Homer Roberts Spence (March 15, 1891 – July 1, 1973) was an

Associate Justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...

of the

California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...

(1945-1960) and a justice of the District Court of Appeal, First District (1930-1945).

Biography

Spence was born on March 15, 1891, in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and educated in the public schools, including Mastick Grammar School (class of 1904) and

Alameda High School Alameda High School is a co-educational state high school serving grades 9–12. It is located in Alameda, California, United States, and is part of the Alameda Unified School District. History The suggestion to open a "Preparatory Department ...

. In 1913, he graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

degree in pre-legal studies. He continued his studies at

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

, graduating in 1915 with a

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree, was admitted to the

California bar The State Bar of California is an administrative division of the Supreme Court of California which licenses attorneys and regulates the practice of law in California. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law ...

, and entered private practice. In 1920, Spence was elected as a Republican Assemblyman from

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

's 35th district in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

, and in January 1925 his name was considered for the position of speaker of the house. Afterwards, he served as private secretary to Governor C. C. Young, accompanying him on a fishing trip to the Yosemite Valley in June 1927. On October 3, 1927, when Spence was ready to depart the governor's office, Young appointed Spence to a seat on the Alameda County Superior Court. In September 1928, Spence ran unopposed and was elected to a new term on the superior court. In March 1930, Governor Young elevated Spence to the Court of Appeal. In September 1930, during the next election, Spence successfully ran for a seat on the Court of Appeal, First District, with an unexpired term ending January 1933, winning over Frank Deasy, presiding judge of the San Francisco Municipal Court. In December 1944, Governor

Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 30th governor of California from 1943 to 1953 and as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presid ...

appointed Spence as an associate justice of the California Supreme Court, and he began his term on January 2, 1945. Spence replaced Jesse W. Curtis Sr., who retired in December 1944. In November 1950, Spence successfully ran for re-election. While on the court, Spence was one of three Justices joining in dissent from the holding in ''

Perez v. Sharp ''Perez v. Sharp'', also known as ''Perez v. Lippold'' or ''Perez v. Moroney'', is a 1948 case decided by the Supreme Court of California in which the court held by a 4–3 majority that the state's ban on interracial marriage violated the Fourtee ...

'', 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 The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Considered one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses Citizenship of the United States ...

and therefore were illegal in California. On June 1, 1960, Spence resigned from the high court and in his place Governor

Pat Brown Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown (April 21, 1905 – February 16, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 32nd governor of California from 1959 to 1967. His first elected office was as district attorney for San Francisco, and he ...

appointed Maurice T. Dooling Jr. Spence died on July 1, 1973, in Oakland.

Personal life

On November 15, 1952, Spence married Frances Davie Horton, a widow in San Francisco.

References

External links

Homer R. Spence
California Supreme Court Historical Society.

California Court of Appeal, First District.

California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.

Biography

Personal life

References

External links

See also