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Lorenzo Sawyer

Lorenzo Sawyer

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Born 1820 in Jefferson County, NY

Died 1891 in San Francisco, CA

FJC ID: 2106

Lorenzo Sawyer (May 23, 1820 – September 7, 1891) was an American lawyer and judge who was appointed to the Supreme Court of California in 1860 and served as the ninth Chief Justice of California from 1868 to 1870. He served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Courts for the Ninth Circuit and of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is best known for handing down the verdict in the case of Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company; his verdict is frequently referred to as the "Sawyer Decision."

Full biography on Wikipedia ↗
Gender
Male
Race
White

Prior employment

  1. San Francisco, California
    City attorney · 1854–present
  2. Supreme Court of California
    Justice · 1863–1869
    • ↳chief justice · 1868–1869
  3. California District Court, Twelfth Judicial District
    Judge · 1862–1863
  4. Private practice, San Francisco, California, and Virginia City, Nevada
    1861–1862
  5. Private practice, Nevada City and San Francisco, California
    1850–1861
  6. Private practice, Jefferson, Wisconsin
    1848–1850
  7. Private practice, Sacramento, California
    1850
  8. Private practice, Chicago, Illinois
    1846–1848

Appointments

  1. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
    U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
    1891–1891 (None (assignment))
    Term ended: Death
  2. U.S. Circuit Courts for the Ninth Circuit
    U.S. Circuit Courts for the Ninth Circuit
    1870–1891 · Appointed by Ulysses Grant (Republican)
    Term ended: Death
  3. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
    Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
    1870–1891
    Term ended: ded

Education

  1. Western Reserve College (now Case Western Reserve University)
  2. Read law
    1846