David Newton Eagleson (October 4, 1924 – May 23, 2003) was an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from 1987 to 1991.

Biography

Eagleson was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and educated in the public schools. After serving in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Eagleson earned his law degree from the

USC Law School The USC Gould School of Law, located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law traces its beginnings to 1896 and became affiliated with ...

in 1950. On June 6, 1951, he was admitted to the State Bar of California. Eagleson then practiced law in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

for 20 years. In December 1970, Governor Ronald Reagan appointed Eagleson to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, where from 1980 to 1981 he served as presiding judge. From 1979 to 1980, he was president of the California Judges Association. In November 1981, Governor

George Deukmejian Courken George Deukmejian Jr. (; June 6, 1928 – May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. Of Armenian descent, Deukmejian was a member of the Republican Party and he also served ...

named Eagleson as an associate justice to the Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Five. In March 1987, Governor Deukmejian appointed Eagleson as an associate justice to the Supreme Court. A conservative Republican, Eagleson was elevated to the high court after voters removed liberal Chief Justice

Rose Bird Rose Elizabeth Bird (November 2, 1936 – December 4, 1999) was the 25th Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. Her career was marked by firsts. She was the first female clerk of the Nevada Supreme Court, the first female deputy publ ...

and two of her allies from the Court in the 1986 general election as a result of the trio's opposition to

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. Eagleson tended to uphold capital sentences. During his four years on the court, Eagleson wrote 54 majority opinions. Among Eagleson's notable opinions is '' Thing v. La Chusa'' (1989), which sharply limited the availability of the cause of action for

negligent infliction of emotional distress The tort of negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) is a controversial cause of action, which is available in nearly all U.S. states but is severely constrained and limited in the majority of them. The underlying concept is that one has ...

in California. After stepping down from the high court, Eagleson practiced as a mediator and arbitrator in Los Angeles.

Personal life

On May 16, 1953, Eagleson married Virginia Mae Brown, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth K. Eagleson, an attorney, and Victoria Eagleson, who both reside in Southern California. Beth, in her eulogy for her father delivered before the court on which he once served, cited ''Thing'' as the opinion most representative of her father's voice and philosophy:

References

External links

*
David N. Eagleson
California Supreme Court Historical Society.
Photo of David N. Eagleson
on the bench. Los Angeles, April 1987. California Supreme Court Historical Society Newsletter (Spring-Summer 2013), p. 20. *

California Court of Appeal, Second District.

Biography

Personal life

References

External links

See also