Richard Abbe

Justice Richard Abbe was appointed to the newly-created position of Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Six by Governor Brown Jr. in December 1982. He was confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments and took his oath the same day. He was then confirmed by the electorate in November 1986 and retired from the bench in November 1990. Prior to his appointment, he was a Judge in the Superior Court of Shasta County, appointed in January 1965 by Governor Brown Sr., and was elected in 1966, 1972, and 1978. He was also a District Attorney (1962-65) and Deputy District Attorney (1959-62) in Shasta County, and had a private law practice in Hollister, San Benito County (1954-59). He was admitted to the California Bar in January 1954, and holds a LL.B. from Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. He served in the US Navy during World War II (1943-46), and is married with two children and two stepchildren. He is a Democrat and enjoys playing tennis, bicycling, birding, skiing, and reading.