Former Police Commission Chief Gets Justice Post
The former president of the Los Angeles Police Commission was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday to the No. 3 post at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Raymond C. Fisher, a prominent lawyer and civil liberties advocate in Southern California, will serve as associate attorney general, overseeing much of the department’s civil branch, including anti-trust, civil rights and tax divisions.
Fisher, 57, is a longtime Sherman Oaks resident who is taking a leave of absence from his post as a senior litigation partner at Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe. He plans to start his new job Dec. 1.
“It seems like the right thing to do, and builds off my experience at the Police Department,” he said Thursday night.
A Stanford University law school graduate, Fisher was nominated for the Justice post by President Clinton in June, the same time Clinton picked fellow Los Angeles attorney Bill Lann Lee to head the department’s civil rights division.
But unlike Lee, whose nomination was thwarted by Senate Republicans because of his support for affirmative action, Fisher’s selection engendered little controversy.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
