University of California, Hastings College of the Law in the context of Willie Brown (politician)

Willie Lewis Brown Jr. (born March 20, 1934) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as mayor of San Francisco from 1996 to 2004 as the first African American to hold the office.

Born in Mineola, Texas, where he graduated from high school, Brown moved to San Francisco in 1951. He graduated from San Francisco State University in 1955 and earned a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1958, after which he began his career as an attorney and was involved in the civil rights movement. He was elected to the California Assembly in 1964, gaining popularity in San Francisco as one of the country's most powerful state legislators. As a legislator, Brown earned a reputation as a supporter of civil rights of gays and lesbians, and was able to manage colleagues and maintain party discipline. He served as the speaker of the California State Assembly from 1980 to 1995. His long tenure and powerful position were used as a focal point of the California ballot proposition limiting the terms of state legislators that passed in 1990. During the last of his three allowed post-initiative terms, Brown maintained control of the Assembly despite a slim Republican majority. Near the end of his final term, he decided to run for mayor of San Francisco.