Friday, June 22, 2001
Page 3
Memorial Service for Mosk Slated for Next Tuesday
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A public memorial service for California Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk has been set for 2 p.m. June 26 at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles.
Mosk, who served a record 37 years on the state Supreme Court, died unexpectedly from undisclosed causes at his San Francisco home Tuesday.
He was 88.
The Supreme Court will hold a public memorial session this fall, but the date has yet to be determined.
Burial services will be private, Joseph Cerrell of Cerrell Associates Inc. said.
California Chief Justice Ronald M. George said Mosk fully participated in last week’s Wednesday conferences and was in court on Monday.
“He appeared a little frailer, but his mind certainly remained sharp,” George said.
A former Los Angeles Superior Court judge and state attorney general, Mosk was remembered by colleagues as a leading light in California law and an independent mind who was never afraid to state his opinion.
“He was a strong-minded individual on and off the bench,” Shirley Hufstedler said. “He didn’t change his personality by walking up three steps.”
“I doubt that anyone in the state whether they criticized or applauded him would say he didn’t fill the role of Supreme Court justice,” Pepperdine University School of Law Professor Doug Kmiec said. “In truth, Stanley Mosk overfilled it.”
Throughout his years on the state’s highest bench, despite being known as “the great liberal,” of the court, Mosk proved to be unpredictable in his decisions, looking at every case independent of any pre-existing tendencies, leaving even his fellow justices to wonder which side of the issue he would end up on.
“He was a surprise,” California Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin said. “You could never predict where Stanley would end up on a particular issue.”
The family requests that in lieu of flowers contributions be made to the Justice Stanley Mosk Memorial Fund, 303 Boalt Hall, University of California School of Law, Berkeley, CA 94720-7200 or to the Justice Stanley Mosk Memorial, Los Angeles United Jewish Endowment Fund, 6505 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90048, Attn: Susan Reed.
The Wilshire Boulevard Temple is located at 3663 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles.
Copyright 2001, Metropolitan News Company