"Prohibition only drives drunkenness behind doors and into dark places and does not cure it or even diminish it."
Mark Twain, 1867

Judge Jim Gray

"In my view, the law has no more ability or appropriateness to decide what you or any one else puts into their bodies. If anything, that's a medical issue, and eventually we will come to our senses and get out of this entire medical area."


James "Jim" P. Gray is currently the presiding judge of the Superior Court of Orange County, California. He is a former Libertarian candidate for the United States Senate. He is also the author of the 2001 book Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It.

Raised in the Los Angeles area, Gray earned his undergraduate degree from UCLA in 1966, after which he taught in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica. Gray returned to California and earned a law degree from the University of Southern California in 1971. From 1972 through 1975, he practiced law with the U.S. Navy JAG Corps in Guam and California.

After five years in private practice, Gray was named to the Santa Ana Municipal Court in 1983 and then to the Orange County Superior Court in 1989, where he has served for over a decade. Much of Gray's legal career has dealt with drug-related issues.

"What you need to do with regard to the criminal justice system, is to hold people accountable for what they do: hold people accountable for their actions, instead of for what they put into their bodies."

Gray, previously a Republican, joined the Libertarian Party in November of 2003. Gray is viewed by some as a leading possible contender for the 2008 presidential nomination; he was also a keynote speaker at the 2004 Libertarian National Convention.