Born in San Bernardino, California, Curtis received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Redlands in 1928 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1932.
[1] He was in private practice in San Bernardino from 1932 to 1953, including after 1946 with his father, Jesse W. Curtis Sr., who was an associate justice of the California Supreme Court.
Curtis was a Judge of the Superior Court of San Bernardino County from 1953 to 1962.
[4] Curtis was the judge in Madrigal v. Quilligan, involving the sterilization of Latina women in Los Angeles.
[citation needed] No más bebés is a documentary film made about this case.