Justice Edwin L. Jefferson pursued a law degree at USC, funding his education by working as a campus janitor. In 1941, he earned a seat as the first African American judge west of Chicago. He was appointed to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in 1949 and later as a justice to the California Court of Appeal. Justice Jefferson was active in the Langston Bar Association in Los Angeles, a professional organization for African American lawyers excluded from the Los Angeles County Bar Association, until 1950.