John Arthur Arguelles (August 22, 1927 – April 10, 2022) was an American attorney and associate justice of the

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

from March 18, 1987, to March 1, 1989. Arguelles was the second Latino to serve on California's high court and was one of the founding members of the Mexican American Bar Association of Los Angeles.

Early life and education

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Arguelles attended Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, graduating in 1945. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, from 1945 to 1946. After his discharge, he received 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 ...

in economics from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Ca ...

in 1950, and a J.D. from the

UCLA School of Law The University of California, Los Angeles School of Law (commonly known as UCLA School of Law or UCLA Law) is the law school of the University of California, Los Angeles. History Founded in 1949, the UCLA School of Law is the third oldest of t ...

in 1954.John A. Arguelles biography at California Courts

Legal and judicial career

Arguelles was admitted to the

California State 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 ...

on January 5, 1955, he was in private practice with the firm of Munnell, Mullendore, Peetris & Arguelles in Los Angeles from 1955 to 1963. He then held a series of judicial offices. He was appointed by 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 ...

as a Judge of the East Los Angeles Municipal Court, serving December 4, 1963 – September 19, 1969. In 1969, Governor

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

appointed Arguelles as a Judge of the

Los Angeles Superior Court The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Court located in Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The Superior Court operates 36 courthouses throughout the county. Curr ...

, where he presided for nearly 15 years from September 19, 1969 to May 14, 1984. In 1984, Governor

George Deukmejian Courken George Deukmejian Jr. ( ; June 6, 1928May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, he was the state's first governor of Armenian descent. B ...

elevated Arguelles to Associate Justice of the

California Court of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

, Second Appellate District, Division 4, where he served May 14, 1984 – March 18, 1987. Finally, Arguelles was appointed by Governor Deukmejian as an associate justice of the California Supreme Court, March 18, 1987 – March 1, 1989. Though a Democrat, Arguelles was part of the conservative majority on the previously liberal-minded court. Following his court service, he became counsel to the law firm of

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1890, the firm has more than 1,900 attorneys and 1,000 staff in 21 offices across the world, including North America, Europe, ...

, and also served as an arbitrator and mediator. In 1992, he was a special consultant to the

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member Board of Supervisors, governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Se ...

to study how to cut litigation costs. Arguelles was vice-chair of the

Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, chaired by

Warren Christopher Warren Minor Christopher (October 27, 1925March 18, 2011) was an American attorney, diplomat and statesman who served as the 63rd United States secretary of state from 1993 to 1997. Born in Scranton, North Dakota, Christopher clerked for Supre ...

, which was created following the videotaped beating of

Rodney King Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965June 17, 2012) was a Black American victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was severely beaten by Police officer, officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) during his arrest after a high spe ...

by police.

Honors and awards

In 1987, Arguelles was lauded by UCLA Law School as Alumni of the Year and, in 1989, he received the UCLA Professional Achievement Award. In 2003, Arguelles was honored as Judge of the Year by the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association. Arguelles was a member of the California branch of the

Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

References

External links