Daniel J. Kremer (born November 21, 1937) is a former Presiding Justice of the California Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One, having been appointed to the post by Republican Governor George Deukmejian in 1985. [1]
Born in Olympia, Washington, Kremer attended Everett High School in Everett, Washington, but his attendance at the school was interrupted when he contracted polio in one of the last epidemics of the disease in the 1950s. Kremer won the state title of best high school debater as a senior and graduated from Everett in 1956. [1]
Kremer earned his A.B. in 1960 from Stanford University, where he served as captain of the debate team for two years and won the Joffre Debate [3] against the University of California, Berkeley. After earning his LL.B. from Stanford Law School in 1963, Kremer served as a Deputy Attorney General in Sacramento, California. In 1972, he was promoted to head of the criminal division in the Attorney General's San Diego office. In 1983, Kremer was again promoted, this time to Chief Assistant Attorney General heading the statewide criminal division. [1]
Later that year, Republican Governor George Deukmejian appointed Kremer to serve as a San Diego County Superior Court Judge. In 1985, Deukmejian elevated Kremer to serve as Presiding Justice of the California Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One. During his service as Presiding Justice, Kremer served as Chair of the Judicial Council's Criminal Trial Delay Reduction Committee, Library Technology Committee, and Court Facilities Task Force. The Judicial Council named Kremer the 2002 Jurist of the Year. [1]
As Presiding Justice, Kremer wrote court opinions ruling in favor of a grower by upholding a $1.7 million judgment against the United Farm Workers for holding an illegal strike, [4] in favor of a teenager by overturning a $166.50 speeding ticket fine imposed by a traffic court, [5] that a widowed father should be given custody of his daughter after his parents-in-law and their attorney used "inexcusable" tactics to try to take custody from him, [6] that an insurance company could not sue to recover losses that occurred in space exploration, [7] that a fundamentalist Christian mother convicted of civil contempt could be charged with felony child-stealing for taking her teenage son from his gay father without violating her constitutional protection against double jeopardy, [8] that a city did not act with gross negligence in a surfer's death by failing to call for off-duty lifeguards, [9] that police did have probable cause to arrest the co-worker of a bludgeoned teenage murder victim, [10] that the owner of an apartment complex could refuse to allow the installation of Cox Cable equipment, [11] and that doctors reporting suspected cases of child abuse were immune from lawsuits by parents. [12]
Presiding Justice Kremer has been active in legal education through programs for the California Judges Association, San Diego law schools and a variety of lawyer and civic groups.
After serving as Presiding Justice for 18 years, Kremer retired on July 31, 2003. [1]
Courken George Deukmejian Jr. 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.
Rose Elizabeth Bird was the 25th Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. She was the first female law clerk of the Nevada Supreme Court, the first female deputy public defender in Santa Clara County, the first woman to serve in the California State Cabinet, and the first female Chief Justice of California.
David Newton Eagleson was an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from 1987 to 1991.
Ronald Marc George is an American jurist. He previously served as the 27th Chief Justice of California from 1996 to 2011. Governor Pete Wilson appointed George as an associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1991 and elevated George to Chief Justice in 1996.
John Kalar Van de Kamp was an American politician and lawyer who served as Los Angeles County District Attorney from 1975 until 1981, and then as the 28th Attorney General of California from 1983 until 1991.
Raymond Corley Fisher was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Charles Suren "Chuck" "Pooch" Poochigian is an American jurist serving as Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal. A member of the Republican Party, he is also a former California State Senator.
Carlos Roberto Moreno is an American jurist who is the former United States Ambassador to Belize, serving from June 24, 2014, to January 20, 2017. Previously, he served as a judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California from February 4, 1998, to October 18, 2001, and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from October 18, 2001, to February 28, 2011. Following his retirement from the bench, Moreno was counsel with Irell & Manella from 2011 to 2013. He has been a self-employed JAMS arbitrator since returning from Belize in 2017.
David Ormon Carter is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is the California Superior Court located in Los Angeles County. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States.
Marcus Maurice Kaufman served as the 103rd justice on the Supreme Court of California from March 18, 1987, until his retirement on January 31, 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.
Malcolm Millar Lucas was an American jurist and attorney who served as the 26th Chief Justice of California. He previously served as a trial judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court and United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Paul Jeffrey Watford is an American lawyer who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2012 to 2023. In 2016, The New York Times identified Watford as a potential Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia. Watford resigned his judgeship in 2023 and became a partner at the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
Christopher Clarke Cottle is an American lawyer and jurist, who served as the Presiding Justice of the California Sixth District Court of Appeal from 1993 to 2001, Associate Justice of that court from 1988 to 1993, and District Attorney of Santa Cruz County from 1975 to 1977. Cottle holds the unusual status of having been appointed to judgeships by both Democratic and Republican governors. He is also a former captain of the Stanford University football team.
The Judiciary of California or the Judicial Branch of California is defined under the California Constitution as holding the judicial power of the state of California which is vested in the Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeal and the Superior Courts. The judiciary has a hierarchical structure with the California Supreme Court at the top, California Courts of Appeal as the primary appellate courts, and the California Superior Courts as the primary trial courts.
John Byron Owens is an American judge and lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Charles S. Burnell served 21 years as a judge in Los Angeles County, California, presiding over trials that sometimes involved Hollywood motion-picture personalities. Several opinions from higher courts castigated or chastised Burnell for his activities or statements in court.
Armand M. Arabian was an American lawyer who served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California from February 3, 1990, to February 28, 1996.
John Arthur Arguelles was an American attorney and associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from March 18, 1987, to March 1, 1989. Arguelles was the second Latino to serve on California's high court and was one of the founding members of the Mexican American Bar Association of Los Angeles.
Stanley Martin Weisberg is a former prosecutor and Los Angeles County Superior Court judge known for presiding over the trials of the police officers charged with the beating of Rodney King, and of brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, in the trial for the murder of their parents. In a number of cases, he made controversial rulings that were subject to criticism.