| California Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk was awarded the State Bar's
Bernard E. Witkin Medal last month for his contributions to the quality of justice and
legal scholarship in California.  Mosk, 86, was honored as a distinguished lawyer, renowned author
and outstanding jurist.
The Witkin medal was established in 1993 to acknowledge legal giants in California who
have altered the state's landscape of jurisprudence. Mosk was the seventh recipient.
Mosk graduated from the University of Chicago and received his law degree from UCLA.
Early in his career, he served four years as legal advisor to the governor, before
spending 16 years as a Los Angeles superior court judge.
He was elected attorney general in 1958, and during his term issued about 2,000 written
opinions, argued before the U.S. and California supreme courts, and authored some of
California's most innovative legislative proposals in the area of crime and law
enforcement.
The Congressional Record identified Mosk as "one of the finest constitutional
lawyers in the United States." He was appointed to the Supreme Court by Gov. Edmund
G. "Pat" Brown in 1964 and was confirmed for a new 12-year term in 1986.
The Witkin Award reads: "Unfailing in courtesy, kindness and collegiality, Justice
Mosk's modest demeanor belies the magnitude of his contributions to the development of
California law." |
