San Diego Criminal Justice Memorial
Honorees
A memorial directory honoring deceased judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys who advanced criminal justice in San Diego County.
Hon. Elizabeth Riggs
1942-2017
Judge Elizabeth Riggs, the first African-American woman to serve as a judge in San Diego County, died on January 31, 2017, after a seven-year battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. She was 75.
Judge Riggs was born in Camden, N.J., the fourth of seven children. She earned her undergraduate degree from Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., and her law degree from Rutgers University. After obtaining her law degree in 1973, Judge Riggs moved to Bakersfield to work for the California Rural Legal Aid Society. In 1974, Judge Riggs moved to San Diego, where she worked as an assistant district attorney and later as a deputy attorney general.
Governor Jerry Brown appointed Judge Riggs to the municipal court bench in 1979. She served most of her time on the bench in El Cajon, where she began the first domestic violence court in 1997. She retired from the bench in 2002, but remained active in the legal community, including serving on substitute judicial assignments throughout Southern California. Beyond her service on the bench, Judge Riggs was active in community organizations. She was one of the founders of the Association of Black Attorneys of San Diego, which later changed its name to the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association. She also served on the boards of the San Diego Legal Aid Society, the Urban League, and the African-American Museum of Fine Arts. Judge Riggs was named a “Legend of the Bar” by the San Diego Bar History Committee. In 2007, she was honored as Woman of the Year by California’s 39th Senate district. In 2008, she was inducted as a trailblazer in the San Diego County Women’s Hall of Fame. Judge Riggs is survived by three children – Luther Riggs-Zeigen, Michael Riggs and Adam Riggs-Zeigen – and three grandchildren.