| Warren John Ferguson | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 31, 1920 Eureka, Nevada, U.S. |
| Died | June 25, 2008 (aged 87) Fullerton, California, U.S. |
Warren John Ferguson (31 October 1920–25 June 2008) was an American jurist who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Ferguson was born in Eureka, Nevada and earned a B.A. at the University of Nevada at Reno. He served in the United States Army during World War II. Upon return, he earned his J.D. from University of Southern California.
In 1959 he was appointed judge of the Anaheim-Fullerton Municipal Court. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the Federal District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, formed in 1966. He was appointed to the Ninth Circuit in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter.
Notable cases include a 1971 decision after Spencer Haywood was denied a transfer from the American Basketball Association's Denver Rockets to National Basketball Association's Seattle SuperSonics. The NBA at the time prohibited college graduates to play for four years after graduation; the ABA did not. The antitrust suit went to the Supreme Court (Haywood v. National Basketball Association), which affirmed the decision.
His ruling in Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. in 1979 ushered in the era of home video recording by allowing Sony to market the Betamax.
Ferguson assumed senior status on the Ninth Circuit in 1986. He died at his home in Fullerton, California.[1]