U.S. District Judge Manuel Real, who desegregated schools in Southern California, has died. He was 95.
The court’s Central District of California said in a statement posted Friday that Real died on Wednesday. His courtroom was in Los Angeles.
Real was the longest-serving active district judge in the country before he took senior status in November. He was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966 and served as an active judge for 50 years.
Real ordered the desegregation of the Pasadena Unified School District in 1970 and barred the district from discriminating on the basis of race.
Before becoming a judge, Real was the U.S. attorney and an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California. He served in the Navy reserve during World War II.
