San Diego became its headquarters, and the court went every other month for two-day sessions in San Bernardino. A new Fifth District sitting in Fresno siphoned off the Central Valley counties, leaving the six counties of Inyo, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego and Imperial for the Fourth District. The territory of the Fourth District shrank in 1961. Coughlin of San Bernardino joined the court in 1960, replacing Justice Mussell. Shepard of Fresno became Associate Justice. Another decade passed and Justice Griffin became Presiding Justice and Arthur C. Ten years later Stanley Mussell of San Bernardino replaced Justice Marks. Jennings of San Diego joined the court in 1931 and was replaced by Lloyd E.

Cary became Presiding Justice for the balance of the year, followed by Presiding Justice Barnard who held the title over twenty-seven years. Marks of Santa Ana completed the panel of three justices -none of whom applied for the positions but were persuaded by Governor Young to take them 'as a means of rendering a public service.' In May 1930 after the death of Presiding Justice Sloane, William P. Sloane Canyon Road, east of Singing Hills Country Club, is named after him.

He had previously served as an Associate Justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Two, in Los Angeles (1919-1920) and as an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court (1920-1923). Sloane of San Diego became the first Presiding Justice. The new district included the counties of Fresno, Tulare, Kings, Kern, Inyo, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, San Diego and Imperial. It held its first session in San Bernardino in October 1929. It would be the only pure circuit-riding intermediate appellate court in California. It is apparent the senators were well aware of weather, in providing for the summer months to be in San Diego. It was a circuit court, sitting in Fresno January through April, in San Diego May through August, and in San Bernardino September through December. Through the efforts of three state senators from San Diego, Fresno and San Bernardino, the Fourth District was born in 1929 just before the Great Depression. Lawyers had become tired of long trips to Los Angeles. In the latter 1920's, the seeds were planted for the Fourth District. Lawyers from all over Southern California went to Los Angeles to argue their cases. Three districts were created in 1904, the First in San Francisco, the Second in Los Angeles and the Third in Sacramento. The intermediate appellate court provided the answer. By the turn of the century the increase in population and court cases placed a burden on the Supreme Court. Originally Written by Former Presiding Justice Gerald Brown 1Ĭalifornia's judicial system started in 1849 with its Supreme Court taking all appeals from the superior courts. History of the Court of Appeal Fourth Appellate District, Division One

Associate justice william s dato