Richard M. Mosk (May 18, 1939 – April 17, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the

California Courts 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 District.

Early life, education, and military service

Mosk was born in Los Angeles, California, and was the son of Helen Edna (Mitchell) and

Stanley Mosk Morey Stanley Mosk (September 4, 1912 – June 19, 2001) was an American jurist, politician, and attorney. He served as Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court for 37 years (1964–2001), the longest tenure in that court's history. ...

, a former California Attorney General and state Supreme Court Justice. 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 great distinction and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, cum laude. While at Stanford, he earned three athletic letters. After military service, he was a member of the staff of the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President of the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the A ...

(President's Commission on the Assassination of President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

) and a clerk to California Supreme Court Justice

Mathew Tobriner Mathew Oscar Tobriner (April 2, 1904 – April 7, 1982) was an American lawyer and law professor who served as an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from 1962 to 1982. Early life and education A native of San Francisco, Tobriner ...

Legal career

Mosk was a litigation partner in a large Los Angeles law firm. He was a Special Deputy Federal Public Defender, 1975–76. Mosk was the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

appointed judge on the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal when it was formed and served from 1981 to 1984. He was a substitute judge on that Tribunal from 1984 to 1997. In 1997, he was reappointed to that Tribunal and served until 2001, when he was appointed as an associate justice of the California Court of Appeal. Mosk was a member of the Los Angeles County-City Fire Board of Inquiry that made recommendations to deal with brush fires. He was chair of the Los Angeles County Commission on Judicial Procedures and a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles County Law Library, of the California Museum of Science and Industry, and of Town Hall of California. He was a member of the Stanford Athletic Board. He was also a member of the Christopher Commission that investigated the

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

(1991) and was chairman and co-chairman of the Motion Picture Classification and Rating Administration that provides the parental ratings for motion pictures (1994–2000). As a lawyer, Mosk argued cases before various appellate courts, including the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

and

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 ...

. He sat

pro tem ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to 'for the time being' in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a '' locum tenens'' ('placeholder'). The phrase is ...

on the California Supreme Court. Mosk was on many domestic and international arbitration panels and was a member of a number of bar associations. He was president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Federal Bar Association and on the Council of the ABA Section of International Law and Practice. He served as a California State Bar Association examiner and as a member of the California State Bar Association Disciplinary Committee. He has lectured at

The Hague Academy of International Law The Hague Academy of International Law () is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taught in English and French and, except for External ...

and at law schools in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and the United States. Mosk taught an undergraduate class at 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 ...

. He has written articles for numerous publications. His oral history was published in California Legal History. He died on April 17, 2016, from pancreatic cancer.

Personal life

Mosk was married to Sandra (Budnitz) Mosk, an educational therapist. He had two children, Julie Morris, a psychologist, and Matthew Mosk, an Emmy award-winning television producer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosk, Richard M. 1939 births 2016 deaths Judges of the California Courts of Appeal Lawyers from Los Angeles Stanford University alumni Harvard Law School alumni The Hague Academy of International Law people Warren Commission counsel and staff 20th-century California state court judges 20th-century American lawyers