James Polin Gray (born February 14, 1945) is an American

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and writer. He was the presiding judge of the

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

of Orange County, California. Gray was the 2012 Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee, as well as the party's 2004 candidate for the United States Senate in California. He is the author of multiple books and a play, and is an outspoken critic of American drug laws. Gray has been a member of the California Judicial Council, as well as the California Judicial Council's Advisory Committee on Juvenile Law, the Alcohol Advisory Board to the

Orange County Board of Supervisors The Orange County Board of Supervisors is the five-member governing body of Orange County, California along with being the executive of the county. Membership The Board consists of five Supervisors elected by districts to four-year terms by the ...

, the Advisory Board of the

California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs The California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) was a California state agency concerned with substance abuse prevention and treatment. Created by the California Legislature in 1978, ADP brought together the Governor's Office of Alcoho ...

, and the Orange County Law Library. He has also been a member of the Board of Councilors of the

University of Southern California Law School The USC Gould School of Law, located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law traces its beginnings to 1896 and became affiliated with ...

. Gray also introduced Orange County to the Peer Court system, where juvenile defendants travel to a school outside their district to have their actual cases tried by other teenagers. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, Gray was nominated by Libertarian Party convention delegates as the running mate of former

New Mexico Governor , insignia = Seal of the Governor of New Mexico.svg , insigniasize = 110px , insigniacaption = Seal of the Governor , image = File:Michelle Lujan Grisham 2021.jpg , imagesize = 200px , alt = , incumbent = Michelle Lujan Grisham , incu ...

Gary Johnson. He unsuccessfully sought the Libertarian presidential nomination in the

2020 election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **Cro ...

Background

Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in the Los Angeles, California area, Gray earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1966, after which he taught in the Peace Corps in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. Gray returned to California and earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from the University of Southern California Law School in 1971.

Judicial career

From 1972 through 1975, Gray practiced law as a Lieutenant with the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps at Naval Air Station Agana in Guam and Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. After five years in private practice, he was named to the Santa Ana Municipal Court in 1983 by Governor George Deukmejian, who then appointed Gray to the Orange County Superior Court in 1989. Gray retired as a judge in January 2009. Much of his legal career has dealt with drug-related issues.

2004 U.S. Senate candidacy

Following an unsuccessful bid in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

for the Republican nomination for the congressional seat in California's 46th congressional district, Gray left the Republican Party and joined the Libertarian Party. In 2003, he openly considered making a run for the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Libertarian

presidential President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

nomination, but eventually decided to instead run for the U.S. Senate. In November 2003, he declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat occupied by

Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. ...

in California. Gray was a keynote speaker at the 2004 Libertarian National Convention. In March 2004 Gray defeated former

Libertarian Party of California The Libertarian Party of California (LPC) is the California affiliate of the national Libertarian Party (LP). The party chairwoman is Mimi Robson, and is based in Sacramento, California, in Sacramento County. As of 2016 Libertarians represent a ...

chair Gail Lightfoot in a statewide

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for the party's nomination for U.S. Senate. Gray suspended his judicial activities while running for the Senate against incumbent

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Senator

and Republican Bill Jones. Gray received 216,522 votes, 1.8% of the total vote, finishing behind Boxer, Jones, and

Peace and Freedom Party The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) is a left-wing political party with affiliates and former members in more than a dozen American states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana and Utah, but none now have ballot status besides C ...

candidate

Marsha Feinland Marsha Feinland was a third-party candidate (Peace and Freedom Party) for President of the United States in the 1996 U.S. presidential election. Her running mate was Kate McClatchy; they were only on the ballot in California and received 25,3 ...

Activism as War on Drugs opponent

Gray is an outspoken critic of

drug laws The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances. While some drugs are illegal to possess, many governments regulate the ...

and the War on Drugs, particularly in the state of California. He was a proponent of the

Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 California Proposition 19 (also known as the Regulate, Control & Tax Cannabis Act) was a ballot initiative on the November 2, 2010, statewide ballot. It was defeated, with 53.5% of California voters voting "No" and 46.5% voting "Yes." If pass ...

, a statewide referendum measure that was defeated in the 2010 California state elections. He is the author of ''Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It – A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs'' (2001), and appears in the 2007 documentary '' American Drug War: The Last White Hope''. In early 2011 Gray was one of the four co-sponsors of an initiative called Regulate Marijuana Like Wine. Had it passed, the initiative would have regulated cannabis consumption and production like wine in California. While the measure failed to collect the minimum number of signatures needed for qualification to be placed on the ballot in the 2012 statewide election, Gray's active role in the effort prompted media speculation regarding his future in the Libertarian Party and in national politics.

2012 vice-presidential candidacy

On April 27, 2012, the question "What would you think of Judge Gray running for Vice President?" was posted from Gray's Facebook page, and received numerous positive responses. Within three days of the posting, it was confirmed that Gray had been chosen by

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson to be his preferred running mate should Johnson receive the party's nomination at the

2012 Libertarian National Convention The 2012 Libertarian National Convention, in which delegates of the Libertarian Party (LP) chose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2012 general election, was held May 2–6, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Red Rock ...

. Gray then confirmed his candidacy for the Libertarian vice-presidential nomination in an open letter to the party's Convention delegates. On May 5, 2012, Gray won the Libertarian Party (LP) vice-presidential nomination on the first ballot with 60% of the vote. He ran on the ticket with Johnson, who received the LP presidential nomination.

2020 presidential campaign

On April 13, 2020, Gray announced his intention to seek the Libertarian Party's nomination for president with Larry Sharpe as his running mate. The announcement came in response to Lincoln Chafee exiting the race. He dropped out on May 23, 2020.

Personal life

Gray resides in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island, Newport ...

. He is married, and is the father of children William, Jennifer, and Ky.

Works

Essays

Books

* * *

Musical

* ''Americans All (Abridged) A Musical In One Act'' Book, Music, and Lyrics by Judge James P. Gray