Mildred Lillie

Who was Mildred Lillie?

Mildred Lillie was a California judge whom President Richard Nixon seriously considered for the Supreme Court of the United States in 1971. Lillie's potential candidacy for the high court was ended by an "unqualified" rating from the American Bar Association.

Lille was born in Ida Grove, Iowa, but moved with her mother to California's San Joaquin Valley as a child following her parents' failed marriage. She worked at a local cannery during the Great Depression and later as both a cook and a floor detective at Sears to earn her tuition to law school.

Lillie obtained her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of California. She served as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1942 to 1946 and then entered the private practice of law for about two years until Republican Governor Earl Warren appointed her to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1947. She was next appointed to Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1949. In 1958 Lillie, a Democrat, was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal by Republican Governor Goodwin Knight.