Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Page 3
Mosk Mementoes Placed on Permanent Display
By a MetNews Staff Writer
In rememberance of the late California Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk, the Los Angeles Superior Court has installed a permanent display of mementos in the courthouse that was named after him in 2002.
“We look to him and [former Supreme Court Chief Justice] Malcolm Lucas as founders of this organization,’’ James Y. Yoppolo, executive director of finance, operations and administration for the historical society, said yesterday.
“It is a memory of him. It’s pictures and mementos. It tells about his life. He was a very well-rounded person and a friendly person,” Yoppolo said.
The display can be seen on the right side as one walks through the courthouse entrance, located at 111 N. Hill St.
The display case became available last year after the California Supreme Court Historical Society granted the Los Angeles Superior Court the funds necessary to purchase it, the director said.
Included in the display are photographs and memorabilia from Mosk’s life. Mosk is seen with political figures Indira Ghandi, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as entertainers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
Mosk, the father of Justice Richard Mosk of this district’s Court of Appeal, Div. Five, served in the cabinet of then-Gov. Culbert Olson from 1939-43, then served on the Los Angeles Superior Court until 1959. Known for his fight for equality, Mosk was the state’s attorney general from 1959 to 1964.
Charged with enforcement of the state’s new civil rights laws, he gained national recognition after he forced the then-segregated Professional Golfers Association to move a major tournament out of California.
He was appointed to the state’s Supreme Court in 1964 by then-Gov. Pat Brown. Mosk, the longest serving justice in state history, sat on the bench until his death in 2001 at age 88.
Mosk was also active in the judicial community outside the courtroom. In 1989, he helped found the California Supreme Court Historical Society, which has grown to become the largest court-based historical organization in the nation. The non-profit corporation has dedicated itself to preserving and promoting the state’s legal and judicial history, focusing mainly on the state’s highest court.
Copyright 2006, Metropolitan News Company