The "Rose Elizabeth Bird Award" was established to recognize members of the judiciary who have dedicated their lives to ensuring that, regardless of any outside pressures that may come their way, their performance on the bench is guided only by the "The Rule of Law." These courageous and outstanding individuals are those who help to protect and preserve the goals and ideals of our American justice system at the judicial level, where all people, rich or poor, uneducated or showered with letters and college degrees, articulate or unable to speak for themselves, are all entitled, as a fundament right, to be treated equally under the law in our courts. Rose Elizabeth Bird was precisely that kind of jurist.

Chief Justice Bird, the first woman to serve on the California State Supreme Court, died on December 4, 1999. 

Here below is an excerpt from a press release issued at the time of her death by the Judicial Council of California:

The 25th Chief Justice of the state’s highest court, Chief Justice Bird was appointed to office in 1977 by former Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. and left office in January 1987.  As Chief Justice, she was chair of the Judicial Council of California, the constitutional body responsible for improving state court administration.

Upon learning of her death, Chief Justice Ronald M. George made the following statement that highlights her achievements while in office:
“Chief Justice Bird was a trailblazer as the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, that now has three women among its seven members.  She made many contributions to the administration of the California court system and the Supreme Court in particular.  Among other things, Chief Justice Bird appointed the committee to implement Proposition 32, which changed the court’s procedures for granting cases for review, and oversaw the implementation of its recommendations.

“The first computers were instituted at the court during Chief Justice Bird’s tenure.  She also established the Committee on Gender Bias in the Courts just before leaving office in 1987.  That committee was expanded by her successor, Chief Justice Malcolm M. Lucas, and provided a report and recommendations that continue to be implemented statewide today.  She also was an early supporter of state funding for the trial courts, since implemented throughout California. As a jurist, she was a strong and eloquent advocate for her views.  Our thoughts are with her family and friends.”

When Chief Justice Bird appointed the Committee on Gender Bias in the Courts in 1987, she laid the foundation for future studies during the tenures of both Chief Justices Lucas and George on the state courts’ treatment of persons based on gender, race and ethnicity, sexual preferences, and disabilities.
Among her other accomplishments in court administration was the Judicial Council’s adoption of the first rule of court in 1984 permitting television and photographic coverage of court proceedings in trial and appellate courts with the consent of the court. In the area of technology, Chief Justice Bird introduced word and data processing to the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal.

In 1965, Chief Justice Bird received her J.D. degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.  After graduation, she clerked for the Chief Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court.  In 1966, she became the first woman hired as a deputy public defender in Santa Clara County, and practiced criminal law in that office for eight years.  From 1972 to 1974, she taught criminal and consumer law at Stanford Law School.

In 1975, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. appointed her as the first woman to serve as a cabinet member in California.  As Secretary of the Agriculture and Services Agency, she had administrative responsibility over 12 different state agencies. On March 26, 1977, she was sworn in as Chief Justice of California, a position she held until January 1987.

And here below are some quotes from Rose Elizabeth Bird collected over the years in which she held office as Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court:

Year 2006 - Rose Elizabeth Bird Award - Honorable Robert Fairwell, Superior Court, Alameda County

Year 2005 - None

Year 2004 - Rose Elizabeth Bird Award - Honorable Judge Herbert Donaldson , Superior Court, San Francisco County (click on this link to view the presentation in Real Player)

Year 2003 - Rose Elizabeth Bird Award - Honorable Judge Joseph Karesh (1908 - 2002) , Superior Court, San Francisco and Alameda Counties (1908 - 2002)

Year 2002 - Rose Elizabeth Bird Award - Honorable Harold Shabo, Superior Court, Los Angeles County (Ret.)

Year 2001 - Rose Elizabeth Bird Award - Honorable LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, Superior Court, Santa Clara County (Ret.)

2000 - The Honorable Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird (1936 - 1999)

* Year 2000 - Rose Elizabeth Bird Award Inaugural Address by Marin County Public Defender Joseph Spaeth, Highlighting the Creation of this New Award. This presentation was made on April 28, 2000, in Palm Springs, California at the California Public Defenders Association's Annual Convention and Training Program.

 

*Note: The audio and video programs on this web site and all other materials on this web site are protected under Federal and State Copyright laws. Individuals are permitted to view these materials and media for their own personal and private use only, and any copying, distribution, or storage of them or any portion of them for any purpose beyond personal viewing is prohibited without written permission from the California Public Defenders Association.

 

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