Jesse Washington Carter was a lawyer and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California. Born in 1888 in Carville, California, Carter moved to San Francisco and graduated from Golden Gate University School of Law in 1913. After a few years working as an attorney, he was elected as District Attorney of Shasta County from 1918 until 1927, when he left to start his own private practice. In early 1939, he was elected as the State Senator representing the fifth district, but was appointed to the California Supreme Court later that year and served as an Associate Judge until his death in 1959. In this interview, Carter discusses his rural childhood, the Progressive era in California and labor politics, water litigation in California, promotion of 1927 State Bar Act, loyalty oaths, and judicial dissent. This interview is part of a group of interviews documenting regional cultural history.