James Hastings 6055

Justice James Hastings and his son, Gary Hastings, were interviewed as part of the California Appellate Court Legacy Project. Justice James Hastings was born in Los Angeles, California in 1917 and his father was a lawyer. He attended Los Angeles High School and USC, where he was president of his fraternity and played water polo. During his time at USC, he was asked to join the United States Olympic team for water polo, but the Olympics were cancelled due to the war. After graduating, he married his USC sweetheart and was sent to Harvard University for Navy communications school. He then served on an old four-stacker destroyer in South America and was sent to New York, where his son Gary was born.