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California Third District Court of Appeals records, 1909-1922
SCG.00052
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Table of contents
Collection Title: California Third District Court of Appeals records,
Date (inclusive): 1909-1922
Identification: SCG.00052
Creator:
California. District Court of Appeals (1st Appellate District)
Physical Description:
11 volumes
Language of Materials:
English
Repository:
Sonoma County Library Archives
c/o Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library, Sonoma County Library
725 Third Street
Santa Rosa, CA,
Email:
history@sonomalibrary.org
Phone:
(707) 308-3212
Abstract: This collection contains reporters' transcripts and related papers for cases brought before the Third District Court of Appeal
between 1909 and 1922.
Biography/Organization History
The California Constitution originally made the Supreme Court the only appellate court for the whole state. As the state's
population skyrocketed during the 19th century, the Supreme Court was expanded from three to seven justices, and then the
Court began hearing the majority of appeals in three-justice panels. The Court became so overloaded that it frequently issued
summary dispositions in minor cases, meaning that it was merely saying "affirmed" or "reversed" without saying why.[7] The
state's second Constitution, enacted in 1879, halted that practice by expressly requiring the Court to issue every dispositive
decision in writing "with reasons stated." In 1889, the Legislature authorized the Supreme Court to appoint five commissioners
to help with its work.
Despite implementing all these measures, the Supreme Court was no longer able to keep up with the state's rapidly growing
appellate caseload by the end of the 19th century. Accordingly, in 1903, the Legislature proposed a constitutional amendment
to create what were then called the District Courts of Appeal. On November 8, 1904, the electorate adopted the amendment.
The district Courts of Appeal originally consisted of three appellate districts, headquartered in San Francisco, Los Angeles,
and Sacramento, with three justices each. These first nine justices were appointed by the Governor. Each district was assigned
an ordinal number (i.e., first, second, and third).
In 1966, the word "District" was dropped from the official names of the Courts of Appeal by another constitutional amendment
which extensively revised the sections governing the state judiciary. This left Florida as the sole state in the United States
with "District Courts of Appeal." Since then, each of the Courts of Appeal has been named officially as "the Court of Appeal
of the State of California" for a particular numbered appellate district. (
California Courts of Appeal (Wikipedia, retrieved July 10, 2019)
Prior to court redestricting, Sonoma County was part of the 3rd District, but is currently in the 1st District.
This Collection is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
California. Court of Appeal (3rd District)
California. Court of Appeal (3rd District)--Archive
Crime--California
Crime--California--Sonoma County
Criminal law--California--Sonoma County--Cases
Criminal law--California--Cases
Legal briefs--California
Legal briefs-- California-- Sonoma County
Justice, Administration of--California--History-- Sources
Justice, Administration of--California--Sonoma--History--Sources
Court records--California--Sonoma County
Courts--California
Courts--California--Sonoma County
Judgments--California
Judgments--California--Sonoma County
Criminal court records
Dockets
Registers (lists)
Minutes (administrative records)
Judicial records
Archival materials
Important Information for Users of the Collection
Materials stored offsite, but collection is open to research. In many cases, further details on individual volumes can be
found by calling staff at the Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library. To view these materials, please call staff at
707 308-3212 to request they be brought from the Archives to the Library
Conditions of Use
Collection does not circulate and may be photocopied or photographed by arrangement only.
Property rights reside with the Sonoma County Library. The Sonoma County Library has made this collection available and believes
that the collection is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its
copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Collection may not be in the Public Domain under the laws
of other countries. Preferred credit line is: Courtesy, the Sonoma County Library. Please see additional reproduction and
reuse information at
https://sonomalibrary.org/locations/sonoma-county-history-and-genealogy-library/order-photo
California Third District Court of Appeals records, 1909-1922. SCG.00052, Sonoma County Archives, Sonoma County Library,
Rohnert Park, California.
Court records for five case apppearing in California's Third Distrcit Court of Appeals.
Organized into five series:
- People of the State of California vs W.P. Burke. District Court of Appeal - reporter's transcript, 1909-1911
- People of the State of California vs. W.A. Cockrill and S. Ikada, 1922
- People of the State of California vs. Frank Bergotini, 1914
- People of the State of California vs. B. Bettini - reporter's manuscript, 1911
- People of the State of California vs. E.S. Rowland - District Court of Appeal transcript, 1909