Gary E. Strankman

Gary Elvin Strankman was a Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal in California's First Appellate District, Division One. He was appointed by Governor Wilson on July 23, 1991, and was confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments on August 26, 1991, taking his oath the same day. He was then confirmed by the electorate on November 8, 1994 for a 12-year term commencing on January 3, 1995. Prior to his appointment, Strankman had been an Associate Justice of the same court, Division Three since May 16, 1988, when he was appointed by Governor Deukmejian and confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. He had been confirmed by the electorate on November 6, 1990. Before that, Strankman had been a judge of the Superior Court of Contra Costa County since January 5, 1981, having been elected to the post on June 3, 1980, and re-elected in 1986. He was the Presiding Judge in 1987 and 1986, and was the Assistant Presiding Judge in 1985. Strankman also served as the Chief Assistant District Attorney in Contra Costa County between 1978 and 1980, and was a Deputy District Attorney from 1968 to 1978, serving as a trial deputy and head of the Richmond and Concord branch offices. He also served with the Contra Costa Legal Services Foundation in 1968. Strankman was a member of the California District Attorneys Association, serving on the Board of Directors in 1979. He was also a member of the St. Mary's College County Scholarship Committee from 1978 to 1988, and was named Trial Judge of the Year by the Alameda-Contra Costa Trial Lawyers Association in 1985. Strankman was a faculty member of the California Continuing Judicial Studies Program from 1988 to 1995, and was an instructor at U.C. Berkeley, John F. Kennedy Univ. School of Law in Walnut Creek, Golden Gate Univ. in San Francisco, and various community colleges in Contra Costa County. Strankman had earned his J.D. from the Univ. of Calif., Boalt Hall School of Law in Berkeley in 1966, his LL.M. from the Univ. of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville in 1995, his M.A. in English Literature from San Francisco State Univ. in 1968, and his B.A. in English Literature and History from the Univ. of Washington in Seattle in 1963. Strankman was born on March 23, 1941 in Shelton, Washington and was widowed. He had two daughters. He enjoyed reading books dealing with literary criticism, art, biographies, and philosophy, as well as listening to pre-Beethoven classical and rhythm and blues music, and frequenting coffee shops in Berkeley. He was admitted to the California Bar on December 21, 1967.