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1-1-1982

A Lawyer's Walking Tour of San FranciscoGerald F. UelmenSanta Clara University School of Law, guelmen@scu.edu

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Recommended Citation68 A.B.A. J. 958

A Lawyer'sWalking Tour ofSan Francisco d,

By Gerald F. Uelmen

SAN FRANCISCANS are a litigious lotNearly every scandal that has rockethe city is preserved for posterity in thpages of the appellate reports. Scoundrels are immortalized with an "In rein front of their names. The humbles

citizens, as well as the most celebratedappear with a "v." between theinames. Some of these cases are familiaas "landmarks" of the law. The rea"landmarks," where events chroniclein the cases took place, are just a fex

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steps away. Join m ,for a brief walking tour of"some of the legal land-marks of San Francisco. .

" 1. The Fairmont Hotel:t California and Mason StreetsI We start our tour atr the top of Nob Hill in the.r luxurious lobby of the Fair-.1 mont Hotel. The Fairnontd is named for James G. Fair,v who once planned to build

a palatial mansion here, toweringover his wealthy neighbors. Thoseplans fell victin to a bi[ter divorce. Fairwas one of the quartel of luckyIrishmen who struck it rich on the

Comstock Lode in Virginia City,Nevada, during the 1870s. Estimates ofhis fortune ranged upwards from $20million. Enough, anyway. to buy a seatin the U.S. Senate, where he -

served a term representingV Nevada. He died in

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In his will Fair placed his real prop-erty in trust with the income to go to hisson and two daughters and on theirdeaths to be "transferred and con-veyed," one fourth to the descendants

of each daughter and onehalf to his brothers and

sisters or their descendants.Fair's children challenged the

will, arguing that the trust wasinvalid as a trust to convey real

property-the real propertyshould go directly to themunder the law of intestate

1succession. The childrenwon in the trial court, but

on appeal the CaliforniaSupreme Court

reversed in a four-

to-thrccdecision,

recognizing thewill as vesting an

"equitable remainder"in the brothers and sisters. A

( petition for rehearing was granted,however, and one year later the

court issued another four-to-threeopinion reversing itself and declaringthe will invalid. The change resultedfrom a switch in sides by Justice Frede-rick W. Ilenshaw, who wrote an eruditeconcurring opinion explaining his ac-tion. In re Fair's Estate, 64 P. 1000,1003-05 (1901).

Fair's daughter, Tessie, therefore ac-quired title to this land and began con-struction of the Fairmont Hotel. Thehotel was nearly complete when the1906 earthquake struck, and it was en-gulfed in the ensuing fire. The guttedinterior was rebuilt in short order.While Henshaw's flip-flop raised a feweyebrows, it was largely forgotten for17 years. Shortly after he resigned fromthe California Supreme Court in 1917,after 23 years on the court, the SanFrancisco Bulletin published an af-fidavit of William J. Dingee, swearinghe personally delivered $410,000 incash to Justice Henshaw as a bribe fromthe Fair children to get him to changehis vote. Fremont Older, publisher ofthe Bulletin, claimed he cWWfitedHenshaw with the % j

affidavit in a meet-ing at the Fairmont, and that Henshawadmitted the charge, pleaded withOlder not to publish it, and agreed toresign from the bench. Henshaw diedin 1929, leaving an estate of $338,000.Not bad, on a salary of $6,000 per year.

2. View of Limantour's land grantCrown Room, Fairmont Hotel

Board the glass elevator at the rear ofthe Fairmont and head for the CrownRoom, where you can take a seat on arevolving cocktail lounge or stroll past

the panoramic windows. As you drinkin the sweeping view to the south,inagine what it would be like to claimownership of all that valuable land.When Jos6 Limantour stood on thissame hill in 1858. he surely felt a littledizzy at the prospect of owning threefourths of San Francisco. Even then theland had an assessed valuation of $15million. Limantour's claim was basedon an 1843 Mexican land grant, andwhen his claim was confirmed by aboard of commissioners set up by thenew American government, panicstruck the burgeoning city of San Fran-cisco.o

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Iiiniiour innounced he would ac-(:1t ciih svllIoinmnts from propertyonners %xho iunlcd to quiet title toIieir holdiing. lili one property ownerfelt ebpoeidlly threatened by Liman-tour's claims-the United States gov-ernment. In addition to the 36 squaremiles lying south of California Street,Limantour claimed Yerba Buena Island,Alcatraz Island, and Tiburon, all re-garded as important military defensivepositions, as well as the islands of theFarrallones opposite the Golden Gate,site of a very important lighthouse. TheUnited States government sent in itsbest legal talent to challenge Liman-tour's claim, a successful Washington,D.C. lawyer named Edwin M. Stanton.Stanton displayed the sort of determi-nation that later made him President

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Buchanan's choice for attorney general,President Lincoln's choice for secretaryof war, and President Grant's choice forthe Supreme Court. (He was not Presi-dent Andrew Johnson's choice for any-thing, and Johnson's attempt to removeStanton from office directly led toJohnson's impeachment.)

Stanton's investigation revealed amonumental fraud. A detailed accountof the evidence can be found in 26 F.Cas. 947 (D.C.N.D. Calif. 1858) (No.15,601). It included proof that the paperon which one grant was printed wasnot in existence at the time the grantallegedly was made, as well as the con-vincing expert testimony describing ex-tensive forgeries.

Jos6 Limantour was indicted on crim-inal forgery charges. He was releasedon $35,000 bail, and the criminalcharges later were postponed pendingthe lengthy civil challenge to the landgrant. Limantour returned to Mexicowhere he decided to stay once the landgrants were proved fraudulent. Thesureties who were left holding the bagwent all the way to the United StatesSupreme Court to get their money back,arguing that the stipulation to postponethe trial indefinitely released themfrom their obligation. Their claim wasdenied by Justice Stephen J. Field, sit-ting as circuit judge, 27 F. Cas. 746(C.C.D. Calif. 1866) (No. 16,138). JusticeField was famous for his consistency.His decision was reversed unanimouslyby the Supreme Court, in an opinionauthored by Justice Stephen J. Field.See Reese v. United States, 9 Wall. 13(1869).3. View of Alcatraz IslandCrown Room, Fairmont Hotel

While here, pause a moment to gazeon the barren rock of Alcatraz Islandto the north. It is enshrouded withlegends, many of which have foundtheir way into law books. My favorite"Alcatraz case" concerns one of the

most famous inmates of the federalpenitentiary, which occupied the is-land from 1934 to 1962. For most ofthose years, Robert Stroud presidedover an aviary as the "Birdman."

How he got there is a curious story,which began with Stroud v. UnitedStates, 251 U.S. 15 (1919). WhileStroud was serving another sentence atLeavenworth in 1916, he got into an al-tercation with a guard and killed himwith a knife. At his first trial, he wasconvicted of first-degree murder andsentenced to be hanged, but the convic-tion was set aside by the circuit court ofappeals. He fared better at his secondtrial. Although again convicted offirst-degree murder, the jury returned abinding recommendation against capi-tal punishment. Once again, though,the conviction was reversed, this timeby the Supreme Court on a confessionof error. At his third trial, he struck out,and this jury was not as merciful. Heagain was sentenced to death.

In appealing this verdict, he hadsome persuasive arguments, not theleast of which was his claim that therecommendation against capital pun-ishment at the second trial barred im-position of the death penalty after thethird trial under the double jeopardyclause. The court rejected the argu-ment, and the death warrant wassigned, sealed, and delivered. Only thelast minute intervention of PresidentWilson saved him. Wilson commutedhis sentence to life imprisonment, andStroud put the remaining 43 years ofhis life to good use.

If you want to get a closer look at hiscell, or the cell occupied by Al Capone,the National Park Service offers guidedtours several times each day, leavingfrom Fisherman's Wharf.

4. Flood Mansion(Pacific Union Club)1000 California Street

Back on the ground, leave the Fair-mont's main entrance and walk acrossMason Street. There you will find theonly Nob Hill mansion that survived

the earthquake and fire. It was built in1886 at a cost of $2 million by James C.Flood, another of the lucky Irish quartetwho became known as the "SilverKings." Flood wanted to emulate theelegant brownstone mansions he sawon a return visit to his native New YorkCity. The brownstone was shipped'round the Horn from a quarry in Con-necticut. The elaborate bronze fencethat surrounds the mansion once re-quired a full-time servant to keep itpolished.

Flood's only son, James L. Flood, wasa notorious playboy in his youth. Hemarried a beautiful actress, namedRose, against his father's wishes. Sixyears after their marriage, a baby girlnamed Constance joined the family.She was greatly petted and pampered.Rose died five years later, and after ayear of mourning, James L. Flood mar-ried her sister, Maud, and moved intothis mansion.

But young Constance was no longerwith the family. Her disappearance re-mained a mystery until James L. Flood

died 28 years later in 1926, leaving hiswidow Maud and their two children.The mystery then was exposed in a suitbrought by Constance against the Floodestate. She claimed that she was JamesL. Flood's illegitimate daughter by anactress named Eudora Forde. She al-leged that she had been "legitimatized"when Flood and his first wife took her

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into their home as an infant and Floodacknowledged her as his daughter.After Flood's remarriage, he sent theyoung girl to a convent, where she wasgiven a new name.

The allegations resulted in one of themost spectacular trials in California'shistory. Eudora Forde testified that an-other playboy other than Flood wasConstance's father, but she was im-peached by showing she "switchedsides," renouncing her claim that JimFlood was the father only when Con-stance's lawyer's "fell behind in theirpayments" and the Flood family begangiving her "regular remittances." Aftera three-week trial, the trial judge di-rected a verdict in favor of the Floodfamily. His decision was so unpopularthat he was unseated at the next elec-tion- by the lawyer who had repre-sented Constance! Nor did his decisionfare any better when it was reviewed bythe California Supreme Court, whichreversed the judgment and remandedfor a new trial in In re Flood's Estate, 21P. 2d 579 (1933). The case then was set-tled out of court. Constance receivedmore than $1 million. As part of the set-tlement, she agreed not to use the nameof Flood.

The Flood mansion now houses thePacific Union Club, one of the last bas-tions of male exclusivity. It is reportedthat the only female ever admitted in-side after the club took over the man-sion was Maud Flood, who returned tosee what they had done to her formerhome.

There is a quiet little park next doorto the Flood mansion. It is called Hunt-ington Park in honor of railroad mag-nate Collis P. Huntington, whose man-sion once stood here. In the park is alovely fountain graced by three dancingcherubs. It is inscribed with Maud'sname-Mrs. James L. Flood.

5. Site of Crocker's spite fenceTaylor and Sacramento Streets

Continue west on California Street.Crossing Taylor Street you may want tostop to admire the Ghiberti doors at theentrance to Grace Cathedral. They werecast from molds of the originals at theBaptistery in Florence. Grace Cathedraltook 50 years to complete, from 1914 to1964. It was built on the site of CharlesCrocker's massive redwood Victorianmansion, destroyed in the earthquakeand fire of 1906.

Next to the cathedral, at the corner ofTaylor and Sacramento, is the Epis-copal diocesan office. At one time thiswas the site of the humble residence ofa Chinese undertaker named Yung. AsCrocker saw things, Yung just didn'tknow his proper place, which certainlywasn't to be nestled among the man-sions of San Francisco's elite. WhenYung refused to sell his property toCrocker, the railway king built a gigan-tic 40-foot wall around three sides ofYung's property. The California Su-preme Court upheld a property owner'sright to spite in Western Granite andMarble Company v. Knickerbocker, 37P. 192 (1894). But times have changed.Section 841.4 of the California CivilCode now declares that one's spite maynot exceed ten feet in height withoutbeing declared a private nuisance.

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6. Camara's Castle223 Jones Street

Go back to California Street and con-tinue west one block to Jones Street.Turn left and go south eight steepblocks, all downhill.

If you look to the right when crossingGeary Street, you will see one of themost bizarre fagades in San Francisco,the Alcazar Theatre. It was built in 1917as a Shriners' temple. When you get tothe humble storefront labeled "Go GoKitchen Soul Food" at 223, you will notfind a front door to match Ghiberti's.But the Supreme Court held that it stillis entitled to great reverence.

On November 6, 1963, Inspector Nallof the Department of Public Health, Di-vision of Housing Inspection, cameknocking at this door. When RolandCamara answered, Nall explained thatthe permit of occupancy for the prem-ises was restricted to commercial useand that he was there to inspect thepremises to see if their use was in com-pliance with that permit. Roland, whowas living at the rear of the store, re-fused to allow the inspector to come in.He then was charged with a mis-demeanor violation of a housing codeprovision requiring compliance withan officer's right to enter premises inperformance of his duties.

Roland sought a writ of prohibitionto halt the prosecution, but he was un-successful since a four-year-old prece-dent of the Supreme Court clearly up-held the right of health and safety in-spectors to enter premises without awarrant. Frank v. Maryland, 359 U.S.360 (1959). Nevertheless, he insisted ongoing all the way to the Supreme Court.After all, Frank was a five-to-four deci-sion, and its author, Felix Frankfurter,had retired.

Roland's persistence paid off inCamara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S.523 (1967), in which the Court over-ruled Frank and held that, after entryhas been refused, a health and safetyinspector must obtain a warrant to enterthe premises. In a shrill dissent JusticeTom Clark predicted that the greatestdisaster since the San Franciscoearthquake would result from Camara,"jeopardizing the health, welfare andsafety of liternlly millions of people."Complimenting San Francisco for itscleanliness and safety, he noted that190,000 health and safety inspectionshad been carried out in the city in1965-66, with only ten refusals. Hepredicted a general rebellion with a"significant increase" in refusals topermit inspections.

Curious whether Justice Clark's direpredictions came true, I called thehousing inspectors (now called En-vironmental Health Services) and askedhow many inspection warrants had tobe issued since Camera was decided.The answer: zero. Roland Camara is theonly "rebel" they have ever encoun-tered.

7. Hastings College of the Law198 McAllister Street

Jones Street converges with McAllis-ter Street at Market. The impressivecolumned portico of Hibernia Bank hasgraced this corner since 1892. Noting

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that "each case is but an excursion intohistory," Justice Tobriner explored thefascinating history of Hibernia Bank inrejecting a series of ownership claimsby descendants of the "few Irish Gen-tlemen" who founded it in 1859. See9 Cal. Rptr. 867-909 (1960). Go righttwo blocks on McAllister and you willsee the high-rise buildings that nowhouse Hastings College of the Law, theoldest law school in California-withthe oldest professors.

Hastings operates a unique programto attract distinguished professors whohave reached mandatory retirement ageat other law schools. Basking in theCalifornia sun, they continue teachingmany years. Thus, the tradition of thefounder is carried on. Serranus ClintonHastings lived a long life, too. When hetook on a new young wife at the age of70, he was sued by a disappointedyoung lady for breach of promise.

Founding Hastings College of theLaw was merely the capstone to acareer that included service as the chiefjustice of two state supreme courts! Be-fore he came to California in 1849,Hastings served a year as chief justicein Iowa. Within a year of his arrival inCalifornia, lie was elected first chiefjustice of the California Supreme Court.On leaving the court, he served a termas state attorney general. He endowedHastings as a department of the Univer-sity of California in 1878, and he servedas the first dean. The charter providedthat the governing board always wouldinclude some heir or representative ofS.C. Hastings. This provision was up-held by the California Supreme Courtagainst a challenge by the university,which later claimed its own trusteesshould govern the law school. Peopleex. rel. Hastings v. Kenwen, 10 P. 393(1886). The board of directors today in-cludes a grandson of Serranus ClintonHastings.

Tie lastlings family tree is ininior-talized in Xiaud '. Cthcrwood, 155 P.2(1 111 (1945), wh cli settled a disputebelween Iis grandchildren and greatgrandchildren over distribution of theproceeds of a Irust lie established in1874. 1t is the loading California case onpIer capita vercis iier stirpes distribu-tion, and it still is required reading forstudents of trusts and wills at Hastings.

One of the first students of Hastingswas Clara Shortridge Foltz, but she hadto carry a lawsuit to the California Su-preme Court lo get admilted. Foltz X.Hoge, 54 Cal. 28 (1879). She went on toa lot of other firsts-first woman admit-ted to the California bar, first womandeputy district attorney, founder of theCalifoinia parole system, and originatorof the public defender system.

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8. San Francisco City HallMcAllister and Polk Streets

Continue west two blocks on McAl-lister and you will see the green-ribbeddome of San Francisco's City Hall, builtin 1915. The magnificent interior, richin detail, is well worth a peek inside.The vast rotunda beneath the domerises four stories. City Hall was thescene of recent tragedy that still is re-verberating through California court-rooms and legislative halls.

In 1978 Mayor George Moscone andSupervisor Harvey Milk were shot todeath in their offices in this building. Aformer supervisor, Dan White, wascharged with the murders. When youenter City Hall, you will be required topass through a metal detector. Whiteavoided the metal detector by enteringthrough a basement window. He wasconvicted of manslaughter, based on adefense of "diminished capacity,"

which featured testimony describingthe effect of "Twinkie" consumptionon his blood sugar. See California v.White, 172 Cal. Rptr. 612 (1981). Out-raged San Franciscans stormed CityHall in a surge of rioting to protest theverdict. Once the defense of "di-minished capacity" was dubbed the"Twinkie defense," it was doomed. TheCalifornia legislature enacted a pro-vision in 1981 that precludes evidenceof a mental disorder to negate the ca-pacity to form criminal intent.

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The rotunda is inscribed with thename of James Rolph, who served asSan Francisco's mayor from 1912-31and then went on to become governorof California. You also will find a bustof Rolph to the right of the Polk Streetentrance to City Hall. "Sunny Jim" wasone of California's more colorful gov-ernors. When a lynch mob in San Jos4dragged two prisoners out of jail andhanged them in the City Park in 1933,Governor Rolph announced a guaran-teed pardon if any members of thelynch mob were charged, adding, "Iwould like to parole all kidnappers inSan Quentin and Folsom to the finepatriotic citizens of San Jos6."

If you exit City Hall on the Van NessAvenue side, you will be across thestreet from the War Memorial OperaHouse, where the conference to formthe United Nations met in 1945.

9. U.S. Court of AppealsMission and Seventh Streets

When you leave City Hall, walk backto the Polk Street side and-throughthe Civic Center park toward FultonStreet. You will pass the Main PublicLibrary at the corner of Larkin and Ful-

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ton, a gift of Andrew Carnegie.The library stands on the site of the

first city hall, one of the few buildingsto collapse in the 1906 earthquake.(Most of the devastation was caused bythe ensuing fire.) In the rubble SanFranciscans found evidence of the graftand corruption that pervaded their citygovernment. The "marble" columnsholding up the city hall rotunda wererevealed to be plaster columns filledwith sand.

Fulton Street runs into U.N. Plaza,where you will find your exact latitudeand longitude well marked. Bear left atthe fountain, and cross Market Street atSeventh. One block south you will seethe Main Post Office Building, whichhouses the United States Court of Ap-peals for the Ninth Circuit. You willfind inside the most opulent interior ofany courthouse in America.

The corridor of the third floor is along colonnade of 48 white Italian mar-ble pillars. The walls of Courtroom No.1 are black-and-white veined pavon-azzo marble on a base of red AfricanNumidian marble. The coffered ceilingis elaborately decorated with sculpture,mosaics, and leaded-glass skylights.Among the infamous defendants whostood trial in this courtroom was "To-kyo Rose," who was convicted oftreason for her wartime propagandabroadcasts on behalf of the Japanese.See D'Aquino v. United States, 192 F.2d 338 (9th Cir. 1951).

Two other courtrooms are equally ex-travagant. All this was made possibleby a fortuitous drop in the price of steelafter Congress appropriated $2.5 mil-lion for construction during the 1890s.Rather than return the surplus to theTreasury, architect James Knox Taylorlavishly spent it on the interior, import-ing Italian artisans to do the work. Thebuilding was completed in 1905 andsurvived the earthquake and fire intactone year later.

The judges of the Ninth Circuit noware hoping soon to occupy the first floorspace vacated by the post office sincethe recent expansion of the court to 23judges makes for rather cramped quar-ters. The former chief judge, Richard N.Chambers, spent 25 years raiding fed-eral courthouses throughout the UnitedStates to find furniture suitable for thismagnificent courthouse. You can findthe table Al Capone sat at during hisChicago trial for tax evasion, as well aschairs occupied by counsel during theTeapot Dome trials in Cheyenne. JudgeChambers added another personaltouch in the bathrooms that adjoin eachconference room. The marble walls areadorned by four and one half stars thatwere installed when he was informedthat court of appeals judges rank in of-ficial protocol between a four- and afive-star general. If you would like totour the courtrooms, prior -ar-rangements should be made with thecircuit executive (telephone 415/556-6128).

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10. Old U.S. MintFifth and Mission Streets

Go two blocks east on Mission Streetto Fifth. These are rather long blocks, sothose who are foot-sore may prefer re-

turning to Market Street and taking abus or a Bart train to the next exit. Atthe corner of Fifth and Mission, youwill find the oldest stone building inSan Francisco, built in 1874.

The Old Mint now houses a fascinat-ing museum, where you can watch ahistory film, see $6 million worth ofgold bars and nuggets, and strike yourown souvenir medal on a 160-ton press.Official medals also are on sale, includ-ing the new series on chief justices ofthe United States. (So far, medals havebeen struck of Jay, Rutledge, Warren,and Burger.) The museum is open 10A.M. to 4 P.M., Tuesday to Saturday.

While the Old Mint was the scene ofmany financial transactions, the onethat took place on May 24, 1906, wassomewhat unusual. Only a month hadpassed since the disastrous earthquakeand fire. San Francisco's banks stillwere closed, so the mint was function-ing as an emergency bank. By order ofPatrick Calhoun, the lawyer grandsonof John C. Calhoun, who served as pres-ident of United Railroads, which oper-ated all trolley cars in San Francisco,$200,000 was transferred from the eastto the mint in San Francisco. On May24, 1906, Tirey L. Ford, chief lawyer forUnited Railroads and later a member ofthe state board of prison directors,withdrew $50,000 in gold from Cal-houn's account at the mint, converted itto cash, and took it to the offices ofUnited Railroads, where it was deliv-ered to Abe Ruef, the lawyer who be-came "political boss" of San Franciscowhile Eugene Schmitz served as mayor.The remaining $150,000 was deliveredlater to Ruef in installments.

The money was the payoff for an or-dinance that sailed through the boardof supervisors three days earlier, per-mitting United Railroads to convert itstrolley lines to overhead electricalwires. According to Ruef, $85,000 ofthe cash went to the supervisors, and$50,000 went to Mayor Schmitz.

The whole sordid story is immor-talized in California v. Ruef, 114 P. 54(1910). Ruef's bribery conviction wasupheld despite the claim that a mistrialshould have been declared when thechief prosecutor, Francis J. Heney, wasshot through the head in the courtroomjust as the jurors were returning from arecess. Heney miraculously survived.He was shot by a man he had rejectedrudely as a prospective juror in a previ-ous trial. The assistant prosecutor thentook over and completed the trial. Al-though his closing argument containedsome highly objectionable statements,

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the court excused this as harmlessexuberance, and the zealous prosecutorrode into the governor's office on thecrest of his victory. His name wasHiram L. Johnson. Johnson was TeddyRoosevelt's running mate in the 1912"Bull Moose" campaign, and he is theonly California governor in this century-so far-who went from the governor'soffice to the United States Senate.

Abe Ruef served four and a half yearsof a 14-year sentence in San Quentinand was disbarred, but he returned toSan Francisco and prospered as a realestate broker until his death in 1936.

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11. Site of Yick Wo LaundryThird and Folsom Streets

One more block east on MissionStreet, then a block south, brings us tothe new Moscone Convention Center,which will open in December. Behindthe cavernous meeting hall is the sitethat was occupied by a ramshacklewooden building a century ago.

Lee Yick came to San Francisco fromChina in 1861. For 25 years he sweatover steaming washtubs on this site,operating a tiny laundry. In 1886 therewere 320 similar laundries in San Fran-cisco, 240 of them owned by Chinese.But the Chinese were not particularlypopular in the San Francisco of the1880s. Largely for that reason, the SanFrancisco Board of Supervisors enactedan ordinance requiring a license to op-erate a laundry, and a condition for is-suance of the license was the recom-mendation of 12 citizens of the blockwhere the laundry was to be operated.This ordinance was declared uncon-stitutional in In Re Quong Woo, 13 F.229 (1882).

The supervisors then re-enacted theordinance as a general prohibitionagainst operating any laundry withouta permit unless it was in a building ofbrick or stone. The ordinance was en-forced by the arresting of 150 Chineselaundry operators, including Lee Yick

and Wo Lee. None of the 80 non-Chinese who operated laundries werearrested, although only ten San Fran-cisco laundries were in buildings madeof brick or stone. Yick was convictedand sentenced to pay a fine of $10 orremain in jail until the fine was satis-fied at a rate of $1 a day. He sought awrit of habeas corpus from the Califor-nia Supreme Court, but it was denied inIn re Yick We, 9 P. 139 (1885).

We Lee, on the other hand, soughtrelief in federal court. Judge LorenzoSawyer was sympathetic, noting thatthe discrimination that motivated theordinance "must be apparent to everycitizen of San Francisco who has beenhere long enough to be familiar withthe cause of an active and aggressivebranch of public opinion and of publicnotorious events. Can a court be blindto what must be necessarily known toevery intelligent person in the state?"In re We Lee, 26 F. 471, 475 (1886).Nevertheless, exercising a restrainthardly characteristic of modern federaljudges, he felt bound by the decision ofte cCalifornia Supreme Court in Yick

and concluded "... we do not con-.y..re it to be our duty to overrule the

action of the supreme court of the stateunless it be upon the clearest and mostindubitable grounds."

He urged the Supreme Court to grantspeedy review of the cases, however,and his recommendation certainly wasfollowed. Judge Sawyer's opinion wasannounced on January 26, 1886. Lessthan 15 weeks later, on May 10, 1886,the Supreme Court announced itslandmark opinion in Yick We v. Hop-kins, 118 U.S. 356 (1886), which is stillquoted today as the origin of the de-fense of discriminatory prosecution.

Somewhere along the line, Lee Yick'sname was confused with the name hehad given to his laundry. Yick We wasa popular business name in the Chinesecommunity, signifying harmony andtranquillity. The Supreme Court there-fore unwittingly granted a writ ofhabeas corpus to a laundry, and LeeYick missed his opportunity to achieveimmortality in the U.S. Reports. Thisyear ground was broken in San Fran-cisco's Chinatown for a new elementaryschool. It will commemorate the con-tribution made to civil rights by laun-dryman Lee Yick. But it will be calledYick We Elementary School. The origi-nal site of Yick We Laundry is now aparking lot.

After reviewing the fascinating his-tory of these cases, only one questionremains in my mind. With our Xerox

machines and Telex wires, why is it wemust wait years for a Supreme Courtdecision, when Lee Yick and We Lee, acentury ago, only had to wait 15 weeks?

12. The Palace Hotel633 Market Street

Walk north on Third Street back toMarket and turn right. You will findyourself less than a block from thePalace Hotel, which reigned over SanFrancisco's society for nearly a century.Itis now called the Sheraton Palace, butto San Franciscans it's still just "ThePalace." Woodrow Wilson, while pres-ident, made a famous speech here urg-ing our entry into the League of Na-tions. Warren Harding, while presi-dent, died here. Stop and have lunch atthe Garden Court, one of the most mag-nificent dining rooms in the world. Thegreen goddess salad was first presentedto actor George Arliss here, who namedit for the play in which he was thenstarring.

The original Palace was built on thissite in 1875 by William Ralston, presi-dent of the Bank of California. Ralstonsailed into San Francisco Bay as ayoung man in 1851 and accumulatedan incredible fortune by investing ingold and silver mines and real estate.Some of his ventures, however, werenot bonanzas. He was chief victim ofone of the most notorious swindles inAmerican history-the Galconda Dia-mond Mine, which turned out to be agravel pit in Colorado that swindlershad "salted" with diamonds. Hisscheme to control all of the watersupplies to San Francisco had col-lapsed. On August 26, 1875, when aserious fall in the stock of Virginia CitySilver Mines precipitated a run on thebank, Ralston was called to account.The books showed he was more than $9million in debt, with only $4.5 millionin assets. The solution, forced onRalston by the hoard of directors, wasthat he sign over a deed of trust to all

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his assets to his partner, William Sha-ron, a senator from Nevada, and resignas bank president.

Ralston left the bank, walked twomiles to North Beach, donned a bathingsuit, and began swimming toward Al-catraz Island. Fifteen minutes later hisbody was pulled from the icy water. Ahastily convened coroner's jury, com-posed of many of his business associ-ates, deliberated for ten minutes beforepronouncing a verdict of accidentaldeath by drowning. His distraughtwidow at least was assured of collect-ing on his $68,000 life insurance pol-icy.

The outpouring of public sympathywas unlike any the city had ever seen.Fifty thousand people (half of SanFrancisco's adult population) joinedthe three-mile funeral cortbge. The re-organized bank opened five weekslater, and it has grown and prosperedever since. A week after that the PalaceHotel opened its doors. Sharon deliv-ered a touching eulogy, dedicating thehotel, which he now owned, to BillyRalston's memory. Sharon apparentlymanaged to come out ahead after pay-ing off Ralston's debts. At least that iswhat Ralston's widow claimed in a suitagainst Sharon challenging the legalityof the trust instrument Ralston signed

hours before his final swim. There is noreported opinion in Ralston v. Sharon,however. The senator settled with thewidow out of court for $250,000.

When the 1906 earthquake struck,Enrico Caruso was thrown out of hisbed in the Palace Hotel. The hotel sur-vived the quake, but it was gutted in theensuing fire. The present hotel was re-built on the same site and the Palacereopened in 1909.MI

13. St. Francis Hotel335 Powell Street

When you leave the Palace Hotel,cross Market Street and walk back toPowell, where you can catch a cable car

There's more, if your feet are willingREDUCING this tour to a compact andwalkable route for most people requiredomitting a number of memorable "legallandmarks." If your appetite is suffi-ciently whetted and your feet are willing,you may want to seek out these addi-tional monuments:

Blacky Toy's Opium Den. At 1733Leavenworth Street you will find thebuilding referred to as "Oye's Laundry"in Wang Sun v. United States, 371 U.S.471 (1963), the leading case on the "fruitof the poisonous tree" doctrine.

Marron's Speakeasy. At 1249 PolkStreet, in the walkup above a sidewalkrestaurant, you will find the premisesthat were raided by prohibition agents in1924, giving rise to a landmark case onsearches incident to arrest, Marron v.United States, 275 U.S. 192 (1927).

Site of Preparedness Day explosion. Atthe end of Market Street, on the corner ofMarket and Steuart Streets, a bombexploded on July 22, 1916, killing tenand injuring 50 parade watchers. Thesubsequent conviction of labor agitatorsTom Mooney and Warren Billings cul-minated in Mooney v. Holohan, 294 U.S.103 (1935), which held that knowing useof perjured testimony by state prosecut-

St Francis photo courtesy San Francisco Visitors Bureau

ing officials is a denial of due process.The governor who subsequently par-doned Mooney was then defeated for re-election by the attorney general wholoudly denounced the pardon- EarlWarren.

Site of David Terry's contempt. Thecorner of Sansome and WashingtonStreets is the site that was occupied bythe federal circuit court in 1888. Thatsummer U.S. Supreme Court JusticeStephen J. Field was "riding circuit" andannounced an opinion against SarahAlthea Hill, who claimed a substantialshare of the estate of Senator Sharon,owner of the Palace Hotel and the Bankof California. Sarah's lawyer (and hus-band) was David Terry, who had previ-ously sat with justice Field on theCalifornia Supreme Court. Sarah greetedField's announcement of his opinionwith a string of epithets, and Terry's at-tempt to "rescue" her from the iiarshalswho removed her resulted in a contemptconviction upheld by the Supreme Courtin Ex porte Terry, 128 U.S. 289 (1888).Six months later Terry attacked JusticeField in the Lathrop Railway Station, andTerry was killed by Field's bodyguard.See In re Neagle, 135 U.S. 1 (1889).

to Nob Hill, where your walk began.The cable car will take you past anothergreat San Francisco hotel, the St. Fran-cis, which faces Union Square betweenGeary and Post.

The St. Francis always has beenpopular with actors. John Barrymorefell from a bed at the St. Francis whenthe earthquake struck.

The actor whose stay at the St. Fran-cis attracted the most attention, how-ever, was Fatty Arbuckle. In Suite1219-21, 12 stories up from the cornerof Powell and Geary, Arbuckle was en-tertaining some friends in September,1921. Shortly after the party, one of hisfemale guests died from the effects of aruptured bladder. Arbuckle, then at theheight of his popularity with moviefans, was charged with rape and mur-der. He was subjected to three sensa-tional trials. The first two ended withhung juries. At the third the jurors andalternates took the unusual step of sign-ing a statement read by the foremanwhen their verdict of "not guilty" wasannounced:

"Acquittal is not enough for RoscoeArbuckle, we feel that a great injusticehas been done him ... We wish himsuccess, and hope that the Americanpeople will take the judgment of four-teen men and women who have sat tis-tening for thirty-one days to the evi-dence, that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirelyinnocent and free from all blame."

The American people did not acceptthat judgment, however. Arbuckle'sfilm career was over at the age of 35.

The judge who presided over allthree trials was Harold Louderback,who himself won a rather hollow ac-quittal ten years later. After his ap-pointment as a federal judge, Louder-back was impeached by the House ofRepresentatives on charges of cronyismin the appointment of receivers. OnMay 24, 1933, after a full trial before theSenate, Louderback was acquitted on avote of 45 guilty to 34 not guilty, shortof the two thirds required for convic-tion.

If you stay on the cable car-the sys-tem now has national landmark status-you'll clang up Nob Hill and return tothe Fairmont. Happy walking.jjf/15 ,/

(Gerald F. Uelmen is a professor oflaw at Loyola Law School of LosAngeles. He acknowledges the helpfulsuggestions of John M. Naff, Jr., counselfor special projects, U.S. Court of Ap-peals for the Ninth Circuit, and Leo J.O'Brien, a professor at Hastings Collegeof the Law.)

August, 1982 e Volume 68 965

HeinOnline -- 68 A.B.A. J. 965 1982