RIP PJ Low

Today's DJ has an appellate obit: Justice Harry Low, first Chinese American judge in the Bay Area, was a bridge across communities - The retired presiding justice of the 1st District Court of Appeal died on Dec. 9, after a second career at JAMS. He was 91.

• Born in Oakdale, near Modesto, on March 12, 1931, Low spent his entire life living in the Bay Area. He began his career after graduating from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1955.
• Low was one of five Asian Americans who passed the California Bar Exam in 1955. He went to work for the California Department of Justice after law school. In 1966, Gov. Edmund G. Brown appointed Low to the San Francisco Municipal Court.
• Gov. Ronald Reagan elevated Low to the Superior Court in 1974 and Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to the 1st District Court of Appeal in 1982. He was named presiding justice of Division 5 of the 1st District in 1986, a position from which he retired in 1992.
• After retiring from the bench in 1992, Low joined JAMS as a neutral.
• Donations can be made in Low's memory to: AABA Law Foundation, P.O. Box 387, San Francisco, CA 94104 or at https://www.aaba-bay.com/aaba-foundation/donate.

Watch his CA Legacy Project 'retired justice interview' video here.