Judge served for four decades
Jesse W. Curtis, 102, a retired jurist who served nearly four decades on the bench, including 28 years as a judge in the U.S. District Court for Central California, died of natural causes Aug. 5 in Irvine.
Curtis was first appointed to the bench in 1953 by then-Gov. Earl Warren to serve in the Superior Court in San Bernardino County. He served there for nine years until President Kennedy elevated him in 1962 to the Central District Court, which has jurisdiction over seven counties, including Los Angeles. During his federal career, among the many cases he presided over was the first jury trial held in American Samoa.
He retired from the bench in 1990 when he was 85. According to his family, he stepped aside largely in protest of the “three strikes” sentencing guidelines, which he believed were too rigid.
After his retirement, he served as a judicial arbitrator. He also devoted himself to his lifelong passion as a yachtsman. At 85 he restored a classic powerboat. Twice, he placed first at the opening day festivities at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club.
The descendant of a pioneer family that arrived in California from Iowa on the same wagon train as Wyatt Earp, Curtis was born Dec. 26, 1905, in San Bernardino. He graduated from San Bernardino High School before attending the University of Redlands, where he played football and ran track. He earned his law degree from Harvard in 1931 and joined his father’s law practice. He was in private practice for 22 years until becoming a judge.
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