up next on a second look, he served as alameda county district attorney. california governor, and chief justice of the united states. we remember earl warren, his crusade against the kukluxklan and his reforms that helped shape the nation. all ahead tonight on a second look. good evening and welcome to a second look. i'm julie haener. tomorrow is the first monday in

october the day that the united states supreme court begins its new session each year. tonight we revisit the lives and times of one of the most controversial chief justices in history. earl warren. warren served from 1963 to 1969. but before he was chief justice, warren was governor of california. and before that, the district attorney in alameda county. he was appointed d.a. in 1925 and elected three times after that. and as faith spanta reports in 2000, one of the most important things he did was to fight the kukluxklan in alameda county. >> reporter: 1,500 masked men

in white robes and 500 initiates gather. >> are you a native born white gentile american? will you strive for the maintenance of the supremacy. >> reporter: under the strict rules of the clan was allowed to attend. he tribed the scene as quote an almost terrifying human aisle of white. who were these masked men swearing allegiance to hate. chris romburg says the list of kkk members might surprise you. >> included people like professional, small businessmen, sales men, skilled craft workers. members of the oakland fire department. even the son of a congressman. >> reporter: cross burnings were common, albany hill now the sight of condos was a site

favored by the klan. these east bay hills were alive with the sign of hate. crosses burning so bright people say you could see them from pinol to berkeley. one of the largest public displays of power of the klan was at a parade down mcdonald street. oakland had refused to allow the march so the klan was invited to take place in richmond. an 18-year-old black boy walter jr. was astounded to see just who wrote the white robe. he told his story to shirley moore. >> as a young boy he was struck by this sort of the way in which they were welcomed into the general celebration and he said, you know i knew who these people were. and my father worked with half the people. and he knew who they were. >> reporter: the rise of the klan in oakland in the 1920s

took place at a time of especially widespread discrimination. after world war ii the united states closed its doors to immigrants. in california the klan opposed not only asians and african americans but catholics, jews, irish, italians and eastern europeans as well. all part of the working class oakland then. the political strength of the klan in oakland peaked in 1936 with the election of klan member becker as alameda county sheriff. to this day his picture hangs in the sheriff's office. becker ran on an anti liquor, anti gambling, anti corruption. but along with his cronie, williams parker, becker became one of the most corrupt politicians of the decade. >> one of the things he did was to round up the bootleggers in alameda county and gradually arrest those smaller distributors in order to centralize distribution at one point so they could get pay

offs from the bootlegging industry. >> reporter: the klan was finally broken. it happened at a trial prosecuted by the new district attorney for alameda county earl warren. the young da who later went on to become chief justice of the supreme court put becker and many of his cohearts into sam quintin prison. but it was a long ugly fight. warren was so worried that klans men would not indict his brethren that he made the usually secret proceedings public. the bay area klan was in decline by the ends of the 1920s. some of the most prominents were in san quentin the klan never again reached the height it did in the 1920s in oakland. >> during his days at da warren was also part of the fight

against bootleggers. part of the story, the man did not know about his father until decades later. bob mackenzie brought us this report in the 1990s. >> reporter: mamola did pretty well for himself. something has bothered ed mamola all his life. he and his brother never knew anything about their father expect that he had died when they were babies. their mother managed to support the boys by working two jobs but she would never talk about her husband. >> she wouldn't talk nothing about what he was doing or nothing. she was just scared. she was scared the mafia was going to come get her and us kids. >> reporter: finally this year, mamola got a call from sergeant jim nelson of the alameda county sheriff's department. nelson had ran across this story of joseph momola a policeman killed on the job in 1827. and a few weeks ago, nelson and

the mamolas went to alam rock cemetery and walked to the grave of joseph mamola, jeff's father. >> it's nice when you get something like this when you get a nice ending. >> reporter: the story sergeant nelson told them was this, joseph mamola was a constable, an elected police official in richmond in the days of prohibition. >> now deemed under court order, go to it boys. >> reporter: joining to the war was an up and coming district attorney earl warren who would one day become chief justice of the supreme court. warren also enlisted trustworthy officers including joseph mamola. in revenge, four bootleggers ambushed constable mamola in richmond, beat him and shot him with his own gun. now edward knows who his father was. an honest cop who did his job and who died trying to fight

off four thugs. >> it was a blessing when he came down here. you know, because i learned the truth about the whole story. >> still to come on a second look, warren's days as governor and his push to reform california's prison. >> and a bit later the landmark decision many consider one of the most important of the warren court. brown versus the board of education. vo: for years, sacramento politicians have chopped away funds for our schools.

today, we're forty-seventh out of fifty in per-pupil funding. now these politicians say unless we send more tax dollars to sacramento, they'll cut education again. here's a new approach. prop thirty-eight sends billions in new education dollars straight to our local schools, and guarantees the politicians can't touch it. thirty-eight will restore the education cuts from sacramento. so remember this number. thirty-eight.

tonight we are taking a second look at earl warren one of the most popular governors in california history. he was elected to the state's top job three times in 1942, 1946 and 1950. he was so highly regarded that in 1946 he won the republican democratic and independent primaries and was unopposed in the general election. one of warren's major achievements at governor was to reform the prison system. bob mackenzie gives us a look

at how two of the oldest california prisons changed at that time. >> reporter: by the dawn of the 20th century, san quentin had hundreds of prisoners. beatings by guards were standard practice. and prisoners who got physical were often strapped into a straight jacket, so tight that their bones broke or their or beganned failed. by the mid-30s the prison was increasingly crowded. the population exceeded 6,000 with men sleeping in the mess hall and the basement. the crowding led to trouble, inmates staged mess hall strikes, protesting bad food. in 1940 a different sort of warden came along. duffy was a reformer who believed in rehabilitation. >> another national plan has been sponsored by the san quentin news. >> reporter: duffy closed the dungeons and banned physical punishment. he got out on the yard and mingled with prisoners

something another warden had not done before. >> san quentin go to bat for moral. >> as the 40s ended, duffey's liberal policies began to seem dubious. there were killings, escapes. governor earl warren under some pressure moved duffey out and called for tougher policies. >> reporter: in 1944 responding to a report, governor earl warren developed the department of corrections. that the time fulsome was run by plumber who was tough but enlightened. he allowed such entertainment as boxing matches with inmates doing the boxing. but the day of openly brutalizing prisoners was drawing to a close. >> as now one of the great

fights in california during governor warren's tenure was over water. who would get it and how would the state get enough of it. a dam went up that created lake barriesa and destroyed the town of monticello. randy shandobil first brought us this report in 1994. lake berriesa provides drinking water for people in solano county. but most people who play here 16 miles northeast of napa, people who fish and water ski here, what they don't know is that the lake is also a watery tomb covering a town buried 30 years ago. the town was monticello homes of generations to farmers and ranchers. these home movies are from the late 1920s. >> there were people that had

been there from the 1800s. everybody is related. you never dare say a word about anybody because it was a aunt or cousin. you had to be careful about that. >> reporter: the surroundings solano county area was growing and in need of water. the federal government and california governor earl warren proposed damming the near by punta creek to create a reservoir. it was the type of battle we've all seen many times before. the rights of a couple hundred people versus the thirst of a few hundred thousand. it was nature and a few die- hards standing in the way of progress. >> earl warren had more juice than we did and finally he saw it through. >> they finally gave us our orders and we resented it. it was our land. we bought it. and yet they could take it but

that was the way it was. everybody tried to fight it but it, didn't work. >> reporter: the government did compensate the people of monticello but old-timers say not nearly enough. >> when we come back on a second look, president eisenhower's regrets about appointing warren.

our second look tonight focuses on one of the most controversial the chief justices in u.s. history. earl warren. in 1964 separate but equal was the rule for america's schools. a law that allowed schools to separate students by race. that's until warren said that separate is inherently unequal. we take a look back 60 years after that decision. >> reporter: this could be any schoolyard in any city in america. 50 years ago the scene was much different. white children went to one school while black children went the to another. segregation had been the law of the land since 1896 cemented

the separate but equal doctrine. after world worldd war ii ended, cracks began appearing. president harry trueman desegregated the armed services. jackie robinson became the first african american. and thurgood marshall was gaining steam. 7-year-old linda brown became the icon for the landmark supreme court ruling. she had to travel dozens of blocks to a black elementary school but her home was just seven blocks away from sumner elementary, an all white school. >> i had spanish american play mates, i had native american play mates, i had white play mates and we played together on a daily basis. but when school started, they went one way and i went another

way. >> her father sued the court of topeka. the naacp class action lawsuit that would forever bear his name. marshall argued the case before the supreme court. >> this is a part of the grope of lawyers from all sections of the country who are airing the supreme thought for the purpose of arguing the school segregation cases. >> reporter: on may 17, 1954, chief justice earl warren handed down the unanimous decision that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. the ruling struck down the basis for segregation in kansas and 20 other states. >> this is little rock central high school. >> reporter: it didn't bring an immediate end to segregation but it marked the start of an uneasy transition in education reform across the country. it also layed the bedrock for

the modern civil rights movement. >> the civil rights lawyer who argued the brown versus brown of education came would eventually become part of the warren courtment thurgood marshall would serve as a supreme court justice for 31 years. in 1992 a year after he was retired marshall was honored by the nation's lawyers at an event here in the bay area. george watson reported. >> reporter: the american bar association honored retired supreme court justice thurgood marshall with its highest award. marshall will receive the award tomorrow. where did it all begin? in 1933, marshall received his law degree. his naacp, he fought for the civil rights of black americans. but what marked his time in history was the 1954 landmark case brown versus board of

education. the supreme court struck down the separate but equal doctrine opening the way for integration of schools. but president eisenhower still called for patient on the issue of integration. >> i personally believe if you try to go too far too fast in laws in this delegate field, that has involved the emotions of so many millions of americans you're making a mistake. >> thurgood marshal representing one of the rebuffed students said they have been patient enough. >> maybe you can override prejudice overnight. but the emancipation proclamation was issued in 1863. 90 odd years ago. i believe in gradualism. i also believe that 90 odd years is pretty gradual. >> reporter: lindon johnson named marshall to the supreme court of the u.s. this great grandson of slaves became the first black man to serve in the

nation's highest court. now at age 84, he is retired and able to bask in the memories that are the bedrock of what is his historic career. >> you know i can remember back in 1933, when i started to practice. if i remember correctly, at that stage, my ambition was to be a magistrate. that was, so i sort of got beyond that. >> president eisenhower once said that appointing earl

warren as chief justice was the biggest damful decision i have ever made. it was clear that warren surprised eisenhower and led the court in a direction he did not expect. that is sometime it is case when it comes to supreme court appointment. >> reporter: the supreme court, a couple of generations ago follows the election returns. does it? well that's hard to say. when the supreme court in 1954 in brown deed board of education ruled that separate was inherently unequal in education and became the slow painful process of integrating schools the decision was anonymous and was written by warren appointed by eisenhower. you could argue that the court then was leading public opinion that did shift in the years to follow. the voting rights act of 65 and ended legalized segregation in

the south. in roe v. wade, also a republican appointee. the court has twice upheld -- the 8-0 1974 decision ordered nixon to turn over his tapes. republican presidents want to appoint conservative justices. philosophically divided yes but

not always the way the presidents who pick them expect it. >> reporter: a 1968 interview in which the chief justice talks about the turbulenttime. why shop t.j.maxx and marshalls?

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as we take a second look tonight at the life and times of the late earl warren we give you a rare opportunity to hear from the chief justice of the united states himself. ktvu covered this news conference in 1968 the year before warren retired from the court. >> chief justice do you think the change is going for the better or for the worse? >> well, i think that i'm an optimist and i believe that things that are happening at the present time are ultimately for the good of our country i think. that many problems that are causing us great trouble now are problems that have developed because we have swept them under the rug for too long

a time. and we're getting some outcroppings now of those problems and although we must go through some prevail and some of it is unpleasant and some of it of course will set us back for a little bit. but i think the general movement is forward and that good will come from it. >> mr. chief justice, may i ask a question. >> yes. >> and it has to do with current change today. former governor wallis is the independent party. >> that is getting into the field of politics and i will not discuss politics in any way, shape or form directly or collaterally . i just will not discuss such things. anyone else got a question? >> would you please commit yourself one way or the other on the duck shooting was it good or? >> well, i will take a great

chance and say it was good. any duck shooting is good. thank you for your time. >> that's it for this week's second look. i'm julie haener, thank you for watching.