Mathew Tobriner

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Mathew Tobriner

| image = Mathew Tobriner, 1975.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption =

| order =

| office = Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court

| termstart = July 2, 1962

| termend = January 20, 1982

| nominator =

| appointer = Governor Pat Brown

| predecessor = Maurice T. Dooling Jr.

| successor = Cruz Reynoso

| office1 = Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, First District

| termstart1 = 1959

| termend1 = July 1, 1962

| nominator1 =

| appointer1 = Governor Pat Brown

| predecessor1 =

| successor1 =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1904|04|02}}

| birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1982|04|07|1904|04|02}}

| death_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| religion =

| spouse = {{marriage|Rosabelle Rose|May 19, 1939}}

| birth_name = Mathew Oscar Tobriner

| education = Stanford University (BA, MA)
Harvard University (LLB)
University of California, Berkeley (JSD)

}}

Mathew Oscar Tobriner (April 2, 1904 – April 7, 1982) was an American lawyer and law professor who served as an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from 1962 to 1982.

Early life and education

A native of San Francisco, Tobriner was educated at Lowell High School and was a member of its famed Lowell Forensic Society, the nation's oldest high school debate team. He attended Stanford University, and in 1924 received his A.B. degree with Phi Beta Kappa honors, and the next year his M.A.{{cite news|title=Stanford Has Seventeen Men at Harvard Schools|url=https://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19261028-01.2.38&srpos=2&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-%22mathew+o.+tobriner%22------|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=The Stanford Daily|issue=21|date=28 October 1926|volume = 70}}{{cite book|last1=Tobriner|first1=Mathew O.|title=Business practices of cooperative marketing associations (M.A. thesis)|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/654624956|via=Worldcat.org|publisher=Stanford University|accessdate=September 15, 2017|date=1924|oclc=654624956}} In 1927, he graduated from Harvard Law School magna cum laude and Order of the Coif with a LL.B.{{cite news|title=California Supreme Court Justice Mathew Tobriner dead at 78|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/04/07/California-Supreme-Court-Justice-Mathew-Tobriner-dead-at-78/6232387003600/|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=United Press International|date=April 7, 1982}} In April 1928, he was admitted before the California Bar. He continued his graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was awarded a Doctor of Juridical Science in 1932.{{cite book|last1=Tobriner|first1=Mathew O.|title=Industrial stabilization and the Sherman act (Ph.D. thesis)|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/29529762|via=Worldcat.org|publisher=University of California|accessdate=September 15, 2017|date=May 1932|oclc=29529762}}

Legal and judicial career

After law school, Tobriner entered private practice and specialized in labor law. In 1928, he founded the firm of Tobriner, Lazarus, Brundage & Neyhart, in San Francisco and Los Angeles where he represented the American Federation of Labor and various unions for over 25 years, except for stints working at public agencies.{{cite news|title=A.F.L. Acts to Foil Growers|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SBS19410524.1.1&srpos=5&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22mathew+tobriner%22-------1|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=San Bernardino Sun|issue=46|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=24 May 1941|page=1|quote=Mathew Tobriner, A.F.L. western counsel.}}{{cite news|title=CIO Workers Pledge Back Canned Vote|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MT19460826.2.15&srpos=3&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22mathew+tobriner%22-------1|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=Madera Tribune|issue=151|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=26 August 1946|page=1}}{{cite news|title=Key Lines Idle Despite Order|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SBS19530920.1.44&srpos=12&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22mathew+o.+tobriner%22-------1|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=San Bernardino Sun|issue=17|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=20 September 1953|volume = 60|page=45|quote=Mathew O. Tobriner, attorney for the striking AFL Carmen's Union}}{{cite news|title=SP Embargo On Less Than Carloads As RRs Swamped|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MT19580813.2.3&srpos=4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22mathew+tobriner%22-------1|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=Madera Tribune|agency=UPI|issue=66|date=13 August 1958|page=1}}

Tobriner was active in Democratic Party politics. From 1932 to 1936, during the New Deal administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Tobriner served as chief attorney in the solicitor's office of the United States Department of Agriculture. In 1948, he was state vice-chair of President Harry Truman's re-election campaign. In May 1950, he was northern California chair of the campaign of Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas for the United States Senate.{{cite news|title=Tobriner to Help Douglas Campaign|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MT19500504.2.116&srpos=5&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22mathew+o.+tobriner%22-------1|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=Madera Tribune|issue=30|date=4 May 1950|page=12}}

From 1958 to 1959, Tobriner taught as an associate professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. In 1959, Governor Pat Brown appointed Tobriner as an associate justice of the California Court of Appeal for the First District.{{cite book|last1=Newman|first1=Roger K.|title=The Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law|date=2009|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven, CT|page=[https://archive.org/details/yalebiographical00newm/page/545 545]|isbn=978-0-300-11300-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/yalebiographical00newm|url-access=registration|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}

In June 1962, Governor Brown elevated Tobriner to Associate Justice of the state Supreme Court to fill the unexpired term of Maurice T. Dooling Jr., who had resigned. In November 1974, Tobriner stood for re-election and was retained.{{cite news|title=Complete National, California Election Returns|url=https://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19741106-01.2.11&srpos=5&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-%22mathew+o.+tobriner%22------|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=The Stanford Daily|issue=33|date=6 November 1974|volume = 166|page=2}} In the 1960s, Tobriner was part of the liberal majority on the court that included Chief Justice Roger Traynor, Raymond L. Sullivan, Raymond E. Peters, and Stanley Mosk.{{cite news|title=Mathew Tobriner; Justice for 19 Years on Coast High Court|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/09/obituaries/matthew-tobriner-justice-for-19-years-on-coast-high-court.html|accessdate=September 17, 2017|work=New York Times|agency=Associated Press|date=April 9, 1982}}{{cite book|last1=Bell|first1=Jonathan|title=California Crucible: The Forging of Modern American Liberalism|date=2011|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia, PA|isbn=978-0-8122-0624-1|page=240|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYM2RUlUTMsC&q=mathew+tobriner%2C+The+new+individualism+in+the+law.&pg=PA240|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}{{cite news|title=Reagan Appoints New Judge|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19700408.2.95&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22justice+tobriner%22-------1|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=Desert Sun|issue=210|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=8 April 1970|page=22}} In 1976, as one of the three members on the California Commission on Judicial Appointments, Tobriner cast the deciding vote in approving the nomination of Rose Bird as the first female Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court.{{cite news|title=Rose Bird Now Chief Justice|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19770326.2.8&srpos=8&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22mathew+o.+tobriner%22-------1|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=Desert Sun|agency=UPI|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=26 March 1977|page=A1}}

= Notable opinions =

Tobriner's tenure on the state's high court is notable for several decisions he authored in the areas of constitutional law and civil rights, property, contracts and torts.

In 1963, Tobriner's opinion in Tunkl v. Regents of the University of California established a six-factor test to determine whether a contract relates to the "public interest," such that a contract or provision therein may be found invalid as contrary to public policy.[https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/tunkl-v-regents-university-california-27188-21 Tunkl v. Regents of the University of California], 60 Cal.2d 92, 383 P.2d 441 (Cal. 1963)

His 1965 opinion in People v. Dorado, ruling that a person accused of a crime must be advised by the police of a right to remain silent and to obtain counsel, presaged the U.S. Supreme Court's Miranda v. Arizona (1966).[http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/people-v-dorado-24423 People v. Dorado] (1966), 62 Cal.2d 342. Retrieved September 15, 2017.

In 1966, Tobriner explained in Morrison v. State Board of Education that gay teachers are entitled to employment in public schools absent a "showing that an individual's homosexuality renders him unfit for the job from which he has been excluded."[http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/morrison-v-state-board-education-27498 Morrison v. State Board of Education] (1966), 1 Cal.3d 214. Retrieved September 15, 2017.

In April 1975, Tobriner addressed a case arising out of a labor action. Under California law it was illegal for public employees to strike.[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9982811473355419587&hl=en&as_sdt=2006 City and County of San Francisco v. Cooper], 534 P.2d 403, 13 Cal. 3d 898, 120 Cal. Rptr. 707 (1975). Despite the statute, San Francisco city employees picketed city hall and shut down municipal services. After a week, Mayor Joseph Alioto and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed to the strikers' demands.{{cite news|title=Mayor's Action Settles Strike|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19750822.2.2&srpos=11&e=------197-en--20--1--txt-txIN-Mayor+Alioto+strike----1975---1|accessdate=September 20, 2017|work=Desert Sun|agency=UPI|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=22 August 1975|page=A1}} The city controller, however, refused to payout what he believed were illegal salaries. The California Supreme Court ordered the city controller to pay the salaries, with Tobriner's majority opinion finding that contracts secured through illegal strikes are still legally enforceable.

In 1974, Tobriner wrote the decision of Green v. Superior Court, 517 P.2d 1168, that established the doctrine of implied warranty of habitability in residential leases in California, which requires landlords to maintain leased dwellings in a habitable condition.[http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/green-v-superior-court-30265 Green v. Superior Court] (1974), 10 Cal.3d 616, 517 P.2d 1168. Retrieved September 15, 2017.

In 1976, Tobriner wrote the decision of Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425, 551 P.2d 334, 131 Cal. Rptr. 14 (Cal. 1976), the ruling that held that mental health professionals have a duty to protect individuals who are being threatened with bodily harm by a patient. He famously wrote, "...the confidential character of patient-psychotherapist communications must yield to the extent that disclosure is essential to avert danger to others. The protective privilege ends where the public peril begins ..."

Also in 1976, Tobriner also authored the majority opinion in the landmark case of Marvin v. Marvin, 557 P.2d 106 (Cal. 1976),[http://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/marvin-v-marvin-27965 Marvin v. Marvin], 557 P.2d 106 (1976). which held that implied contracts may be found in non-marital relationships. In other words, if a couple lives together for a substantial period of time, one of the parties may be required to make payments to the other upon the dissolution of the relationship—commonly called "palimony."{{cite book|last1=Pleck|first1=Elizabeth H.|title=Not Just Roommates: Cohabitation After the Sexual Revolution|date=2012|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago, IL|isbn=978-0-226-67103-1|page=153|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aiva6zfP8iAC&q=mathew+tobriner%2C+The+new+individualism+in+the+law.&pg=PA153|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}

In 1978, as Acting Chief Justice, Tobriner wrote the decision in the products liability case Barker v. Lull Engineering Co., 20 Cal.3d 413 (Cal. 1978), establishing a plaintiff-friendly standard by which a product might be shown to be defective either because it failed to meet ordinary consumer expectations or because the benefits of the product do not outweigh the risks inherent in its design.[https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/barker-v-lull-engineering-co-30437 "Barker v. Lull Engineering Co.], 20 Cal.3d 413 (Cal. 1978)

Finally, Tobriner wrote the majority opinion in People v. Woody, 394 P.2d 813 (Cal. 1964), overturning a conviction for peyote use by a Native American Church member on First Amendment grounds.{{Original research inline|date=July 2012}} Weighing the asserted compelling state interest in controlling drug abuse with the Free Exercise Clause, he found that the balance favored constitutional protection of the peyote use and practice, stating:

"On the other hand, the right to free religious expression embodies a precious heritage of our history. In a mass society, which presses at every point toward conformity, the protection of a self-expression, however unique, of the individual and the group becomes ever more important. The varying current of the subcultures that flow into the mainstream of our national life give it depth and beauty. We preserve a greater value than an ancient tradition when we protect the rights of the Indians who honestly practiced an old religion in using peyote one night at a meeting in a desert hogan near Needles, California."

= Judicial clerks =

Tobriner had several notable law clerks. These include Jerry Brown, the son of Governor Pat Brown, who had appointed Tobriner to the Court and who was still governor when the younger Brown clerked for Tobriner. Jerry Brown would later serve as Governor of California from 1975 to 1983, and again in 2011, and as Attorney General of California from 2007 to 2011.{{cite news|title=Jerry Brown |publisher=California Department of Justice |url=http://ag.ca.gov/ag/brown.php |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119094345/http://ag.ca.gov/ag/brown.php |archivedate=2009-11-19 }} Another of Tobriner's law clerks, Laurence Tribe, became a professor of law at Harvard Law School and a preeminent expert on United States constitutional law.{{cite journal|last1=Tribe|first1=Laurence H.|title=Remembering Mathew Tobriner|journal=Cal. L. Rev.|date=1982|volume=70|page=876|url=http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/californialawreview/vol70/iss4/2/|doi=10.15779/Z382J0S|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Gelin|first1=Deborah|title=Time Names Law Professor As Major Shaper of Future|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1977/3/15/time-names-law-professor-as-major/|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=Harvard Crimson|date=March 15, 1977}} Finally, from 1964 to 1965 Richard M. Mosk clerked for Tobriner, and went on to become a justice of the California Court of Appeal.{{cite web|title=Division Five: Associate Justice Richard M. Mosk|url=http://www.courts.ca.gov/2447.htm|publisher=California Court of Appeal, Division Five|accessdate=September 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110808143804/http://www.courts.ca.gov/2447.htm|archive-date=August 8, 2011|url-status=dead}}

= Retirement =

In January 1982, Tobriner retired from the high court and his seat was filled by Governor Jerry Brown's appointment of Cruz Reynoso.{{cite news|title=Around the Nation: Hispanic Judge Accepted For California Top Court|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/21/us/around-the-nation-hispanic-judge-accepted-f-or-california-top-court.html|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=New York Times|date=January 20, 1982}} Tobriner died on April 7, 1982, in San Francisco.

Honors and awards

Tobriner was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from both the Santa Clara University and the University of San Diego.{{cite news|last1=Office of Public Information|title=News release: Calif. Supreme Court Justice Tobriner to Headline USD School of Law 25th Anniversary, April 14|url=http://digital.sandiego.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4296&context=newsreleases|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=University of San Diegeo|date=March 28, 1980|format=PDF}} The Hastings College of Law holds an annual lecture in Tobriner's honor.{{cite journal|last1=Grodin|first1=Joseph R.|title=The Mathew O. Tobriner Memorial Lectures at UC Hastings|journal=California Historical Society Newsletter|date=Spring–Summer 2012|page=6|url=https://www.cschs.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/CSCHS-2012-Newsletter-Spring-Summer.pdf|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}{{cite web|title=Mathew O. Tobriner Memorial Lectures|url=http://www.uchastings.edu/news/scholarship/tobriner/index.php|publisher=University of California, Hastings College of the Law|accessdate=September 15, 2017}} The Legal Aid Society of San Francisco, which Tobriner once led, awards an annual "Mathew O. Tobriner Public Service Award."{{cite web|title=Armstrong wins law service award|url=https://magazine.scu.edu/winter2003/mm-armstrong.cfm|publisher=Santa Clara Magazine|accessdate=September 15, 2017|date=Winter 2003}}{{cite web|title=Media advisory: Chief Justice George Receives Tobriner Public Service Award|url=http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/MA19-06.PDF|publisher=California State Courts|accessdate=September 15, 2017|date=June 26, 2006}}

Personal life

On May 19, 1939, Tobriner married Rosabelle Rose.{{cite news|title=Obituary: Rosabelle Rose Tobriner|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=161365265|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=San Francisco Chronicle|publisher=Legacy.com|date=December 2, 2012}}{{cite news|title=Awards for Mt. Zion Women|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=JW19670526-01.2.16&srpos=2&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22mathew+tobriner%22-------1|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=The Jewish News of Northern California|issue=22|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=26 May 1967|volume = 117|page=3}} They had two sons: Michael Charles Tobriner, who became an attorney in San Francisco, and Stephen Oscar Tobriner, who became a professor of architecture at the University of California.{{cite web|title=Law and Mediation Office of Michael C. Tobriner|url=http://www.tobrinerlaw.com/|publisher=The Tobriner Law Firm|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Nho|first1=Jane|title=Sanford Hirshen, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of architecture, dies at 78|url=http://www.dailycal.org/2013/10/14/sanford-hirshen-uc-berkeley-professor-emeritus-of-architecture-dies-at-78/|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=Daily Californian|date=October 14, 2013|quote=Stephen Tobriner ... a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of architecture.}} Tobriner was Jewish.{{Cite web |title=Judge Tobriner Takes Office As Justice of California Supreme Court |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/judge-tobriner-takes-office-as-justice-of-california-supreme-court |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=20 March 2015 |language=en-US}} Michael's son, Ben Wildman-Tobriner, is the 2007 World Aquatics Champion in 50-meter freestyle swimming and won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.{{cite news|title=USA Swimming – Athletes – Ben Wildman-Tobriner|url=http://swimming.teamusa.org/athlete/athlete/924|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714092239/http://swimming.teamusa.org/athlete/athlete/924|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 14, 2008|publisher=United States Olympic Committee}}{{cite news|title=Best moments of the Olympics|url=http://www.dailycal.org/2012/07/09/best-moments-of-the-calympics/|accessdate=September 15, 2017|work=Daily Californian|date=July 9, 2012}}

References

Selected publications

{{cite journal|last1=Tobriner|first1=Mathew O.|title=The Emerging Law of Social Responsibility|journal=Santa Clara Lawyer|date=1961|volume=1|issue=1|page=5|url=http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/lawreview/vol1/iss1/3|accessdate=September 15, 2017}}
{{cite journal|last1=Tobriner|first1=Mathew O.|last2=Grodin|first2=Joseph R. |title=The Individual and the Public Service Enterprise in the New Industrial State|journal=California Law Review|date=1967|volume=55|issue=5|pages=1247–1283|url=http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/californialawreview/vol55/iss5/2|doi=10.2307/3479329|jstor=3479329|accessdate=September 15, 2017|url-access=subscription}}

External links

[https://www.cschs.org/history/california-supreme-court-justices/mathew-o-tobriner/ Mathew O. Tobriner]. California State Historical Society.
[https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3857/mathew-tobriner/?type=p&q=mathew+tobriner&type=p&order_by=name_reverse+asc Opinions authored by Mathew Tobriner]. Courtlistener.com.
[http://www.courts.ca.gov/12523.htm Past & Present Justices]. California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
[http://www.courts.ca.gov/2344.htm List of Past and Present Justices]. California Court of Appeal, First District.

{{succession box |

before= Maurice T. Dooling Jr.| |

title= Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court |

years= 1962–1982 |

after= Cruz Reynoso}}

{{succession box |

before= | |

title= Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, First District |

years= 1959–1962 |

after= }}

Category:1904 births

Category:1982 deaths