Paul Peek (politician)

Infobox Politician
name = Paul Peek


width = 150px
height = 150px
caption =
small_

office = Appellate Judge

California Supreme Court
Associate Justice, 1962 - 1966

California Court of Appeal
Third Appellate District
Associate Justice (1943 - 1961 / Presiding Justice (1961 - 1962)
California Supreme Court
Associate Justice, 1962 - 1966
California Court of Appeal
Third Appellate District
Associate Justice (1943 - 1961 / Presiding Justice (1961 - 1962)
term_start = 1943
term_end = 1966
predecessor =
successor =
constituency =
majority =
office2 = 21^st California Secretary of State
term_start2 = 1940
term_end2 = 1943
predecessor2 = Frank C. Jordan
successor2 = Frank M. Jordan
constituency2 =
majority2 =
office3 = California State Assemblyman
(Speaker, 1939 session)
term_start3 = 1936
term_end3 = 1940
predecessor3 = Harry B. Riley
successor3 = Fred N. Howser
constituency3 = Assembly District 71
majority3 =
birth_date = birth date|1904|6|5|mf=y
birth_place = West Union, Iowa
death_date = death date and age|1987|4|7|1904|6|5|mf=y
death_place = Sacramento, California
party = Democratic
relations =
spouse =
civil partner =
children =
residence = Long Beach and Sacramento, California
occupation = Attorney
religion = Methodist


website =
footnotes =

Paul Peek (June 5, 1904 - April 7, 1987) was an American attorney, Democratic politician and jurist. Peek practiced law in southern California prior to his election in 1936 to the California Assembly, where he served as Speaker during the 1939 session. He was appointed Secretary of State in 1940 and then to the Court of Appeal, in December 1942, where he served for 20 years. In 1962, Governor Pat Brown appointed Peek to the California Supreme Court. Justice Peek retired from the bench in 1966, but continued to work as a consulting attorney and teacher. He died in Sacramento. [http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/courtsofappeal/3rdDistrict/justices_former/peek.htm State of California Courts official site] , accessed 10/07/2006] [ [http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com Social Security Death Index Search] , accessed 02/25/2006]

Early life and education

Born in West Union, Iowa, Peek moved to California at age 6. He attended Oregon State University and the University of Oregon before obtaining his legal education at Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles. He practiced law in Long Beach and Los Angeles prior to winning elective office in 1936.

He was a member of the Long Beach Junior Chamber of Commerce (president, 1935) and the State Junior Chamber of Commerce (vice-president, 1936) [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/uchistory/general_history/overview/regents/biographies_p.html#peek_p Regents of the University of California Biographies] , accessed 10/07/2006.]

Political career

California State Assembly, member from Assembly District 71, Los Angeles County 1936 - 1940 [ [http://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/english/legislature/history/county11.html California's State Capitol Museum, Legislative History] , accessed 02/25/2006] (Speaker, 1939 session)

In 1938, Assemblyman Peek worked with Senator Culbert Olson to oppose legislation sponsored by the administration of Republican Governor Frank Merriam to treat oil on state lands in Long Beach and Huntington Beach in a manner favored by the oil industry. “It looks very much like we’re turning the oil pool over to private interests lock, stock and barrel,” Peek said., [ [http://www.coastalresearchcenter.ucsb.edu/scei/Files/2003-052.pdf US Department of the Interior] , "Public Policy, Oil Production, andEnergy Consumption in Twentieth-Century California", page 139, accessed 10/7/2006]

University of California Board of Regents, "ex officio" member, 1939 - 1940. [ [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CalHistory/regents.html#speakers UC Berkeley history site] , accessed 10/07/2006]

Chairman, Democratic State Central Committee, 1939-40. [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/uchistory/general_history/overview/regents/biographies_p.html#peek_p Regents of the University of California Biographies] , accessed 10/07/2006.]

Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 1940. [ [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/peckham-peisner.html The Political Graveyard] , accessed 10/07/2006]

California Secretary of State, 1940 - 1942 [ [http://www.ss.ca.gov/archives/ca-roster/pdf/01c_his_off.pdf California Secretary of State, History of California State Office Holders] , accessed 10/07/2006]

Peek was appointed Secretary of State by Democratic Governor Culbert L. Olson in 1940, after the death of the long-time Republican incumbent, Frank C. Jordan. He did not win the general election in 1942, when Republican Frank M. Jordan won back the office that his father had held. [Frank C. Jordan was Secretary of State from 01/01/1911 and his son, Frank M. Jordan held the office from 01/01/1943 until 04/03/1970--a run of 15 consecutive electoral victories for "Frank Jordan." Both died in office.]

Judicial career

California Court of Appeal - Governor Olson appointed Peek to the Third Appellate District in Sacramento. He served as Associate Justice from January 1943 to October 1961 and as Presiding Justice from October 1961 to December 1962.

Peek was the author of the 1951 appellate decision overturning California’s loyalty oath. According to the Daily Bruin, the Court ruled that The Regents' action to require faculty members to sign an affirmation of non-membership in any subversive organization was a violation of the State Constitution and "That the pledge is the highest loyalty that can be demonstrated by any citizen, and that the exacting of any other test of loyalty would be antithetical to our fundamental concept of freedom.... [any other decision would] approve that which from the beginning of our government has been denounced as the most effective means by which one special brand of political or economic philosophy can entrench and perpetuate itself to the eventual exclusion of all others . . ."Any "more inclusive" test of loyalty would be the "forerunner of tyranny and oppression," the document added. [ [http://dynaweb.oac.cdlib.org:8088/dynaweb/uchist/public/dailybruin/dbvol39/@Generic__BookTextView/2858 Daily Bruin, University of California at Los Angeles student newspaper, Vol. 39, Winter-Spring 1951, Issue No. 41, Apr. 9, 1951, "Oath declared invalid: Decision reinstates instructor"] , accessed 02/25/2006, bad link 10/07/2007]

California Supreme Court – Peek was appointed Associate Justice of the State Supreme Court by Governor Pat Brown in 1962. He retired from the bench in 1966.

Legal career

Peek was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1930. He practiced law in Long Beach and Los Angeles prior to his election to the State Assembly in 1936. [http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/courtsofappeal/3rdDistrict/justices_former/peek.htm State of California Courts official site] , accessed 10/07/2006.]

Member, Judicial Council of California, 1946-50. Trustee, McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento. [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/uchistory/general_history/overview/regents/biographies_p.html#peek_p Regents of the University of California Biographies] , accessed 10/07/2006.]

After retiring from the Supreme Court, Peek practiced law in Sacramento, with the firm of Wilkie & Fleury. [ [http://www.wilkefleury.com/article04.jsp Wilke & Fleury, "Looking Back with Sherman C. Wilke"] , accessed 02/25/2006, page has a 1999 copyright date: “... Wilke met Paul Peek, former Speaker of the Assembly, Secretary of State, Justice of the Third District Court of Appeal and Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, when both had sons in the Boy Scouts. Upon Peek’s retirement from the court, he practiced with Wilke at Wilke & Fleury....” ]

Notes