[1] Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Kaufman moved with his family to Los Angeles, California, at a young age.

[1] In 1970, Governor Ronald Reagan appointed Kaufman as an associate justice of the Court of Appeal of California's Fourth Appellate District, Division Two.

Kaufman also wrote the majority opinion that allowed a corporate farm to restrict access of union organizers to worker camps on its property.

But he sided with the liberal minority in dissenting on several important civil rulings: he restricted wrongful-termination suits against employers and barred the use of state antitrust laws against corporate mergers.

In another case, he joined with liberal justices to uphold the right of criminal defendants to gain access to confidential police brutality complaints.

[4] Kaufman was viewed as a thoughtful and scholarly student of the law, always interested in carefully scrutinizing issues, precedent, and argument.

This award is given to the judges who have demonstrated the highest standards of judicial excellence in the pursuit of justice while exemplifying courtesy, integrity, wisdom and impartiality.