Marcus Kaufman
Encyclopedia
Marcus M. Kaufman served as the 103rd justice on the Supreme Court of California from March 1987 until his retirement in January 1990. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, Justice Kaufman served for 17 years as an Associate Justice
of the California Court of Appeal
, Fourth Appellate District, Second Division.
, Kaufman moved with his family to Los Angeles at a young age. He grew up in the Hollywood area, and developed an interest in law while in high school. He would later recall taking the bus to the L.A. Civic Center to watch federal court
proceedings. After earning his bachelor's degree at UCLA, he served in the Korean War
as an Army lieutenant.
where he was editor of the law review
, first in his class and Order of the Coif
. He graduated in 1956 and from 1956-1957 served as a law clerk to then Associate Justice Roger J. Traynor
. Justice Kaufman began his career clerking in the same court to which he would eventually return as Justice. After a year of clerking, Justice Kaufman joined the faculty of the University of Southern California
Law Center. Years later, he had a very distinguished career in private practice in San Bernardino.
in Gruenberg v. Aetna Ins. Co. in 1973 and then Silberg v. California Life Ins. Co., in 1974, when the court embraced the essential concepts of insurance bad faith
as a tort remedy in California.
In 1987, Kaufman was one of three justices appointed by Republican Gov. George Deukmejian
to replace Chief Justice
Rose Bird
and two other liberal justices voted out of office in the previous November's elections. He was expected to be among the most conservative members of the court. At times he lived up to this expectation: he joined the conservative majority in upholding the death penalty
and wrote the majority opinion
when the court allowed police to erect roadblocks in an effort to get drunk drivers off the road. Kaufman also wrote the majority opinion that allowed a corporate farm to restrict access of union organizers to worker camps on its property. But he sided with the liberal minority in dissenting on several important civil rulings: he restricted wrongful-termination suits against employers and barred the use of state antitrust laws
against corporate mergers. In another case, he joined with liberal justices to uphold the right of criminal defendants to gain access to confidential police brutality
complaints.
Justice Kaufman was rightfully viewed as a thoughtful and scholarly student of the law, always interested in carefully scrutinizing issues, precedent, and argument. He was especially notable for his kindness and concern for staff. Justice Kaufman retired from the bench in 1990 in order to spend more time with his family. In 1995, he joined the newly formed Albert, Weiland & Golden in Costa Mesa, California
, where he was of counsel
and did consulting work on appeals.
on March 26, 2003, at the age of 73 after several years of poor health. Kaufman is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Eileen, and two daughters, Sharon and Ellen. A son, Joel, died in 1977.
In facing death, Justice Kaufman told his family that one can live on after death. To this end, he wrote the following: “Ideas, values and ideals do not perish with the mind that conceived them or the life that exemplified them. They live on and play a part in the lives of those to whom they have been transmitted. And so people live on after death in the ideas, values and ideals they transmitted during their lives, which often continue to grow and spread even after death.” Those ideas, he said, need not be monumental. They can be such worthwhile concepts as “an appreciation of beauty, love of family, a recognition or fulfillment of duty or loyalty, a love of excellence, or an admiration of and appreciation for achievement.”
Marcus Kaufman Jurisprudence Award- Presented by the Anti-Defamation League
of Orange County/Long Beach in memory of Justice Marcus M. Kaufman for his exceptional work and commitment both to the legal community and to the Orange County Judiciary.
Justice Kaufman co-authored “California Practice Guide: Bad Faith (Rutter Group 1986) with Guy Kornblum and Harvey Levine as well as “California Practice Guide: Insurance Litigation” (Rutter: Encino, 1995) with H. Walter Crosky.
Associate Justice
Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...
of the California Court of Appeal
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 into six appellate districts...
, Fourth Appellate District, Second Division.
Early life
Born in Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, Kaufman moved with his family to Los Angeles at a young age. He grew up in the Hollywood area, and developed an interest in law while in high school. He would later recall taking the bus to the L.A. Civic Center to watch federal court
United States federal courts
The United States federal courts make up the judiciary branch of federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government.-Categories:...
proceedings. After earning his bachelor's degree at UCLA, he served in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
as an Army lieutenant.
Law career
After returning home, Justice Kaufman attended USC Law SchoolUniversity of Southern California Law School
The University of Southern California Law School , located in Los Angeles, California, is a law school within the University of Southern California...
where he was editor of the law review
Law review
A law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association...
, first in his class and Order of the Coif
Order of the Coif
The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. A student at an American law school who earns a Juris Doctor degree and graduates in the top 10 percent of his or her class is eligible for membership if the student's law school has a chapter of the...
. He graduated in 1956 and from 1956-1957 served as a law clerk to then Associate Justice Roger J. Traynor
Roger J. Traynor
Roger John Traynor served as the 23rd Chief Justice of California from 1964 to 1970, and as an Associate Justice from 1940 to 1964...
. Justice Kaufman began his career clerking in the same court to which he would eventually return as Justice. After a year of clerking, Justice Kaufman joined the faculty of the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
Law Center. Years later, he had a very distinguished career in private practice in San Bernardino.
Judicial career
From 1970-1987, Justice Kaufman served as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal of California’s Fourth Appellate District, Division Two. His opinion in Fletcher v. Western National Life Ins. Co. in 1970, while on the Fourth District Court of Appeal is regarded as an insightful view of what was to come from the California Supreme CourtSupreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest state court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco and regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.-Composition:...
in Gruenberg v. Aetna Ins. Co. in 1973 and then Silberg v. California Life Ins. Co., in 1974, when the court embraced the essential concepts of insurance bad faith
Insurance bad faith
Insurance bad faith is a legal term of art that describes a tort claim that an insured person may have against an insurance company for its bad acts. Under the law of most jurisdictions in the United States, insurance companies owe a duty of good faith and fair dealing to the persons they insure...
as a tort remedy in California.
In 1987, Kaufman was one of three justices appointed by Republican Gov. George Deukmejian
George Deukmejian
Courken George Deukmejian, Jr. born June 6, 1928) is an Armenian American politician from California who as a Republican served as the 35th Governor of California and as California Attorney General .-Early life:...
to replace Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
Rose Bird
Rose Bird
Rose Elizabeth Bird served for 10 years as the 25th Chief Justice of California. She was the first female Justice, and first female Chief Justice, on that court, appointed by then Governor Jerry Brown...
and two other liberal justices voted out of office in the previous November's elections. He was expected to be among the most conservative members of the court. At times he lived up to this expectation: he joined the conservative majority in upholding the death penalty
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
and wrote the majority opinion
Majoritarianism
Majoritarianism is a traditional political philosophy or agenda which asserts that a majority of the population is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society, and has the right to make decisions that affect the society...
when the court allowed police to erect roadblocks in an effort to get drunk drivers off the road. Kaufman also wrote the majority opinion that allowed a corporate farm to restrict access of union organizers to worker camps on its property. But he sided with the liberal minority in dissenting on several important civil rulings: he restricted wrongful-termination suits against employers and barred the use of state antitrust laws
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
against corporate mergers. In another case, he joined with liberal justices to uphold the right of criminal defendants to gain access to confidential police brutality
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
complaints.
Justice Kaufman was rightfully viewed as a thoughtful and scholarly student of the law, always interested in carefully scrutinizing issues, precedent, and argument. He was especially notable for his kindness and concern for staff. Justice Kaufman retired from the bench in 1990 in order to spend more time with his family. In 1995, he joined the newly formed Albert, Weiland & Golden in Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 109,960 at the 2010 census. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a primarily suburban and "edge" city with an economy based on retail, commerce, and light...
, where he was of counsel
Of counsel
Of counsel is often the title of an attorney who is employed by a law firm or an organization, but is not an associate or a partner. Some firms use titles like "counsel," "special counsel," and "senior counsel" for the same concept...
and did consulting work on appeals.
Declining health and death
Justice Kaufman died of renal failureRenal failure
Renal failure or kidney failure describes a medical condition in which the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood...
on March 26, 2003, at the age of 73 after several years of poor health. Kaufman is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Eileen, and two daughters, Sharon and Ellen. A son, Joel, died in 1977.
In facing death, Justice Kaufman told his family that one can live on after death. To this end, he wrote the following: “Ideas, values and ideals do not perish with the mind that conceived them or the life that exemplified them. They live on and play a part in the lives of those to whom they have been transmitted. And so people live on after death in the ideas, values and ideals they transmitted during their lives, which often continue to grow and spread even after death.” Those ideas, he said, need not be monumental. They can be such worthwhile concepts as “an appreciation of beauty, love of family, a recognition or fulfillment of duty or loyalty, a love of excellence, or an admiration of and appreciation for achievement.”
Publications and Awards
Kaufman Campbell Award- Presented by the San Bernardino County Bar Association in honor of Marcus M. Kaufman and Joseph B Campbell. This award is given to the judges who have demonstrated the highest standards of judicial excellence in the pursuit of justice while exemplifying courtesy, integrity, wisdom and impartiality.Marcus Kaufman Jurisprudence Award- Presented by the Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
of Orange County/Long Beach in memory of Justice Marcus M. Kaufman for his exceptional work and commitment both to the legal community and to the Orange County Judiciary.
Justice Kaufman co-authored “California Practice Guide: Bad Faith (Rutter Group 1986) with Guy Kornblum and Harvey Levine as well as “California Practice Guide: Insurance Litigation” (Rutter: Encino, 1995) with H. Walter Crosky.