Evelle J. Younger

{{short description|American attorney and politician (1918–1989)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|birth_name=Evelle Jansen Younger

|name=Evelle Younger

|image=Evelle J. Younger, 1971.jpg

|caption=Official portrait, 1971

|birth_date={{birth date|1918|6|19}}

|birth_place=Stamford, Nebraska, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|1989|5|4|1918|6|19}}

|death_place=Los Angeles, California, U.S.

|resting_place=Los Angeles National Cemetery

|order=26th

|office=Attorney General of California

|term_start=January 4, 1971

|term_end=January 8, 1979

|governor=Ronald Reagan
Jerry Brown

|predecessor=Thomas C. Lynch

|successor=George Deukmejian

|order2=35th

|office2=Los Angeles County District Attorney

|term_start2=1964

|term_end2=1971

|predecessor2=William B. McKesson

|successor2=Joseph P. Busch

|party=Republican

|allegiance={{flag|United States}}

|branch={{army|United States}}

|battles=World War II
Korean War

|spouse = {{marriage|Mildred Eberhard|1942}}

|children = 1

|alma_mater = University of Nebraska

}}

Evelle Jansen Younger (June 19, 1918 – May 4, 1989) was an American lawyer who served as the California Attorney General from 1971 to 1979. Prior to his career as Attorney General, he served as the district attorney in Los Angeles where he oversaw the prosecutions of both Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan. In 1978, he had an unsuccessful run as the Republican Party nominee for Governor of California and retired from politics a year later.

He joined the firm Buchalter, Nemer, Fields, & Younger as a senior partner in 1979 where he worked until his death a decade later.

Early life and education

Younger was a second cousin twice removed of the Younger Brothers, a notable 19th-century gang of American outlaws that are often associated with the Jesse James gang.{{cite news |last1=Grace |first1=Roger M. |title=Evelle J. Younger: Related to Wild West Outlaws and to Nation's Founding Fathers |url=http://www.metnews.com/articles/2008/perspectives091708.htm |publisher=Metropolitan News-Enterprise |date=September 17, 2008}} He was born in Stamford, Nebraska in 1918 and received his law degree from Nebraska University.{{cite news |last1=Balzar |first1=John |title=Ex-Atty. Gen. Evelle Younger Is Dead at 70 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-05-05-mn-2225-story.html |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=May 5, 1989}}

Career

After graduating law school, Younger became an FBI Special Agent. At the age of 24, when he was one of J. Edgar Hoover's top agents, Younger became a member of CIA forerunner the Office of Strategic Services, serving in the Burma-China-India theater during World War II.Richard Smith, OSS: The Secret History of America's First Central Intelligence Agency, p. 18.

Younger served in the United States Army during World War II as well as Korea.[http://da.co.la.ca.us/history/younger.htm EVELLE J. YOUNGER, District Attorney, 1964-1971] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403020044/http://da.co.la.ca.us/history/younger.htm |date=April 3, 2009 }}; retrieved 18/1/15. He was a municipal judge in California from 1953 to 1958 and a superior court judge in California from 1958 to 1964, when he became district attorney of Los Angeles County.{{cite news |last1=Michaelson |first1=Judith |title=Evelle Younger - His Long Walk Between Political Raindrops |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/384596606/?terms=%22evelle%2BYounger%22%2Brepublican%2Bprimary%2Bedward%2Bdavis |work=The Los Angeles Times |date=October 10, 1978}} He also rose to the rank of Major General in the US Air Force Reserve, and was the first to be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General (Reserve) as a Special Agent in the AF Office of Special Investigations.

Early in his career as a judge, Younger hosted KTLA's weekly crime drama Armchair Detective, and was later a consultant and presiding judge on the reality show Traffic Court on KABC-TV. He also authored the book Judge and Prosecutor in Traffic Court.{{cite news |last1=Grace |first1=Roger M. |title=Evelle J. Younger: a Real-Life Judge Portrays a Judge on Television |url=http://www.metnews.com/articles/reminiscing040303.htm |publisher=Metropolitan news-Enterprise |date=April 3, 2003}}

During his time as the Los Angeles district attorney, he oversaw criminal cases which included the prosecutions of Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan. He is the first prosecutor in the United States to prosecute mass felony charges against college campus demonstrators in the 1960s. Younger was elected as the 26th Attorney General of California, the first Republican in a generation to do so.

As the Attorney General, Younger helped develop the California Environmental Quality Act. He also advocated for a broad interpretation of its applicability, filing a brief in the landmark case Friends of Mammoth v. Board of Supervisors in 1972. The ruling in the case was considered one of the most important for environmental rulings, requiring an evaluation of environmental impact prior to any public agency sanction of new construction. In the 1978 Republican primary, Younger defeated Edward M. Davis, Kenneth L. Maddy, and Pete Wilson to win the Republican gubernatorial nomination. He was defeated in the general election by incumbent Jerry Brown.{{cite news |last1=Grace |first1=Roger M. |title=Younger's Gubernatorial Loss Attributed to Hawaii Trip, Kidney Stone, Marijuana Stance |url=http://www.metnews.com/articles/2008/perspectives120208.htm |publisher=Metropolitan News-Enterprise |date=December 2, 2008}}

Younger retired from public service in 1979 and joined the firm Buchalter, Nemer, Fields, & Younger as a senior partner (named Buchalter, Nemer, Fields, Chrystie and Younger at the time).{{cite news |title=Younger Joins Firm |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/374958517/?terms=%22evelle%2BYounger%22%2Bbuchalter%2Bnemer |publisher=Sonoma West Times |date=January 11, 1979}}

Personal life

Younger married Mildred Eberhard on July 3, 1942. Their son, Eric, was born in San Francisco in 1943.{{cite news |last1=Woo |first1=Elaine |title=Obituary of Mildred Younger, 86; GOP activist, wife of former state attorney general. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-nov-16-me-younger16-story.html |access-date=March 16, 2019 |publisher=L.A. Times |date=November 16, 2006}}

Younger died from heart disease at his home in the Hollywood Hills on May 4, 1989, at the age of 70. He is interred in the Los Angeles National Cemetery alongside his wife, Mildred Eberhard Younger, who died in 2006.

References

External links

{{Find a Grave|10984577}}
[http://caag.state.ca.us/ag/history/26younger.htm Biography on Attorney General site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060925141429/http://caag.state.ca.us/ag/history/26younger.htm |date=September 25, 2006 }}
{{IMDb name|1542057}}

{{succession box|before=William B. McKesson|title=Los Angeles County District Attorney|years=1964–1971|after=Joseph P. Busch}}

{{succession box|before=Thomas C. Lynch||title=California Attorney General|years=1971–1979|after=George Deukmejian}}

{{s-ttl|title=Republican Party nominee for Governor of California|years=1978}}

Category:1918 births

Category:1989 deaths

Category:20th-century American lawyers

Category:20th-century California politicians

Category:Burials at Los Angeles National Cemetery

Category:California attorneys general

Category:California Republicans

Category:Candidates in the 1978 United States elections

Category:District attorneys in California