Miller, John J.

Biography

John J. Miller, Democrat, was a member of the Assembly from 1967-1978. He represented the 17th District, which included the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, until 1974. After redistricting, he represented the 13th District from 1975 until 1978.

Assembly Member Miller was born July 28, 1932 and grew up in Savannah, Georgia. In 1954, he received his B.A. from Talladega College in Alabama. In 1957, he graduated from the Howard University School of Law. That same year, he came to California from Woodside, New York to serve as the Walter Perry Johnson Graduate Research Fellow at Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley. He was an attorney and, eventually a partner in the law firm of Miller and George, Berkeley. He and his wife, Joyce McNair Miller, had three children.

He was a member of the Bishop's Committee for the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd (Berkeley). In addition, he took part in the activities of the U.C. Men's Faculty Club, Berkeley, and the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences. He was also a member of following legal groups: the American Bar Association, the California Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the National Lawyers' Guild. In 1968, he served on the California State Democratic Party Platform Committee.

Before being elected to the Assembly, he was active with the Alameda County Negro Leadership Conference and served on the Citizens' Committee to Study De Facto Segregation in Berkeley Schools. In 1964, he was elected to the Berkeley Board of Education and later served as its president. He was also a member of both the Berkeley Housing Advisory and Appeals Board and the Berkeley Board of Library Trustees. Assembly Member Byron Rumford, Sr. encouraged him to run for his seat in the Assembly when Rumford decided to run for State Senate.

Miller was elected to the State Assembly in 1966. Prior to his election, six African Americans had served in the Assembly. He, along with three other African Americans, were elected that year, bringing the size of the then informal Black Caucus to five. He was elected Assembly Minority Leader in April 1970 and served through January 1971.

According to the Legislative Handbooks, he was a member of the following committees:

In addition, as a member of the Legislature, he served as a member of the Judicial Council of California, 1975-1978.

In 1978, he was appointed Justice for the California Courts of Appeal, 1st District by Governor Jerry Brown; he served until 1985. He died of complications from diabetes, from which he had suffered most of his adult life, on February 16, 1985.

California State Assembly, 1967-1978

From the guide to the John J. Miller papers, 1967-1978, (California State Archives)