Allen Broussard

Who was Allen Broussard?

Allen E. Broussard was an African-American judge who rose to become a justice of the California Supreme Court.

He was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana on April 13, 1929, the son of Clemire and Eugenia Broussard. At the age of 16, he moved with his family to California. His father was a longshoreman, and his mother worked as a seamstress.

As a young man, Broussard had various part-time jobs, including selling shoes and working in a canning plant. He financed his own education, first at San Francisco City College, then UC Berkeley, and finally Boalt Hall School of Law. While at Boalt, he was Vice-President of the Boalt Hall Law Students Association. After graduating in 1953, he served in the United States Army for two years. After leaving the Army, he became the research attorney for Presiding Justice Raymond Peters.

As chairman of a civic organization called Men of Tomorrow, he contacted Odessa Monroe, the program director of the radio station KSAN, seeking free air time. He went on to marry her in 1959, and they had two sons, Keith and Craig.

He was the first African-American to be elected President of the California Judges Association.