Calabro Wins Plaudits, Too : Ethnic Controversy Yields Recommendation for Bench

It was a blunder with career-ending potential. But for Glendale Court Commissioner Daniel F. Calabro, the use of a racial epithet from the bench and the resulting abortive effort by the Los Angeles district attorney to bar him from hearing criminal matters appears, ironically, to have worked in his favor.

The controversial incident propelled the relatively unknown commissioner into the statewide political spotlight and gained him a powerful tie with a politician who wields great influence within Los Angeles’ black community.

It has also evidently advanced his dormant effort to become a judge.

And that has concerned some who think that the accusations of racism masked Calabro’s real problem of judicial insensitivity.

“I’ve known Danny--there’s no way he’s a racist at all,” said one person familiar with the case who requested anonymity. “But he tends to be demeaning, rude and insensitive to everyone--regardless of race and creed.”

Calabro used the epithet during a June hearing involving a white Glendale man who assaulted a black Burbank man and called him “nigger.”

Court transcripts quote Calabro asking: “Another nigger case? Another one where this nigger business came up? We’re not past all that yet? I thought we were past all that.”

In the weeks following the condemnation of Calabro by Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, the 54-year-old commissioner gained an endorsement for a judgeship from one county supervisor and won career-saving vindication from the Los Angeles County Bar Assn., which concluded after an investigation that his use of the word “nigger” from the bench was not racist.

At the same time, his supporters--some of whom he’d never met--immediately buoyed Calabro with a barrage of compliments, vouching for his integrity while expressing outrage at Reiner, whom they portrayed as a modern-day Goliath pounding Calabro for political gain.

A petition signed by Calabro’s supportive colleagues in the Glendale Municipal Court described him as a “respectful, careful and very hard-working individual.” Reiner’s accusation was labeled “ludicrous.”

In the midst of the controversy, Gov. George Deukmejian added Calabro’s name to a list of possible candidates for a vacant judgeship on the Glendale Municipal Court. Some believe the compliments and extensive media attention surrounding the episode led Deukmejian to consider elevating Calabro for the first time since Calabro submitted his application to the governor five years ago. Interest in Calabro was underscored when the governor’s office sought opinions from attorneys and judges on his competence to serve on the bench.

New ‘Name Recognition’

“There isn’t a judge in Glendale who’s had the name recognition . . . as Daniel Calabro--it’s incredible,” said another person who has watched the case and also requested anonymity. “Obviously, his political contacts have increased significantly as a result of this.”

“I think he sort of emerges fairly strong from this thing politically,” said another observer of the case, primarily because of the name recognition. “He had some very credible community figures . . . come to know him, and he spent time talking with the community, being interviewed by various bar associations . . . and they seem to know him a lot better than they did before.”

Dan Wolf, a spokesman for Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, agreed.

“Certainly, at the very least, this whole thing made one supervisor aware of him,” Wolf said. “Kenny certainly wouldn’t have known him had this whole thing not come up, and he was impressed enough after one meeting to recommend him to the governor.”

In an Oct. 22 letter to Deukmejian, Hahn, who has long represented the largely minority 2nd District, enthusiastically supported Calabro.

“Commissioner Calabro is a man of courage and is versed in the law,” Hahn wrote. “He has a reputation for excellent judicial temperament. . . . I only met him once, but I was very much impressed with his character and his personality. I think all the citizens of California would be glad if you would consider him for a judicial appointment.”

However, such characterizations have concerned some who have worked with Calabro during his 6 1/2 years as commissioner and who believe that he is not qualified to serve as a judge.

Speaking on the condition that their names and job titles not be revealed, attorneys and others familiar with the case discussed their opinions of Calabro.

Each agreed that Calabro is not a racist, but said that he often unnecessarily belittles people in his court and continues to exhibit insensitivity toward defendants and court staff, even after promising publicly to show greater sensitivity.

“He’s condescending to everybody except attorneys, and I don’t know of anybody who likes to work for him,” said one person who knows Calabro.

“He’s probably one of the harder-working people on the bench, but he’s got a problem in his demeanor, in his temperament. He goes up and down with people and tends to be hot and cold, almost to the point where it’s bizarre,” a second person said. “He’ll actually embarrass people and demean them. . . . I saw him do it a week ago. . . . Yet, if you talk to him in chambers, one on one, he’s a wonderful warm person.”

Still another person remarked: “He’s a showman in court, and that’s probably what’s gotten him in trouble,” referring to a separate, less-publicized charge that surfaced two days after Reiner’s initial accusation against Calabro.

In that incident, Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric Levine told reporters that Calabro humiliated an Asian defendant by asking him: “What dialect do you speak? Do you speak Mandarin? Do you speak Cantonese? Do you speak Szechuan? Do you speak hot and spicy?”

Calabro admitted in an interview that he “probably did” make the remark, then denied it at a press conference the next day.

Hahn’s support notwithstanding, some civil rights group leaders have spoken out against his possible elevation.

“He still needs closer scrutiny over a longer period of time,” said Raymond Johnson Jr., president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. “You have a man who was at one point insensitive. . . . As blacks, we expect our judicial officers to be very sensitive.”

The current controversy surrounding Calabro surfaced Aug. 25, when Reiner ordered his prosecutors to refuse to hear criminal cases in Calabro’s court. Because Calabro is a commissioner sitting as a judge, both the prosecution and defense must agree to his hearing a criminal case.

He apologized for uttering the word and contends he used it as a description of the case before him and not as a reference to a particular person or group of people.

With the promise that Calabro would be more sensitive while on the bench, Reiner reversed his order in late October and offered Calabro a second chance.

Meanwhile, a noticeably thinner Calabro, who said during a recent interview that he lost 40 pounds after suffering chronic nausea caused by the nine-week ordeal, is again hearing criminal matters.

Sitting behind his desk in his chambers, Calabro reflected on the episode, which, he said, left personal and professional scars.

“It feels like I shared my whole life with everybody. . . . You know, publicity is something I have always fervently not desired and still fervently do not desire.”

Calabro scoffs at those who suggest that the controversy may prove politically beneficial.

“I wish they’d have my nausea for 2 1/2 months,” he said. “I’m absolutely positive it hurt me. How could it do anything else?”

However, Calabro said he is thankful to have the incident behind him and said his future will prove “bright and wonderful,” with or without a judgeship.