James P. Gray

James P. Gray
Orange County Superior Court Judge
In office 1989–2009
Santa Ana, California Municipal Court Judge
In office 1983–1989
Personal details
Born	James Polin Gray (1945-02-14) February 14, 1945 Washington, District of Columbia
Political party	Libertarian
Relations	Bill, Jennifer, and Ky
Residence	Newport Beach, California
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles (B.A.) USC Gould School of Law (J.D.)
Profession	Jurist, Author
Religion	Presbyterian
Website	JudgeJimGray.com

James Polin "Jim" Gray (born February 14, 1945) is an American jurist and the 2012 Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee. He was the presiding judge of the Superior Court of Orange County, California. Gray was the 2004 Libertarian Party candidate for the United States Senate in California. He is the author of multiple books and a play, and is critical of current American drug laws.

Gray has been a member of the California Judicial Council, as well as the California Judicial Council's Advisory Committee on Juvenile Law, the Alcohol Advisory Board to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, the Advisory Board of the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, and the Orange County Law Library. He has also been a member of the Board of Councilors of the USC Law School. Gray also introduced Orange County to the Peer Court system, where juvenile defendants travel to a school outside their district to have their actual cases tried by other teenagers. In 2012, Gray was nominated by Libertarian Party convention delegates as the running mate of former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson.

Background

Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in the Los Angeles, California area, Gray earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1966, after which he taught in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica. Gray returned to California and earned a law degree from the University of Southern California Law School in 1971.

Judicial career

From 1972 through 1975, Gray practiced law with the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the U.S. Navy in Guam and California.

After five years in private practice, he was named to the Santa Ana Municipal Court in 1983 by Governor George Deukmejian, who then appointed Gray to the Orange County Superior Court in 1989. Gray retired as a judge in January 2009. Much of his legal career has dealt with drug-related issues.

2004 U.S. Senate candidacy

Main article: United States Senate election in California, 2004

Following an unsuccessful bid in 1998 for the Republican nomination for the congressional seat in California's 46th congressional district, Gray left the Republican Party and joined the Libertarian Party. In 2003, he openly contemplated becoming a candidate for the 2004 Libertarian presidential nomination, but later decided to run for the U.S. Senate instead. In November 2003, he declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat occupied by Barbara Boxer in California. Gray was a keynote speaker at the 2004 Libertarian National Convention. In March 2004 Gray defeated former Libertarian Party of California chair Gail Lightfoot in a statewide primary for the party's nomination for U.S. Senate. Gray suspended his judicial activities while running for the Senate against incumbent Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer and Republican Bill Jones. Gray received 216,522 votes, 1.8% of the total vote, finishing behind Boxer, Jones, and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Marsha Feinland.

Anti-War on Drugs activism

Gray is an outspoken critic of drug laws and the War on Drugs, particularly in the state of California. He was a proponent of the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, a statewide referendum measure that was defeated in the 2010 California state elections.

He is the author of Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It – A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs (2001), and is one of the 62 people featured in the 2007 documentary American Drug War: The Last White Hope.

In early 2011 Gray was one of the four co-sponsors of an initiative called Regulate Marijuana Like Wine. Had it passed, the initiative would have regulated cannabis consumption and production like wine in California. Followed by national media, the measure failed to collect the minimum number of signatures needed for qualification to be placed on the ballot in the 2012 statewide election, but garnered significant speculation about Gray's future in the Libertarian Party and in national politics.

2012 vice-presidential candidacy

See also: Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2012

On April 27, 2012, the question "What would you think of Judge Gray running for Vice President?" was posted from Gray's Facebook page, and received numerous positive responses. Within three days of the posting, media sources confirmed that Gray had been chosen by 2012 Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson to be his running mate should Johnson receive the party's nomination at the 2012 Libertarian National Convention. Gray then confirmed his candidacy for the Libertarian vice-presidential nomination in an open letter to the party's Convention delegates. On May 5, 2012, Gray won the Libertarian Party (LP) vice-presidential nomination on the first ballot with 60% of the vote. He ran on the ticket with Johnson, who received the LP presidential nomination.

Personal

Gray resides in Newport Beach, California. He is married, and is the father of children William, Jennifer, and Ky.

Works

Musical

• Americans All (Abridged) A Musical In One Act Book, Music, and Lyrics by Judge James P. Gray

External links

• Judge Jim Gray, official personal website
• It's a Gray Area, Gray's official blog
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• / The Functional Libertarian, Gray's syndicated essay series

Party political offices
Preceded by Wayne Allyn Root	Libertarian Party Vice Presidential nominee 2012	Succeeded by TBD