Lillie, Mildred Loree, 1915-2002

Mildred Loree Lillie (January 25, 1915 – October 27, 2002) was an American jurist. She served as a judge for 55 years in the state of California with a career that spanned from 1947 until her death in 2002. In 1958, she became the second woman to serve on the Court of Appeal, a role in which she served for a record 44 years. In 1971, she was considered by President Richard Nixon for nomination as the first woman on the Supreme Court of the United States; however, an "unqualified" rating from the American Bar Association derailed that bid. Mildred Loree Kluckhohn 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 a Bachelor of Arts degree and Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley.[1] After graduating from law school, she was a deputy city attorney for Alameda, California. After a few years in private practice, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney from 1942 to 1946. In 1947, Republican Governor Earl Warren appointed her to the Los Angeles Municipal Court. Warren appointed her to the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1949 at the age of 32, the youngest person ever named to the Superior Court.[1] In 1958, Republican Governor Goodwin Knight appointed Lillie, a Democrat, to the Second District Court of Appeal. In 1971, President Richard Nixon had two seats on the Supreme Court to fill with the retirements of John Marshall Harlan and Hugo Black. Nixon floated Lillie and Arkansas bond lawyer Herschel Friday as potential nominees for the open seats. In a final blow to her hopes of nomination, the American Bar Association voted 11-1 that she was unqualified to serve on the court. Nixon also learned that the Senate might not confirm both Lillie and Friday. In response, he nominated Lewis Powell and Rehnquist to the court.[6]Lillie continued to serve on the Appeals Court until her death in 2002. She married Cameron Lillie in 1947. Cameron Lillie died in 1959. She married her second husband, A. V. Falcone in 1966. Falcone died in 1996. She had no children of her own, but two stepchildren from her marriage to Falcone. Her stepson Dewey Falcone was a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 1993 until 2013.[9]