiking Guide, No 17) Wilderness Pr (1983)


References


External links


Faculty page at UC Hastings

Joseph R. Grodin
California Supreme Court Historical Society. *
Joseph R. Grodin Papers MSS.1001
California Judicial Center Library, Special Collections and Archives. Online Archive of California. * *


See also

*
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:Grodin, Joseph 1930 births Living people People from Piedmont, California Lawyers from Oakland, California 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers American jurists American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Jewish American attorneys Justices of the Supreme Court of California Judges of the California Courts of Appeal University of California, Berkeley alumni Yale Law School alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics University of California, Hastings faculty