[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 24, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E268-E269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO JUSTICE BERNARD S. JEFFERSON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JULIAN C. DIXON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 24, 1999

  Mr. DIXON. Mr. Speaker, it is a special honor to pay tribute today to 
retired California Court of Appeal Justice Bernard S. Jefferson, who 
after a celebrated career spanning more than half a century, will be 
honored on March 25, 1999, at a dinner in his honor at the Beverly 
Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The dinner is being hosted 
by the faculty and board of the University of West Los Angeles. One of 
the most distinguished and acclaimed jurist in the nation, it is a 
particular pleasure to publicly commend Justice Jefferson for his 
contributions to the court, to the University of West Los Angeles, and 
to the citizens of the great state of California and the nation.
  Born July 29, 1910, in Coffeeville, Mississippi, Justice Jefferson 
graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA in 1931. He received his law degree 
Cum Laude from Harvard Law School in 1934, and his S.J.D. from Harvard 
in 1943. Following his graduation, Justice Jefferson served for several 
years as a Professor of Law at Howard University. He served two years 
as an Assistant General Counsel in the Office of Price Administration, 
and prior to his appointment to the bench, spent ten years in private 
practice, where he worked alongside such legendary legal scholars as 
the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall on several, 
significant civil rights cases.
  In 1959, then-California Governor Edmond G. Brown, Sr. appointed 
Bernard to the Municipal Court. One year later, he was elevated to the 
Los Angeles Superior Court, and in 1975 was elevated to the Second 
District Court of Appeal, Division One. He became the Presiding Justice 
of Division One in 1980. During his long and distinguished career, he 
served a short time as a pro tem appointee on the California Supreme 
Court, and authored the California judiciary's best known and most 
authoritative and frequently cited evidence book, ``The California 
Evidence Benchbook.'' Known throughout the California judicial system 
as the ``Bible'' of evidence for judges, the ``Benchbook'' has been 
cited in nearly 300 appellate cases.
  A judge's judge, and an individual of impeccable integrity and 
character, Justice Jefferson is an erudite and brilliant jurist whose 
legacy to the court remains legend throughout California courtrooms 
today.
  When Justice Jefferson retired from the court in 1980, be began still 
another career as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for the 
University of West Los Angeles. Unable to stay away from the classroom, 
he also taught Evidence and Criminal Procedure. He was selected as 
President of the institution in 1982 and retired in 1994; he remains 
President Emeritus of the University.
  In addition to his many contributions to the court, Justice Jefferson 
is also a founder of the California Judges College which trains newly 
appointed judges. He has published numerous articles for myriad legal 
journals, including the prestigious Harvard Law Review and the Columbia 
Law Review, as well as the Boston University Law Review. He has been 
recognized with innumerable awards and accolades for his extraordinary 
contributions to the legal profession, and is the recipient of the 
Appellate Justice of the Year award, presented to him in 1977 by the 
Los Angeles Lawyers Club.
  Mr. Speaker, paraphrasing an old Chinese proverb, ``one generation 
plants the trees; another sits in their shade. Here's to you, [Justice 
Bernard Jefferson,] for planting those

[[Page E269]]

trees.'' For nearly six decades, Justice Jefferson has dedicated 
himself to planting and nurturing the tree of excellence. Excellence as 
a student, excellence as an attorney, excellence as a jurist, and 
excellence as a university professor and administrator. He has helped 
to shape some of the finest legal minds practicing law today. His 
legacy is secure for the ages. He is revered by his peers, respected by 
his students, and held in the highest esteem by those of us who have 
been witness to a career that parallels few in the annals of the 
judiciary. I am proud to know him and I deem it a high honor to have 
this opportunity to publicly thank him on behalf of this nation for his 
legendary and distinguished contributions to the system of 
jurisprudence.

                          ____________________