John Joseph Ford

Who was John Joseph Ford?

John Joseph Ford was a Presiding Justice of the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Three from 1966–1977, having been appointed to the post by Governor Pat Brown, who had previously appointed him to the same court as an Associate Justice in 1959.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Ford received an A.B. from Stanford University in 1928 and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1931. From 1931–1941, he was an attorney in Los Angeles. From 1934–1941, Ford was a Professor at Loyola Law School—the school where his father was the founding dean. From 1941–1943, he was the Chief Enforcement Attorney in Los Angeles for the Office of Price Administration, the newly established federal agency responsible for rent and price controls.

In 1943, Governor Earl Warren appointed Ford to the Los Angeles County Municipal Court, where he served until 1948 when Warren elevated him to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Ford left the Superior Court when Governor Pat Brown appointed Ford to the California Second District Court of Appeal, Division Three in 1959. Brown elevated Ford to Presiding Justice of the same court in 1966. Ford retired in 1977 and died in Newport Beach, California in 1982.