Woman Judge on High Court List Bows Out

The leading woman candidate to fill one of three upcoming vacancies on the California Supreme Court asked Gov. George Deukmejian to drop her name from consideration Thursday, citing personal and professional reasons.

In a brief letter released by the governor’s office, U.S. District Court Judge Pamela Ann Rymer told Deukmejian, “I love the work that I am doing and feel committed to my appointment to the federal bench.”

Deukmejian issued a statement that for the first time confirmed speculation that Rymer was on his list of potential candidates. “Her dedication to her duties as a federal district court judge is to be commended and I understand her decision,” he said.

Preparing a List

Later this month, the governor is expected to release a list of those he is considering for the three vacancies created when voters turned out of office Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird and Associate Justices Joseph R. Grodin and Cruz Reynoso, all members of the court’s liberal majority.

Soon after the bruising political campaign, in which Deukmejian led the charge against the three justices, there were rumors that the governor would name a woman and a Latino to the Supreme Court. Such appointments, the speculation went, would answer any questions about Deukmejian’s motivation in opposing Bird, the court’s first woman justice, and Reynoso, its first Latino.

Last week, Deukmejian named Associate Justice Malcolm M. Lucas, his former law partner, to take Bird’s place as chief justice, but that still left the governor with three positions to fill on the seven-member panel. Rymer was rumored to be very high on the list.

The 45-year-old jurist was a Republican activist, named by President Reagan to the federal bench in 1983. She is regarded as one of the toughest-sentencing judges on the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. She also has a reputation for carefully reasoned decisions and rarely has been reversed on appeal.

Last year, Rymer was said to be a “reluctant” candidate for another court vacancy, which Deukmejian filled with the appointment of Justice Edward A. Panelli.

But that might have changed with the prospect of a majority of more conservative Deukmejian appointees on the court. “It would be a lot more fun to be on the California Supreme Court now than last year,” said Judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall, who serves on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and is a friend of Judge Rymer.

Hall said she had no idea why Rymer pulled out of the running for the state court post, but she noted, “I certainly wouldn’t want to face election (to the California Supreme Court) after this last one.”

‘Something Cooking’

While Rymer declined to elaborate Thursday on her reasons for turning down the state judgeship, one high-ranking federal government source said she remains under active consideration both for a future appointment to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and another job within the Reagan Administration in Washington.

“She’s got something cooking,” the source said. “She’s just not saying what it is right now.”

Attorney Charles Bakaly Jr., who screens federal judicial appointments for U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.), said he would “not have been surprised if Deukmejian had appointed her.” He said she “remains an outstanding future candidate for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals” when the next vacancy occurs. “I’m disappointed she didn’t take it,” he said. “I thought she was the leading woman candidate, but I’m sure there are others.”