M. C. Sloss

American judge (1869–1958)

Marcus C. Sloss


Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California
In office December 19, 1906 – March 1, 1919
Appointed by	Governor George Pardee
Preceded by	Walter Van Dyke
Succeeded by	Warren Olney Jr.
Judge of the San Francisco Superior Court
In office 1900 – December 18, 1906

Personal details
Born	Marcus Cauffman Sloss (1869-02-28)February 28, 1869 New York, New York, U.S.
Died	May 17, 1958(1958-05-17) (aged 89) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Spouse	Hattie L. Hecht (m. 1899)
Alma mater	Harvard University (A.B., M.A.) Harvard Law School (LL.B.)

Marcus Cauffman ("Max" or "Dick") Sloss (February 28, 1869 – May 17, 1958) was an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from December 19, 1906, to March 1, 1919.

Early life and education

Sloss was born in New York, New York, to Sarah Greenebaum and Louis Sloss, while they were traveling from their home in San Francisco. His father was born in 1823 in Bavaria, Germany, and in 1848 emigrated to the United States. The next year Sarah and Louis crossed the plains on a wagon train to Sacramento, California. In 1861, the family moved to San Francisco. He founded Louis Sloss & Company, later named the Alaska Commercial Company, and sold supplies to the gold prospectors. He served as a Regent of the University of California from 1885 until his death in 1902.

Marcus attended the public schools and graduated from Boys High School. In 1886, he entered Harvard University and in 1890 received his A.B. degree, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He studied at Harvard Law School and in 1893 was awarded both Bachelor of Laws and Master of Arts degrees.

Legal and judicial career

After graduation, Sloss return to San Francisco and joined the firm of Chickering, Thomas & Gregory, where he became a partner. In November 1900, Sloss was elected judge of the San Francisco Superior Court for a term commencing January 1, 1901. In 1906, Governor George Pardee appointed Sloss to the California Supreme Court when he was 37 years old. He was re-elected twice to the high court: in November 1906, and again in 1910. In 1919, he resigned to return to private practice with Sloss, Ackerman & Bradley, and later with his two sons and John G. Eliot, under the firm name of Sloss & Eliot.

Sloss' notable cases include Western Indemnity Co. v. Pillsbury (1913). In that case, Sloss wrote the opinion upholding the constitutionality of the State's Workers' Compensation Act when other state courts had struck down the progressive scheme. In private practice, his prominent cases include Tulare Dist. v. Lindsay-Strathmore Dist. (1935), a complex water law matter, and Meridian, Ltd. v. San Francisco (1939), concerning the city's role in the Hetch Hetchy aqueduct.

Sloss was appointed the arbitrator to the National Longshoremen's Board established during the 1934 West Coast waterfront strike. During World War II, he was chair of the National War Labor Board's regional advisory committee.

Bar and civic activities

Sloss was a member of the American Law Institute, and a governor of both the California State Bar and the Bar Association of San Francisco. In 1913, Sloss was elected vice-president of the Harvard Alumni Association, and in 1926 was a regional chairman of the Harvard Law School fundraising drive. He was a fundraiser for the Jewish National Fund, and was devoted to other Jewish charities. From 1930 to 1950, Sloss was a trustee of Stanford University. He was also a member of the Bohemian Club.

Personal life

In June 1899 he married Hattie L. Hecht of Boston, Massachusetts. They had a daughter, Margaret Sloss Kuhns, and two sons, Richard L. and Frank H., who both graduated from Harvard Law School and joined their father's firm.

References

^ "Judge Sloss, Ill Two Years, Dies at 89" (PDF). San Francisco Examiner. May 18, 1958. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
Meyer, Martin A. (1916). Western Jewry: An Account of the Achievements of the Jews and Judaism in California, Including Eulogies and Biographies. San Francisco, CA: Emanu-el. p. 232. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
^ "In Memoriam: M. C. Sloss" (PDF). Cal. RPTS. 2d. 50: 867–869. September 11, 1958. Retrieved June 27, 2017. Comments of Eustace Cullinan.
^ O'Neill, F. Gordon (1949). Ernest Reuben Lilienthal and His Family (PDF). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. pp. 164–165, 176, 362. Taken from Address of M.C. Sloss on October 15, 1931, at the Society of California Pioneers, honoring Louis Sloss
Stadtman, Verne A. "The Centennial Record of the University of California". University of California Regents. p. 426. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
"Phi Beta Kappa Elections". Harvard Crimson. February 15, 1890. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
^ "New Officers of the Alumni Association". Harvard Alumni Bulletin. November 1, 1913. p. 101. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
"Justice Marcus C. Sloss". Robert Crown Law Library, Stanford Law School. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
"Entry for Chickering, Thomas & Gregory;". San Francisco Genealogy. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
"Marcus C. Sloss, 89, Ex-Judge on the Coast". New York Times. May 18, 1958. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
Sloss, Frank H. (1958). "M. C. Sloss and the California Supreme Court". California Law Review. 46 (5): 715–738. doi:10.2307/3478622. JSTOR 3478622. Retrieved June 27, 2017. In November, 1906, he was elected for the unexpired balance of Van Dyke's term, and in November, 1910, he was re-elected for the ensuing full twelve-year term.
"Judge M. C. Sloss". The Daily Palo Alto. No. 49. November 2, 1910. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
"Warburg Announces Names of 41 American Non-zionists Appointed to Agency Council". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. July 17, 1929. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
Western Indemnity Co. v. Pillsbury, 170 Cal. 686, 151 Pac. 398 (1913)
Compare opposite ruling three years earlier in New York: Ives. v. South Buffalo Railroad Company, 201 N.Y. 271, 94 N.E. 431 (1911).
Tulare Dist. v. Lindsay-Strathmore Dist., 3 Cal. 2d 489, 45 P.2d 972 (1935)
Meridian, Ltd. v. San Francisco, 13 Cal. 2d 424 (1939)
"Arbiter Just Named by Secretary Perkins to Meet Workers Peace Committee, Renewal of Strife on Waterfront Threatened if Pact Is Not Reached". Oakland Tribune. Newspapers.com. November 18, 1934. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
The Bar Association of San Francisco; an illustrated history from 1872 to 1924. San Franicsco, CA: Arthur Wheeler. 1923. p. 107. Retrieved June 27, 2017. January 16, 1923: Officers were elected for the coming year...M.C. Sloss
"Lodge Is Harvard Alumni President". New York Times. November 5, 1913. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
"In the Graduate Schools One Fifth of Quota Has Been Subscribed Before Start of Drive". Harvard Crimson. September 28, 1926. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
"Marcus Sloss, Former Member of California Supreme Court, Dead; Was 89". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. May 19, 1958. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
"First Sloss Lecture Opens". The Stanford Daily. No. 33. April 10, 1964. p. 2. Retrieved June 28, 2017. Marcus' brother, Leon Sloss, Sr., was "one of Stanford's first trustees, serving from 1891 to 1920."
"The San Francisco Blue Book, 1905: officers and members of the Bohemian Club". San Francisco Genealogy. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
Luey, Helen Sloss (Fall 2006). "'Yes Certainly!' The Life and Work of Hattie Hecht Sloss, San Francisco, California: 1874-1963" (PDF). Western States Jewish History Bulletin. XXXIX (1). Retrieved June 27, 2017.
"Woman Heads Jury". The Stanford Daily. No. 45. United Press. November 8, 1940. p. 3. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
"Barth-Sloss Wedding". The Stanford Daily. No. 17. October 23, 1929. p. 2. Retrieved June 28, 2017.

External links

M. C. Sloss California Supreme Court Historical Society.
In Memoriam: M. C. Sloss, 50 Cal. Rpts. 2d 867.
Opinions authored by M. C. Sloss. Courtlistener.com.
Past & Present Justices. California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.

Political offices
Preceded byWalter Van Dyke	Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court 1906–1919	Succeeded byWarren Olney Jr.

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