It is being reported that Second District Court of Appeal Justice H. Walter Croskey has died at 81. This is a huge loss for California’s judicial system. Justice Croskey, who served on the appellate bench for over 26 years, would make anyone’s list of best Court of Appeal justices. He was also a co-author of a highly regarded insurance law treatise and the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, most recently the Beacon of Justice Award given five months ago by the Friends of the L.A. Law Library.
Given the focus of this blog, we note that Justice Croskey was on the governor’s short list of candidates to fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 1988. That appointment went to Justice Joyce Kennard.
Although he did not become a permanent member of the Supreme Court, Justice Croskey did sit there by assignment several times: in Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. City of Manhattan Beach (2011) 52 Cal.4th 155; People v. Wells (2006) 38 Cal.4th 1078; and Hughes v. Board of Architectural Examiners (1998) 17 Cal.4th 763.
Croskey was one of the greats on the Court of Appeal. He would have been an excellent Supreme Court justice.
