Dream Confirmed : Promise Made by Father Led to High Court

Edward A. Panelli’s father, an Italian immigrant laborer, lived just long enough to see his son pass the Bar exam 30 years ago, thus confirming the promise he made to his son that if he worked hard, he would succeed.

Panelli’s 90-year-old mother could not get that out of her mind Saturday when he told her that he was the governor’s nominee, almost certain to be confirmed, to the California Supreme Court.

“She said, in Italian, that if your father were still alive, the happiness of the day would have killed him,” Panelli said.

Proving a Point

“It just goes to prove that the American Dream is still alive,” he added. “There are a lot of new Americans from Southeast Asia, South America and elsewhere who will take heart in this.”

In interviews Saturday and in September, Panelli, 53, talked about the “American Dream,” and how it came true for him. He was born in Santa Clara County, but his father, then unemployed, moved the family back to his native Italy. Panelli spent the first four years of his life there.

Upon the family’s return to San Jose, he learned English from a school teacher who lived across the street from his family’s home. He was 5 years old at the time.

He talked about how his mother worked what today would be double shifts, 16-hour days, at Santa Clara canneries packing fruit and how his father died 10 days after Panelli passed the Bar.

“All those things make you what you are, for better or worse.”

He said he believed it when he heard comments like “work hard, and if you do that you’ll get where you will want to be. So I worked hard and kept my mouth shut.”

But he “never thought in terms of the Supreme Court. I just thought it was beyond the realm of possibility. There are only seven of them (justices).”

Judicial Approach

He described his judicial philosophy as “restrained,” meaning he dislikes making major changes in the law in a single ruling, and attributed his outlook to his early years.

“I grew up at a time when Italians were not the most accepted people in the world. If you didn’t speak English, people thought you were stupid. As a result, you get a little defensive.”

From his mother’s perspective, he said, “it is hard to believe we have come this far. It just is incomprehensible to her that this can happen.”

He said he barely knows the governor, and never got deeply involved in politics. Shortly before the governor made the announcement that Panelli would become the 100th justice to serve on the California Supreme Court, he called Panelli.

“He just said: ‘I have decided to select you. You’ve done it on your own with hard work and you earned it.’ ”