Rose Elizabeth Bird (November 2, 1936 – December 4, 1999) was the 25th Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. She was the first female law clerk of the Nevada Supreme Court, the first female deputy public defender in Santa Clara County, the first woman to serve in the California State Cabinet, and the first female Chief Justice of California.

She was also notable as the first, and to date only, Chief Justice in California history to lose a retention election.

Early life and education

Bird was born near Tucson, Arizona, on November 2, 1936. Her father, Harry Bird, was the grandson of English immigrants and her mother, Anne (née Walsh), was Irish American. She had two older brothers. Her father deserted the family and died when she was five. Her mother moved the family to New York City, where Bird and her brothers grew up in poverty. She was a standout scholar in high school and won a scholarship to Long Island University, where she earned her bachelor's degree magna cum laude. She later graduated from the UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) in 1965.

After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Bird became the first female law clerk in the Supreme Court of Nevada.

Between 1966 and 1974, she held the positions of deputy public defender, senior trial deputy, and chief of the appellate division at the Santa Clara County Public Defender's Office. She taught at Stanford Law School from 1972 to 1974. She volunteered with Jerry Brown's 1974 campaign for governor, and became a trusted advisor. After Brown won the election, he appointed Bird to the position of Secretary of Agriculture. Bird was also controversial among the Associate Justices on her court. In a 1998 oral history interview, fellow liberal Stanley Mosk said that Bird was a bright and articulate lawyer, but a terrible administrator (one of the Chief Justice's major responsibilities). Mosk claims Bird required the Associate Justices to make appointments to talk to her for any reason.

Noted opinions

Bird's opposition to the death penalty was reflexive. She reviewed a total of 65 capital cases appealed to the court. In every instance, she issued a decision overturning the death penalty that had been imposed at trial, including that of serial killer Rodney Alcala. She was joined by at least three of the seven members of the court in 61 of those cases. In 1982, Bird argued in dissent that the proposed California Proposition 8, known as the Victims' Bill of Rights, should not be allowed on the ballot. In 1984, Bird and a majority of the court granted the American Federation of Labor's 1984 original petition to block a balanced budget amendment proposition from appearing on the ballot.

1978 retention

Bird was first subject to a retention election in 1978. A campaign was waged against her, to which she did not respond. On election day, it was charged that the court decided to withhold the publication of a controversial ruling until after the 1978 vote. The ensuing controversy generated considerable press coverage but, by then, Bird had been retained by a 52% to 48% margin.

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As of 1986, six of 15 Chief Justices in US Supreme Court history, including Earl Warren, had had no previous judicial experience, but Bird's lack of prior judicial experience, when originally appointed by former Governor of California Jerry Brown, led to the assertion that she was unqualified for the position in campaign literature by Republican Associates of Southern California, directed by Gene Wibert of Glendale, California. -->

1986 removal

In 1985, Bird said in interviews that opposition to her rulings was based on sexism, bigotry, and right-wing ideology led by U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese. She said, "These are bully boys. Meese is trying it on the Supreme Court." Many Democrats later conceded that the remarks backfired on her and other members of the court appointed by Governor Brown.

The anti-Bird campaign ran television commercials featuring the surviving families of murder victims, whose murderers' sentences Bird and her fellow Justices Cruz Reynoso, Joseph Grodin, and Allen Broussard had voted to reverse. In addition to Bird, Reynoso and Grodin were also voted off the seven-justice California state supreme court bench. Bird was removed in the November 4, 1986 election by a margin of 67% to 33%.

Justice Stanley Mosk, who often joined Bird, Reynoso, and Grodin, was not challenged. Twelve years later, Mosk explained why he was able to stay and Bird was not:

As a result of the 1986 election, Governor George Deukmejian elevated Malcolm M. Lucas to Chief Justice and appointed three new associate justices. The Lucas Court moved toward a more business-friendly and pro-law enforcement judicial philosophy.

After being removed from the court, Bird became something of a recluse. She cared for her aging mother in the Bay Area. In 1995, she volunteered to assist the East Palo Alto poverty law clinic and gave them her name after being inquired. They didn't recognize or remember her and assigned her to the copying machine.

Death

Bird died on December 4, 1999, at Stanford University Medical Center from complications of breast cancer, which she had fought on and off since 1976. She was 63 years old.

After her death, the California Public Defender's Association and California Women Lawyers Association established awards in her honor. New York Law School annually awards one graduating student the Chief Justice Rose E. Bird Award for Motivation in Pursuing Public Interest Law.

In 1984, Bird appeared as a family court judge in an episode of the television series Pryor's Place.

In 1987, Bird appeared as a judge on the scripted television program called Superior Court.

See also

  • List of justices of the Supreme Court of California
  • List of female state supreme court justices
  • List of first women lawyers and judges in California

References

Further reading

  • Californians to Defeat Rose Bird, 1985-1986. Collection guide, California State Library, California History Room.
  • Text of speeches given in memory of Rose Bird by Justices of the California Supreme Court, from California Supreme Court Historical Society (with high-quality photo of Justice Bird)
  • Detailed Profile of decision
  • Past & Present Justices. California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.