Harry Pregerson - Wikipedia

Harry Pregerson (October 13, 1923 – November 25, 2017) was a United States Circuit Judge appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. Pregerson was regarded as one of the judiciary's most liberal judges, attracting both praise and criticism for his insistence on placing his conscience above court precedent.

Pregerson was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where his father was a postal worker.[1] Both his parents were Jewish immigrants from Ukraine.[2] Pregerson was a United States Marine Corps First Lieutenant in World War II, during which he was severely wounded in the Battle of Okinawa (4 May 1945).[3] After the war, Pregerson attended college on the G.I. Bill.[2] He graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1947, and the UC Berkeley School of Law with a Bachelor of Laws in 1950. He was in private practice of law in Los Angeles from 1951 to 1953. He was in private practice of law in Van Nuys, California from 1953 to 1965. Pregerson joined the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1965 and advanced to the Los Angeles County Superior Court the next year, serving until 1967.[4][5]