Peirson M. Hall
Encyclopedia
Peirson Mitchell Hall, known as Peirson M. Hall, (1894–1979) was a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1925 to 1929, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California from 1933 to 1937, a judge in the Los Angeles Superior Court from 1939 to 1940, head of the U.S. Selective Service System for Los Angeles in 1941 and a federal District Court judge from 1942 to 1979. He was considered the foremost authority of aviation law among the nation's 500 federal judges.
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Hall was born in Armour, South Dakota
, on July 31, 1894, and attended two years of high school in Tecumseh, Nebraska
. He lived in a Nebraska orphanage
for a time before moving to Los Angeles to study law. He took a one-year course at Polytechnic High School (Los Angeles), then attended the University of Southern California Law School
at night in 1912-16. He began his legal practice in 1916.
Hall was married five times. He and his first wife were divorced in 1929, and Hall sued journalist Fred H. Girnau for libel when Girnau printed a two-column article asserting that testimony at the divorce proceedings showed that Hall "used the pretty face of his wife for a punching bag." Hall's attorney declared the statement untrue and Mrs. Hall said the report was false and malicious.
The longest marriage was to Gertrude May Engel, beginning in 1930. They had two daughters, Mary and Suzanne, and were divorced in 1956 after court battles that lasted several years. She died in 1964. His fourth wife was Kathryn Kyle Black, whom he married in Kansas City, Kansas, in November 1956. She died in 1970. Next he married Mari Bahn, who died in February 1973.
Hall, who had been a Mason
and an Elk
, died on December 8, 1979.
Hall was elected to the Los Angeles City Council
to represent District 11 in 1925 and was reelected in 1927. The 11th District originally encompassed an area south of Downtown
, bounded on the north by Sixth Street, on the south by Pico Boulevard
, on the west by Hoover Avenue and on the east approximately by San Pedro Street].
He, along with Clifford W. Henderson and Henry G. Bakes, "persuaded the city to lease a 640-acre bean and barley patch then known as Mines Field," which became the Los Angeles International Airport
.
but lost to Erwin P. Werner in the June final, 152,566 to 82,444. He was in private practice from 1929 to 1934, when he was appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, a post he fulfilled until 1937.
He was a Superior Court
judge between 1939 and 1942, then was appointed U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District effective July 3, 1942. He was chief judge
from 1959 to 1964. He was reassigned to the Central District of California in 1966 and assumed senior status
in 1968. He was head of the Selective Service System
for Southern California in 1941.
Some of the cases he dealt with in his court included:
Biography
Hall was born in Armour, South Dakota
Armour, South Dakota
Armour is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 699 at the 2010 census.- History :...
, on July 31, 1894, and attended two years of high school in Tecumseh, Nebraska
Tecumseh, Nebraska
Tecumseh is a city in and the county seat of Johnson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,716 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tecumseh is located at ....
. He lived in a Nebraska orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
for a time before moving to Los Angeles to study law. He took a one-year course at Polytechnic High School (Los Angeles), then attended the University of Southern California Law School
University of Southern California Law School
The University of Southern California Law School , located in Los Angeles, California, is a law school within the University of Southern California...
at night in 1912-16. He began his legal practice in 1916.
Hall was married five times. He and his first wife were divorced in 1929, and Hall sued journalist Fred H. Girnau for libel when Girnau printed a two-column article asserting that testimony at the divorce proceedings showed that Hall "used the pretty face of his wife for a punching bag." Hall's attorney declared the statement untrue and Mrs. Hall said the report was false and malicious.
The longest marriage was to Gertrude May Engel, beginning in 1930. They had two daughters, Mary and Suzanne, and were divorced in 1956 after court battles that lasted several years. She died in 1964. His fourth wife was Kathryn Kyle Black, whom he married in Kansas City, Kansas, in November 1956. She died in 1970. Next he married Mari Bahn, who died in February 1973.
Hall, who had been a Mason
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
and an Elk
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is an American fraternal order and social club founded in 1868...
, died on December 8, 1979.
City Council
See also List of Los Angeles municipal election returns, 1925, 1927 and 1929Hall was elected to the Los Angeles City Council
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...
to represent District 11 in 1925 and was reelected in 1927. The 11th District originally encompassed an area south of Downtown
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
, bounded on the north by Sixth Street, on the south by Pico Boulevard
Pico Boulevard
Pico Boulevard is a major Los Angeles street that runs from the Pacific Ocean at Appian Way in Santa Monica to Central Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California, USA...
, on the west by Hoover Avenue and on the east approximately by San Pedro Street].
He, along with Clifford W. Henderson and Henry G. Bakes, "persuaded the city to lease a 640-acre bean and barley patch then known as Mines Field," which became the Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
.
Legal career
In 1929 Hall ran for election as Los Angeles city attorneyCity attorney
A city attorney can be an elected or appointed position in city and municipal government in the United States. The city attorney is the attorney representing the city or municipality....
but lost to Erwin P. Werner in the June final, 152,566 to 82,444. He was in private practice from 1929 to 1934, when he was appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, a post he fulfilled until 1937.
He was a Superior Court
Superior court
In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases...
judge between 1939 and 1942, then was appointed U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District effective July 3, 1942. He was chief judge
Chief judge
Chief Judge is a title that can refer to the highest-ranking judge of a court that has more than one judge. The meaning and usage of the term vary from one court system to another...
from 1959 to 1964. He was reassigned to the Central District of California in 1966 and assumed senior status
Senior status
Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges, and judges in some state court systems. After federal judges have reached a certain combination of age and years of service on the federal courts, they are allowed to assume senior status...
in 1968. He was head of the Selective Service System
Selective Service System
The Selective Service System is a means by which the United States government maintains information on those potentially subject to military conscription. Most male U.S. citizens and male immigrant non-citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 are required by law to have registered within 30 days of...
for Southern California in 1941.
Some of the cases he dealt with in his court included:
- Trial of an army officer charged with stealing $106,000 in Japanese gold missing since the surrender of Formosa (Taiwan]) to U.S. forces at the end of World War II.
- Jailing of 10 people for refusal to answer questions in a grand juryGrand juryA grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
proceeding about Los Angeles Communist leaders and organizations.
- Freeing of war crimes suspect Andrija ArtukovicAndrija ArtukovicAndrija Artuković was a Croatian politician and a member of the Ustaše movement. Artuković was convicted of war crimes committed against minorities in the Independent State of Croatia during World War II...
, former interior minister in CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, when Hall ruled that no extraditionExtraditionExtradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
treaty existed between the United States and Yugoslavia, which had sought Artukovic for trial.
Other reading
- Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials: 1850—1938, Compiled under Direction of Municipal Reference Library City Hall, Los Angeles March 1938 (Reprinted 1966)