Malcolm Millar Lucas (April 19, 1927 – September 28, 2016) was an American jurist and attorney who served as the 26th

Chief Justice 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 ...

. He previously served as a trial judge on the

Los Angeles County Superior Court The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Courts of California, Superior Court located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The Sup ...

and

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Central District of California The United States District Court for the Central District of California (in case citations, C.D. Cal.; commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is a United States district court, federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in South ...

Education and career

Born in Berkeley,

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 ...

, Lucas earned a

Bachelor of Arts 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 deg ...

degree from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in 1950 and a

Bachelor of Laws 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 ...

from the USC Gould School of Law in 1953. From 1954 to 1967, he was in private practice in

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, California. He practiced law with future Governor of California

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 ...

. From 1967 to 1971, he was a judge of the

. In February 1970, Lucas was the trial judge in the prosecution of

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934 – November 19, 2017) was an American criminal, cult leader, and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some cult members committed a Manson ...

for the murder of actress Sharon Tate, which continued through January 1971. In June 1970, Lucas had Manson removed from the courtroom due to his disruptive behavior.

United States District Court

On July 8, 1971, President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

nominated Lucas to a new seat on the

(based 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, ...

) created by 84 Stat. 294. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on July 29, 1971, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on April 6, 1984, due to his resignation. In April 1975, Lucas sat as trial judge in the complex

Equity Funding Equity Funding Corporation of America was a Los Angeles-based U.S. financial conglomerate that marketed a package of mutual funds and life insurance to private individuals in the 1960s and 70s. It collapsed in scandal in 1973 after former emplo ...

civil litigation, brought after a $3 billion fraud by executives at a life insurance company.

California Supreme Court

appointed Lucas to 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 ...

in 1984. He replaced Frank K. Richardson, former 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 ...

's only remaining appointee on the Court. In November 1986, Lucas was retained by the voters. However, Chief Justice Bird and two other liberal justices were not. After Bird lost her retention election, Deukmejian announced on November 26, 1986, that he would elevate then-Associate Justice Lucas to the position of chief justice. Deukmejian then announced the appointment of three new conservative Associate Justices, David Eagleson, John Arguelles, and Marcus Kaufman, thereby creating the first conservative majority on the Court in several decades.

Tenure

The decisions of the Lucas Court were pro-business, affirmed death penalty sentences imposed by the trial courts, and tended to adhere to the textualist approach. In matters of criminal law, the Lucas Court's interpretation of the law favored the government more than that of the Bird court. The Lucas court also reversed several pro-plaintiff landmark decisions in the context of tort law and insurance law. In 1988, Lucas implemented a practice that the justices produce opinions within 90 days of oral arguments. In September 1989, Chief Justice Lucas delivered the "State of the Judiciary" address to the

State Bar of California 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 ...

annual meeting in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

Personal life

On June 23, 1956, Lucas married Donna J. Fisher in Los Angeles.

Retirement and death

On October 1, 1995, he announced he would retire in May 1996 to spend more time with his family. After retiring from the Court, Lucas went back into private practice and became an arbitrator for JAMS in

. Lucas died on September 28, 2016, in Los Angeles, California. He was 89.

References

Photos and video

Photo of Judges Malcolm M. Lucas
and Thomas Reavley, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, presiding at Pepperdine University's 11th annual moot court competition, 1985. UCLA Libraries. *

External links

* *
Malcolm M. Lucas
California Supreme Court Historical Society.
Court opinions authored by Malcolm M. Lucas
Courtlistener.com.

California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.