Benjamin Rey Schauer | |
---|---|
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California | |
In office December 18, 1942 – September 15, 1964 | |
Appointed by | Governor Culbert Olson |
Preceded by | Frederick W. Houser |
Succeeded by | Louis H. Burke |
Presiding Justice of the Second District, Division Three, California Court of Appeal | |
In office October 22, 1941 – December 17, 1942 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Santa Maria, California, U.S. | May 9, 1891
Died | March 5, 1977 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 85)
Spouse |
Eva Elizabeth Summers
(m. 1915; died 1969)Jean Marion Dewsbury |
Alma mater | Occidental College (BA) University of Southern California Law School Southwestern University School of Law (JD) |
Benjamin Rey Schauer (May 9, 1891 – March 5, 1977) was an American attorney and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California from December 18, 1942, to September 15, 1965.
Biography
[edit]Born in Santa Maria, California, Schauer received an A.B. from Occidental College in 1912, and read law to be admitted to the California State Bar in July 1913.[1] He attended the University of Southern California Law School in 1916, and received a J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law, 1916.[1] He was in private practice from 1913 to 1927, also serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve, where he achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander.[1]
Schauer was appointed by Governor C.C. Young as a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court, where he served from August 4, 1927, to November 12, 1941.[2][3] In November 1938, he overturned a contempt conviction against a 24-year-old woman who appeared in slacks in Los Angeles Municipal Court to testify in a robbery case, and declined the trial judge's request to change into a skirt.[4] On appeal to the Superior Court, Schauer held the slacks were in "good taste" and not a violation of court protocol.
Schauer was then a Presiding Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Three, from October 22, 1941, to December 17, 1942.[5][3]
In December 1942, Governor Culbert Olson appointed Schauer as an associate justice of the California Supreme Court, where he remained for 23 years.[6][7][1] On the Supreme Court, Schauer was one of three Justices to dissent from the holding in Perez v. Sharp (1948),[8] in which the court held by a vote of 4 to 3 that interracial bans on marriage violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and therefore were illegal in California.[9] One month later, Schauer wrote the majority opinion in Hughes v. Superior Court,[10] holding that protesters were making an illegal demand when they sought to have businesses hire employees based on race, solely to achieve a racial balance proportional to that of the patronage of the business.[11]
In August 1964, Schauer announced his retirement from the court effective September 15, 1964.[12]
Personal life
[edit]On October 21, 1915, Schauer married Eva Elizabeth Summers, a graduate of the University of Southern California.[13] After her death on January 22, 1969, he remarried to Jean Marion Dewsbury in Los Angeles.
Schauer was a competitive sailor.[14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d California Courts, Benjamin Rey Schauer.
- ^ "Governor Names Twelve Judges". Healdsburg Tribune. No. 228. California Digital Newspaper Collection. United Press. 3 August 1927. p. 1. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ a b Johnson, J. Edward (1966). History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1900-1950, vol 2 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bancroft-Whitney. pp. 197–201. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 25, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
- ^ "Girl in Pants Wins Her Case". San Bernardino Sun. No. 45. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 19 November 1938. p. 3. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ "Officers State Council to be Installed". San Bernardino Sun. No. 48. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 5 December 1941. p. 18. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ "News Bulletin, Named Justice San Francisco". Madera Tribune. No. 245. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 17 December 1942. p. 1. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ "Approval Given to Naming of Schauer". San Bernardino Sun. No. 49. California Digital Newspaper Collection. United Press. 19 December 1942. p. 4. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ Perez v. Sharp, 198 P.2d 17 (Cal. 1948) (en banc).
- ^ Villazor, Rose Cuison; Maillard, Kevin Noble (2012). Loving v. Virginia in a Post-Racial World: Rethinking Race, Sex, and Marriage. Cambridge University Press. p. 78. ISBN 1107375924. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
- ^ Hughes v. Superior Court, 32 Cal. 2d 850 (Cal. 1948).
- ^ Brilliant, Mark (2010). The Color of America Has Changed: How Racial Diversity Shaped Civil Rights Reform in California, 1941-1978. Oxford University Press. p. 121. ISBN 019972198X. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
- ^ "Justice Schauer Retires". Desert Sun. No. 19. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 26 August 1964. p. 1. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ "Son and Daughter of Clergymen Wed". Los Angeles Herald. No. 98. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 23 February 1915. p. 9. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ "Eastern Star Boats Again Triumphant". San Bernardino Sun. Vol. 63, no. 2. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 2 September 1928. p. 17. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
External links
[edit]- B. Rey Schauer. California Supreme Court Historical Society.
- B. Rey Schauer. California Court of Appeals, Second Appellate District, Division Three.
- Court opinions authored by B. Rey Schauer. Courtlistener.com.
- Past & Present Justices. California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.