Oral Histories

Interview of John Gee Clark

Superior court judge and California state chair for the Democratic Central Committee. Chair of the Board of Prison Terms and Paroles and director of penology.
Subtitle:
John Gee Clark: California Legislator, Executive Administrator, and Judge
Series:
Z: Orphan Interviews pre 1999
Topic:
Politics and Government
Biographical Note:
Superior court judge and California state chair for the Democratic Central Committee. Chair of the Board of Prison Terms and Paroles and director of penology.
Interviewer:
Schippers, Donald J. and Cunningham, Craig
Interviewee:
Clark, John Gee
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Abstract:
Life of grandfather Israel Ward Clark (1803-97); other family members; childhood in Fairview, California (now Costa Mesa); education in Los Angeles and Berkeley; early legal work; impact of Upton Sinclair's The Way Out; formation of End Poverty in California (EPIC); Club no. 10 in Long Beach; election to California legislature on EPIC ticket in 1934; service as state chairman, Democratic Central Committee, 1938; tenure as director of penology under Governor Culbert L. Olson; suit against Dies committee; discussion of California prison system and comprehensive reorganization initiated during directorship; appointment of Warden Clinton Duffy; Kenyon D. Scudder and reform of Chino prison; eighteen-year tenure on superior court bench, Los Angeles County; role of publicity in judicial careers; views on politics and economics; Norman Thomas and socialism; Franklin D. Roosevelt and the banking system; impact of automation; international cooperation.