[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 20, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    A TRIBUTE TO JUDGE STANLEY MOSK

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 20, 2001

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today 
and pay tribute to a dear friend and a legend of the California Supreme 
Court, Stanley Mosk, who passed away in his San Francisco home 
yesterday, June 19, 2001.
  Justice Mosk, grew up in San Antonio, Texas and attended the 
University of Chicago as an undergraduate and law student, before 
receiving his Juris Doctorate from Southwestern University in Los 
Angeles in 1935. Judge Mosk's long career as a public servant began in 
1939 when he was appointed Executive Secretary to California Governor 
Calbert L. Olson. After serving the Governor for four years, Stanley 
Mosk was named Justice of the Superior Court at the age of 31, making 
him the youngest Superior Court Judge in California.
  Mr. Speaker, after serving in this position for 15 years, Judge Mosk 
sought political office, running for California's Attorney General in 
1958. He easily won and received more votes than anyone else on the 
statewide ballot. Judge Mosk's victory was the first for Jewish person 
on a statewide ballot in California. During his six year tenure as 
Attorney General, he established a civil rights section, promoted 
police training and brought landmark anti-trust and consumer actions to 
trial. He also argued for California water rights before the U.S. 
Supreme Court. After deciding against running for Senate, Judge Mosk 
was appointed to the California Supreme Court by Governor Pat Brown. 
For the past thirty-seven years, he has been a fixture of the state 
Supreme Court, becoming its longest serving member in the Court's 151 
year old history.
  Mr. Speaker, Judge Mosk was recently described by the Los Angeles 
Times as the ``the influential, widely acclaimed and contentiously 
independent senior member of the Court.'' He was a vigorous advocate of 
individual liberties and wrote more than 600 opinions that included 
dozens of landmark rulings that left a unique and far-reaching imprint 
on both civil and criminal law. Among his most controversial and more 
famous opinions was the Regents of the University of California vs. 
Bakke. In this landmark case, Judge Mosk found that race-based 
university admissions were unconstitutional, a ruling which has 
influenced public policy for the last twenty-five years. Despite the 
criticism he received for his ruling Judge Mosk never wavered from his 
decision.
  Mr. Speaker, Judge Stanley Mosk was a true legend of California and 
he will be sorely missed. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in 
paying tribute to this outstanding public servant.

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