Rose Elizabeth Bird
| Rose Bird | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 25th Chief Justice of California | |
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In office March 26, 1977 – January 5, 1987 |
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| Appointed by | Jerry Brown |
| Preceded by | Donald Wright |
| Succeeded by | Malcolm M. Lucas |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
November 2, 1936 near Tucson, Arizona |
| Died | December 4, 1999 (aged 63) Stanford, California |
Rose Elizabeth Bird (November 2, 1936 – December 4, 1999) served for 10 years as the 25th Chief Justice of California. She was the first female justice, and first female chief justice, of that court, appointed by then Governor Jerry Brown. In the November 1986 state election she also became the only Chief Justice in California history to be removed from office by the voters.
Bird was born near Tucson, Arizona. Her father, after having deserted the family, died when she was five. Her her mother, Anne, moved with Rose and her two older brothers to New York City, where Bird and her brothers grew up in poverty. She was a standout scholar in high school, winning a scholarship to Long Island University where she earned her bachelor's degree magna cum laude. She went on to graduate from the UC Berkeley School of Law (also known as Boalt Hall) in 1965.
Bird volunteered with Jerry Brown's campaign for governor and came to be seen as a trusted advisor. After Brown won the election, he appointed Bird to the position of Secretary of Agriculture. Her career was marked by several firsts: she was the first female law clerk in the Supreme Court of Nevada, the first female deputy public defender in Santa Clara County, the first woman to hold a cabinet-level job in California (as Secretary of Agriculture), the first female Chief Justice of California, and the first Chief Justice to be removed from the Supreme Court of California.
In 1966, Bird joined the Santa Clara County Public Defender's Office where, between 1966 and 1974, she held the positions of deputy public defender, senior trial deputy, and chief of the appellate division. In addition to arguing cases before the state's highest court, the Courts of Appeal, and in federal court, Bird also taught at Stanford Law School from 1972 through 1974. In February 1977, Bird was named to the high court justice as chief justice, which caused opposition due to her liberal views. Bird never wed nor had any children.
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