People For Liberty is delighted to announce that Judge Jim Gray will be the new Chair of our Board of Directors. Judge Gray is a celebrated author, radio show host, and politician. He brings a wealth of experience to the board including a highly trained legal mind and a deft ability to communicate with different organizations. Judge Gray joins Sam Robb, Cris Crawford, Jim Babka, and President Jo Jorgensen on the board.
“I’d encountered People For Liberty at several events, and I’ve seen them grow into one of the premier Liberty organizations in the country. I was delighted to be asked to serve as chair, and I look forward to working with the team as we make sure there is enough tinder for the spark of liberty to catch fire.” Gray said.
The son of Elizabeth Polin Gray and the highly regarded federal judge William P. Gray, Gray was raised in the Los Angeles area and earned an undergraduate degree in US History from UCLA in 1966 and a Juris Doctor degree from USC in 1971. In between schooling bouts, Gray served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Palmar Norte, Costa Rica. During those two years as a volunteer, he taught physical education in the local high school. Additionally, he created and oversaw programs of community recreation and health in his community.
After law school, Gray served for almost four years as a lieutenant in the Navy JAG Corps. He served as a criminal defense attorney first at US Naval Base Guam and later at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. Following his naval assignments, he served as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, where he eventually headed a unit that prosecuted frauds against the VA and FHA.
In 1983, after working for several years in private civil litigation, Governor George Deukmejian appointed Gray to the Santa Ana Municipal Court. In 1989, Gray was elevated by Deukmejian to the Superior Court. Throughout his career within the legal and judicial community, Gray has donated hundreds of volunteer hours to existing community service-oriented activities as well as creating and implementing a number of innovative programs of his own, each one a success story in itself.
Gray served as a trial court judge for 25 years in Orange County, California. During that time, he was awarded honorary doctor of laws degrees both from Western State University School of Law and Chapman University School of Law, as well as the “Judge of the Year” Award from the Business Litigation Section of the Orange County Bar Association. In addition, Gray was the recipient of the “Judge of the Year” Award from the Orange County Chapter of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, who later named the annual award after him. Recently, Gray received the 2019 Judge Franklin G. West Lifetime Achievement Award from the Orange County Bar Association, which is its highest honor.
Gray is a founding member of the Association of Former U.S. Attorneys. It has continued annual meetings since 1979 to share ideas and continue with the camaraderie of that great office. Additionally, Gray helped to establish the William P. Gray Chapter of the American Inns of Court, which serves to increase ethics, education, and professionalism for judges and lawyers.
Gray has prior political experience as the Libertarian Party Vice-Presidential candidate in 2012. He toured the country speaking on Liberty issues, while running with Gary Johnson. The Johnson/Gray ticket received 1,275,971 votes.
When Judge Gray isn’t engaged with politics and the law, he enjoys spending time writing musicals.
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