Bar Opposes Outsiders for Judgeships : Position Stated in Letter to Governor on 6 Future Appointments

The Orange County Bar Assn., in a move designed to protect its members, wrote a letter to Gov. George Deukmejian on Monday expressing fear that he might appoint outsiders to judgeships in the county.

“A large percentage of persons being seriously considered for appointment here practice in Los Angeles County or elsewhere,” the letter to the governor states.

Vernon W. Hunt Jr., president of the county bar, said that its 37-member board of directors recently voted unanimously to send the letter to Deukmejian.

Although the letter states that the bar “is becoming increasingly concerned” about the appointment of outsiders to Orange County judgeships, Hunt said the bar is not criticizing any of Deukmejian’s Orange County appointments so far.

But there was grumbling from within the local bar association two years ago when Deukmejian appointed Sidney Maleck, first to the West Municipal Court bench, then later to the North Court bench. Maleck was a longtime city attorney in El Monte, in Los Angeles County.

When Hunt was asked Monday about the Maleck appointment, the bar president responded: “Yes, that’s an example of the kind of appointment we are concerned about.”

But the bar’s major concern is the five potential new Superior Court seats and the new seat on the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana. The new Superior Court judgeships have been approved by the Legislature, but funding for those seats still is pending.

According to the bar’s figures, about 20% of the candidates for those six positions are people who work in the legal field outside of Orange County, although many of them live within the county.

Hunt said bar members believe that it is not enough to just live within the county limits.

“We think members of our bar are more qualified to understand the problems that the judiciary faces in Orange County, and they (members) have earned the right to be considered,” Hunt said.

Lynda C. Gilchrist, executive director of the Orange County Bar Assn., said that, to her knowledge, this is the first time in her seven years on the job that such a letter has been sent to the governor. Hunt agreed.

But there have been other controversies in which the bar was critical of a judicial appointment.

When Leonard H. Goldstein, a North Hollywood attorney, was appointed in 1976 to the North Municipal Court in Fullerton, the bar and the Orange County Trial Lawyers Assn. sought an explanation from a legal adviser to then-Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. At the time, Brown had bypassed the usual steps of seeking advice from the two groups before making the appointment.

But the Bar Assn., in that case, decided against making the Goldstein appointment an issue. Brown later appointed Goldstein to the Superior Court bench.

Then in 1981, bar members complained to Brown officials after it became public that a judge he appointed to the North Municipal Court bench four years earlier, James J. Alfano, did not live in Orange County. Alfano was a former Los Angeles policeman, but he had served in the Orange County public defender’s office.

Hunt said on Monday that the bar’s current strong feelings about local appointments are nonpartisan in nature. Its board of directors includes both Republicans and Democrats, defense attorneys and prosecutors.

One problem with appointing outsiders, he said, is that it is difficult for the local bar to evaluate their qualifications and make an intelligent recommendation to the governor. With only a few exceptions, Deukmejian’s Orange County appointees were working in Orange County when appointed.

According to records gathered by Alan Slater, Orange County Superior Court administrator, 17 out of 18 Deukmejian appointments to that bench were either lawyers working in Orange County or sitting in Municipal Court in Orange County at the time of their appointments.

Records for Harbor, South, North, and Central Municipal courts showed the same for nine out of 11 appointments. West Court records were not readily available.

“The appointments the governor has made so far have been excellent, well-qualified individuals,” Hunt said. “Our concern is with the future.”