# Jacob Tanzer

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{{Short description|American judge}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image        = Jacob Tanzer 1974 (cropped).jpg
| name         = Jacob Tanzer
| image_size   = 
| caption      = 
| office       = 81st Justice of the [Oregon Supreme Court](/source/Oregon_Supreme_Court)
| term_start   = 1980
| term_end     = 1982
| nominator    = 
| appointer    = [Victor G. Atiyeh](/source/Victor_G._Atiyeh)
| predecessor  = [Ralph M. Holman](/source/Ralph_M._Holman)
| successor    = [Robert E. Jones](/source/Robert_E._Jones_(judge))
| office2      = Judge of the [Oregon Court of Appeals](/source/Oregon_Court_of_Appeals)
| term_start2  = 1976
| term_end2    = 1980
| appointer2   = [Robert W. Straub](/source/Robert_W._Straub)
| predecessor2 = [Robert H. Foley](/source/Robert_H._Foley)
| successor2   = [John C. Warden](/source/John_C._Warden)
| term_start3  = 1973
| term_end3    = 1975
| appointer3   = [Tom McCall](/source/Tom_McCall)
| predecessor3 = new position
| successor3   = [Jason Lee](/source/Jason_Lee_(Oregon_judge))
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1935|2|13|mf=y}}
| birth_place  = [Longview, Washington](/source/Longview%2C_Washington), U.S.
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|2018|07|23|1935|2|13|mf=y}}
| death_place  = [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland%2C_Oregon), U.S.<ref name=Gerike/>
| party        = 
| spouse       = Elaine
}}
'''Jacob B. Tanzer''' (February 13, 1935 – July 23, 2018) was an American attorney in the state of [Oregon](/source/Oregon). Prior to private practice Tanzer served as the 81st justice of the [Oregon Supreme Court](/source/Oregon_Supreme_Court). He also served on the [Oregon Court of Appeals](/source/Oregon_Court_of_Appeals), was a deputy district attorney for [Multnomah County, Oregon](/source/Multnomah_County%2C_Oregon), and worked for the [United States Department of Justice](/source/United_States_Department_of_Justice).

==Early life==
Jacob Tanzer was born in [Longview, Washington](/source/Longview%2C_Washington) on February 13, 1935<ref name=resume>[http://www.jtanzer.com/ Résumé.] Jacob Tanzer: Arbitration, Mediation, & Neutral Services. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.</ref> to a [Jewish](/source/Jews) family.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ojmche.org/oral-history-people/jacob-tanzer/|work=[Oregon Jewish Museum](/source/Oregon_Jewish_Museum)|title=Jacob Tanzer|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20251224085824/https://www.ojmche.org/oral-history-people/jacob-tanzer/|archive-date=December 24, 2025}}</ref> Tanzer was raised in [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland%2C_Oregon), where he attended [Grant High School](/source/Grant_High_School_(Portland%2C_Oregon)).<ref>Frei, Terry. Shaw tops a list of greats. ''[The Oregonian](/source/The_Oregonian)'', April 22, 1993.</ref> After high school he attended the [University of Oregon](/source/University_of_Oregon) in [Eugene](/source/Eugene%2C_Oregon) where he earned a [Bachelor of Arts](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) in 1956.<ref name=legalspan>[http://www.legalspan.com/catalog2/faculty.asp?UserID=20060607729133124242%20%20%20%20%20%20&OwnerColor=%23660033 Jacob Tanzer: Arbitration, Mediation & Neutral Services.]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Legalspan. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.</ref> Tanzer then went on to the university's [law school](/source/University_of_Oregon_School_of_Law), graduating in 1959 with his [Juris Doctor](/source/Juris_Doctor).<ref name=legalspan/> That year he passed the [Oregon](/source/Oregon_State_Bar) [bar](/source/bar_(law)).<ref name=legalspan/> He also attended [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University) in California and [Reed College](/source/Reed_College) in [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland%2C_Oregon).<ref name=resume/>

==Legal career==
From 1959 until 1962 Tanzer worked in private legal practice in Portland.<ref name=resume/> Tanzer then joined the U.S. Department of Justice in 1962, where he would remain until 1964.<ref name=resume/> In 1964, while working for the Department of Justice he was sent to Mississippi as part of the Civil Rights Division to investigate the [murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner](/source/murders_of_Chaney%2C_Goodman%2C_and_Schwerner), three civil rights activists.<ref name=civil>Mahar, Ted. Burning’ memories new civil rights movie strikes familiar chord with a Portland lawyer. ''[The Oregonian](/source/The_Oregonian)'', January 15, 1989.</ref> The incident would later become the basis for the movie ''[Mississippi Burning](/source/Mississippi_Burning)'' (1988).<ref name=civil/>

From 1965 until 1969 Jacob Tanzer worked as a deputy [district attorney](/source/district_attorney) for [Multnomah County, Oregon](/source/Multnomah_County%2C_Oregon), the county where Portland is located.<ref name=resume/> In 1969 he became Oregon's first Solicitor General in the [Oregon Department of Justice](/source/Oregon_Department_of_Justice), serving until 1971 when he became the first director of the [Oregon Department of Human Services](/source/Oregon_Department_of_Human_Services).<ref name=resume/> While Solicitor General he defended the state's position in the U.S. Supreme Court case of ''[Apodaca v. Oregon](/source/Apodaca_v._Oregon)''.<ref>''Apodaca v. Oregon'', 406 U.S. 404 (1972).</ref> Tanzer remained at that agency until 1973.<ref name=resume/>

===Judicial career===
On October 5, 1973, Jacob Tanzer was appointed by Oregon Governor [Tom McCall](/source/Tom_McCall) to a new position on the Oregon Court of Appeals.<ref name=gov>[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/governors_guides.aspx Oregon State Archives: Governor's Records Guides.] Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.</ref><ref name=appeals>[https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Documents/elections/history-officials.pdf Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Oregon Court of Appeals Judges.] Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.</ref> That term ended on January 6, 1975.<ref name=appeals/> The following year he ran for a position on the court, but was appointed to the court before the election was held by Governor [Robert W. Straub](/source/Robert_W._Straub) on August 16, 1976.<ref name=gov/><ref name=appeals/> He was replacing [Robert H. Foley](/source/Robert_H._Foley) who had resigned, and Tanzer won election to a full six-year term on the court that year before resigning on January 21, 1980.<ref name=appeals/>

On that same day, Tanzer was appointed by Governor [Victor G. Atiyeh](/source/Victor_G._Atiyeh) to the Oregon Supreme Court to replace [Ralph M. Holman](/source/Ralph_M._Holman) who had resigned.<ref name=gov/><ref name=OSC>[https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Documents/elections/history-officials.pdf Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Supreme Court Justices of Oregon.] Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 25, 2008.</ref> Tanzer won election to a full six-year term later in 1980, and then resigned from the court on December 31, 1982.<ref name=OSC/>

==Later years==
After retiring from the bench, Tanzer returned to private practice in Portland.<ref name=resume/> He died in Portland on July 23, 2018, due to a fall.<ref name=Gerike>{{cite news |last1=Gerike |first1=Lydia |title=Jacob Tanzer, 'a lion of the legal profession,' dies at 83 |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/07/jacob_tanzer_a_lion_of_the_leg.html |accessdate=25 July 2018 |work=[The Oregonian](/source/The_Oregonian) |date=July 24, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|work=[The Oregon Encyclopedia](/source/The_Oregon_Encyclopedia)|url=https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/tanzer-jacob/|title=Jacob Tanzer (1935–2018)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20251224090129/https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/tanzer-jacob/|archive-date=December 24, 2025}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [List of Jewish American jurists](/source/List_of_Jewish_American_jurists)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.jtanzer.com Official site]
*[http://www.osbar.org/publications/bulletin/04jan/mlk.html The Dream. Oregon State Bar: Bulletin Magazine, January 2004]
*[http://petespringer.smugmug.com/gallery/279819/1/59621295#21161375-L-LB Photograph of Jacob Tanzer]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanzer, Jacob}}
Category:Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court
Category:Reed College alumni
Category:University of Oregon alumni
Category:1935 births
Category:2018 deaths
Category:American lawyers
Category:Jews from Oregon
Category:Jews from Washington (state)
Category:Jewish American people in Oregon politics
Category:University of Oregon School of Law alumni
Category:Oregon Court of Appeals judges
Category:People from Longview, Washington
Category:Politicians from Portland, Oregon
Category:Stanford University alumni
Category:Grant High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni
Category:20th-century Oregon state court judges
Category:21st-century American Jews

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jacob Tanzer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Tanzer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Tanzer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.