Honorees

Hon. Edward J. Schwartz

1912-2000

Edward Schwartz was born on March 26, 1912, in Seattle, Washington.  He moved with his family to San Diego in 1915.  As a kindergartner in downtown San Diego, he used to play on the steps of 325 F Street, the former Customs House and Post Office that later housed the federal courts during his tenure.  He attended San Diego High School and started college at San Diego State University before transferring to the University of California at Berkeley. 

He graduated from the University of California in 1934 and then University of San Francisco School of Law in 1939.  He entered private practice in San Diego, 1940-1941.  When WWII broke out, he joined the Navy as a lieutenant junior grade.  He attended the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, where he met and married his wife Gertrude.  He excelled in his Staff and Command Course, and upon graduation was assigned to Admiral’s Staff, a position he held until his service, and the war, concluded in 1945 as a lieutenant commander.  His service took him to Africa and Italy, where he assisted in the invasion of Southern France.  Soon thereafter, he participated in the planning and execution of the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.  He was stationed on the battleship “Nevada,” and was involved in planning the invasion of Japan when the war ended.  He continued to serve as a Navy reservist.

After the war, Schwartz resumed his corporate law practice in San Diego and set up a partnership with Alec Cory.  That partnership led to the establishment of the respected Propocio, Price, Cory & Schwartz law firm.  After fifteen years of general business law, Governor “Pat” Brown appointed him to the Municipal Court in 1959.  He was elected Presiding Judge of that Court and quickly earned a reputation as a hardworking judge of the “utmost competence, fairness, and understanding.”  (3/29/68, quoting Senator Thomas Kuchel).

Four years later, he was elevated to the Superior Court and he served there until his appointment in 1968 to the District Court by President Lyndon B. Johnson.  Schwartz took the place left by Judge Carter’s elevation to the Ninth Circuit.  He became the third trial judge on the federal bench, but a year later, Chief Judge Fred Kunzel died, leaving only Schwartz and Judge Jacob Weinberger.  The civil case load was crushing, but the pair had the heaviest criminal docket in the nation, estimated as high as four-times the case load of other districts.  No civil cases were called in 1968 and they conducted omnibus pretrial conferences to handle the criminal backlog (LA Daily Jrl 4/1/98, SD Evening Tribune, 3/28/68).  He served with distinction as Chief Judge of the District from 1969 to 1982, when the District was assigned five judges, and set the tone for the most collegial federal courthouse in the nation with his weekly Monday judges’ meetings at a local Chinese restaurant.  His colleagues valued his wisdom, dedication, and counsel.

In an interview in 1981, Judge Schwartz commented on the difficulty of criminal sentencing.  In state court, the indeterminate sentencing law allowed the judge to set the “term prescribed by law,” but in federal court, “I had to look the man in the eye and say ‘five years,’ ‘ten years,’ ‘twenty years.’  It was quite a sobering experience.”  Schwartz, who prided himself on being a liberal who cared about the  problems of the people, did not believe prison served the best interests of the community because no effort was made to rehabilitate inmates.  “I think our system of penology is pretty much a failure” because people who spent time in prison were likely to be much less prepared to succeed in society than they were before they went in.  (id.)   “The difficulty the judge has is that he’s not dealing with a stereotype of ‘the criminal,’ he’s dealing with a human being.”  (Id.) He took Senior Status, which was then mandatory at age 70, in 1982, and gradually reduced his criminal cases to handle civil matters exclusively. He served in that capacity until his death on March 22, 2000.

As a “senior” judge, Schwartz continued an active life as a dedicated tennis player and as an avid traveler, including bicycle tours around Europe.  He regularly accepted assignments for trial in other districts around the nation. 

Throughout his years, he was a beloved mentor to his law clerks, and he closely followed their careers with correspondence, regular lunches, and group reunions.  In September 1994, the federal courthouse was named in his honor because of his determined effort to have the 940 Front Street building built.  At the dedication ceremony, Schwartz laughed that it was an unusual move since a living person could still prove embarrassing. 

Judge Schwartz was known for his patience, even-temper, compassion, quiet dignity, and detailed knowledge of the facts and law before him – “an outstanding judge who was fair, impartial and a true gentleman.” (SDUT3/24/00 quoting Greg Vega).  His kindness on the bench immediately put litigants and lawyers at ease, yet he was very sharp intellectually (LA Daily Jrl, 4/1/98).  “He is completely fair to both sides, and no matter what the decision, both sides feel that they received a fair hearing on the merits.” (SDUT 3/1/82, quoting unnamed lawyer).

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