Judge Nominated for State Post

Culminating a respected career in juvenile justice, Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren was nominated Thursday to the 2nd District Court of Appeal as Gov. Gray Davis announced his first judicial appointments since taking office.

Perren, 57, will fill a vacancy in the 6th Division of the 2nd Appellate District, which covers Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

The appointment still must be confirmed by the three-member state Commission on Judicial Appointments. Officials in the governor’s office said they do not anticipate any opposition. Perren is expected to begin work at the appellate courthouse in Ventura in mid-November.

“I’m stunned, gratified, pleased, grateful--and a bit sad,” the judge said Thursday.

For the last 17 years, Perren has presided over thousands of criminal, civil, family law and juvenile court cases. He sat on two capital murder trials--the 1992 trial of Gregory Scott Smith, who raped and murdered an 8-year-old boy, and the 1997 trial of Michael Raymond Johnson, who fatally shot a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy answering a domestic dispute call.

But attorneys, county leaders and fellow judges said Thursday that Perren will be most remembered for his commitment to troubled youths in the juvenile justice system.

“He truly, truly cares about these kids,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Pam Grossman, who regularly appears before Perren in juvenile court.

She called the appointment well-deserved.

“I think it’s absolutely wonderful,” she said. “I believe he will be a tremendous addition to the Court of Appeal. It’s going to be a great loss to us in the juvenile court system--he has a major heart in caring for every child who is in front of him.”

Earlier this year, Perren played a major role in the county’s efforts to secure $40.5 million in state funding to build a new youth detention center.

He and eight other county representatives traveled to Sacramento in April to urge the state corrections board to set aside money to replace an overcrowded and aging Juvenile Hall with a state-of-the-art complex designed to hold twice as many underage offenders.

The county got the money and, according to Supervisors Kathy Long and Judy Mikels, who worked on the project, it was Perren’s closing summation before the committee that sealed the deal.

“I know it was his words that swayed that body,” Long said. “I am just delighted he got the appointment. He is an outstanding selection for that position.”

Added Mikels: “I am crushed. I certainly am excited for him. I think that he deserves it because he has been such an advocate for youth in Ventura County. He is going to be sorely missed.”

Perren, described as hard-working and highly intelligent, said he has mixed feelings about the appointment.

Eager to explore new opportunities as a jurist, he applied for the vacancy in February. But after 17 years on the Superior Court, he said it will be hard to leave.

“That has been my life,” he said.

Perren graduated from UCLA Law School in 1967, and spent two years in the Army Signal Corps, including a year in Vietnam. He returned to take a prosecutor position in the Ventura County district attorney’s office and later went into private practice with a prominent Ventura civil firm.

In 1982, he was appointed to the Superior Court and served as the court’s presiding judge in 1992-93. Since then, he has spent five years in Juvenile Court, handling about 5,000 cases a year. He recently helped develop a Teen Drug Court program, and was influential in starting the county’s mock-trial program for high school students.

“His impact on the system of justice in Ventura County has just been extraordinary,” said Superior Court Judge David Long. “What a wonderful contribution he will make to the appellate system. . . . What a terrible loss for the Ventura County Superior Court.”

Perren was among three jurists nominated Thursday to the appellate bench. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Candace D. Cooper was also named to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, and Justice Arthur Gilbert was named presiding justice for the 6th Division.

Gilbert, 61, has served as acting presiding justice since January, when Justice Steven Stone retired. A former Ventura County Superior Court judge, Gilbert has served on the appellate court for nearly two decades, writing about 2,000 opinions.

The Commission on Judicial Appointments, which will review the nominations, consists of the chief justice of the California Supreme Court, the state attorney general and the senior presiding judge of the 2nd District Court of Appeal.