Recently in Judges Category

I listened to U.S. District Court Judge Robert Takasugi speak at some rubber chicken lunch or another about 15 years ago when I was a reporter at the Los Angeles Daily Journal. His story was one of those riveting ones that begins with the hardships of an internment camp and ends with a career of community service.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Harvey Silberman was indicted in federal court for allegedly trying to stop a proponent from running against him in the 2008 election, the L.A. Times is reporting.

Torrance Superior Court Judge Michael Vicencia was elected president of the California Judges Association at the group's executive board meeting Tuesday in Sacramento.

Vicencia, a former civil attorney who now handles civil and probate matters, will become the organization's 78th president for a one-year term beginning Sept. 13.

The University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law graduate has served on the CJA Executive Board since 2007 and is currently vice president.

Vicencia was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2002.

The CJA is a non-profit professional association that represents the interests of the judiciary through lobbying and outreach programs.

The CJA's news release is here.

L.A. judges agree to voluntarily give up a bit of pay: http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_12504090

The 2008 Annual Report from the California Commission on Judicial Performance was released recently. It's basically a detailing of how the commission operates, and the punishments they metted out to the state's wayward bench officers. Although 43-pages long, there are some good reads in there.

An Alameda County Superior Court judge was admonished for twice telling defendants using publicly-funded attorneys that "you get what you pay for." The same judge called a domestic violence case before her a "crazy waste of time."

An Orange County Superior Court judge was also admonished, but for holding up hand-made signs that read "overruled" during the trial. While the judge told the objecting attorney he was "lightening things up," the commission agreed with an appellate court, which found the sign was "a sideshow in the overall circus atmosphere mocking a serious proceeding important to the parties."

A Riverside County Superior Court judge was removed from the bench for a number of reasons, including trying to intimidate the mother a man killed in a drunk driving wreck to agree to a disposition of manslaughter instead of murder. The commission found that the judge "had engaged in numerous instances of willful and prejudicial misconduct over a 10-year period, had not shown an appreciation of his misconduct and had repeatedly avoided taking full responsibility for his actions."

In total, the commission closed 892 cases last year. Of those, 87 were sent for investigation, concluding with 34 disciplines. 

 

The Los Angeles Times' look at 9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski's e-mail group, called Easy Rider Gag List, includes some of the jokes and such that the well-respected leagle eagle sent to friends, colleagues and others.

This was one of my favorite lines from the article:

"Other jokes, labeled "P&T" in the subject heading to indicate they were "puerile and tasteless," were cruder and more sexually explicit and used language that defies quotation in a general circulation newspaper. "

You can read the entire report by clicking here.

Previous entries on Kozinski are here.

Chief U.S. District Judge Alicemarie Stotler will take senior status, the Metropolitan News Enterprise reported. Stotler was head deputy DA in Torrance from 1987 to 1988.

I'm about 24 hours late on this, but wanted to note the appointment of a boat-load of new judges to the Los Angeles Superior Court, including San Pedro resident and former L.A. City Attorney Jim Hahn. Staff Writer Donna Littlejohn had a chat with him about his new job that you can read here.

To see who the other new judges are, click here.

Imagine being the prosecutor or defense attorney on a normally run-of-the-mill one-count armed robbery trial, but presenting your case before one of the country's highest-ranking judges. Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is one of the jurors deciding whether defendant Raymond Sequeria, 33, is guilty or not in a Torrance Superior Court trial.

During closing arguments today before Judge Steven Van Sicklen, Kozinski - the only panelist wearing a jacket and tie - seemed relaxed and attentive as Deputy District Attorney Ken Fuller argued the case.

Kozinski, who lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, made headlines a couple months ago when his personal Web site containing sexual images was outed by a foe while the judge was presiding over a high-profile obscenity trial. Links to the Web site are no longer accessible, but click here for a story about it.