Jesse W. Carter

Jesse Washington Carter (December 19, 1888 – March 15, 1959) was an American lawyer and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California from September 12, 1939 to March 15, 1950. Biography Carter was born in Carrville, Trinity County, California, to Amanda Josephine Sweet and Asa Mannen Carter, a farmer and miner who had migrated to California by covered wagon. Carter was the second youngest of eight children, and was educated in the public schools. In 1905, he moved to San Francisco. He worked days for the city street railroad while studying at night at Golden Gate College of the Law, where he graduated in 1913. Carter briefly practiced law in San Francisco and then, in 1914, opened offices in Redding where he practiced until 1939 with the law firm of Carter, Barrett, Finley and Carlton. In 1922, Carter undertook complex water rights litigation on behalf of a group of farmers who complained that the Pacific Gas and Electric Company unlawfully diverted the Pit River in Shasta County. The cases went through several appeals to the Supreme Court until their conclusion in 1938. While in private practice, Carter held several public posts. He was elected District Attorney of Shasta County, a position he held from 1919 to 1927. He served as City Attorney of Mount Shasta from 1927 to 1939, and held the same post for the City of Redding from 1937 until 1939. In 1927, he was elected by his peers to the first Board of Governors of The State Bar of California, serving until 1933, the last two of which he was the Bar's vice-president. He served as attorney for the State Dental Board, and litigated the Painless Parker case.