Ventura Jurist Among Nominees to State Top Court

Four moderate Democratic judges, including two who were first appointed to the bench by Republicans, are Gov. Gray Davis’ finalists to fill a vacancy on the California Supreme Court, the governor’s office announced Wednesday.

Among the nominees are Justice Steven Perren of the Ventura-based 2nd District Court of Appeal. “I’m just honored,” Perren said. “There is nothing else I can say. The process will work itself out.”

Davis submitted the names of the four men to a state bar committee that evaluates judicial candidates. The other nominees are 5th District Court of Appeal Justice Dennis Cornell, who serves in Fresno; U.S. District Court Judge Carlos Moreno, who serves in Los Angeles; and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dennis Perluss.

Lawyers and judges familiar with the four described them as generally middle-of-the-road with solid legal credentials. Analysts said none of the four are as liberal as the late Justice Stanley Mosk, whose death in June created the vacancy. Mosk had been the court’s only Democrat.

Davis said the bar’s evaluations will be completed within six weeks. A three-member commission headed by Chief Justice Ronald M. George would then give final approval to the choice. The new appointee probably will not be sworn in before mid-October, George said.

Although George had previously urged Davis to have Mosk’s successor in place by September to keep up the court’s productivity, the chief justice said Wednesday he was pleased that Davis was “moving expeditiously” to fill the vacancy on the seven-member panel.

“Each of these individuals has an excellent reputation,” George said of the candidates.

Each also has political advantages: Cornell, who is from Merced, would be popular in the Central Valley; Moreno would fill an ethnic void on the state high court, which currently has no Latino justice.

Perluss and Perren are both Jewish. Mosk was the only Jewish justice on the court.

Davis considered several women for the court, but those who were asked to be candidates declined because of financial or personal concerns, a knowledgeable source said.

Perren, 59, of Ventura received a unanimous rating of exceptionally well qualified from a bar evaluating committee when Davis put him on the Court of Appeal. That is the committee’s highest rating.

A former prosecutor and private attorney, Perren was appointed to the appeals court after serving 17 years on the Ventura County Superior Court bench.

As a judge, he presided over a variety of civil and criminal matters, including three capital murder trials. But his passion belonged to the Juvenile Court, where he spent several years dispensing justice to thousands of troubled Ventura County teens.

A new $40-million juvenile justice center under construction was recently named after him.

“He is an extraordinary person,” said Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, who has known Perren for 30 years. “He cared deeply about every young person who appeared before him and did his upmost to try to help them.”

Perren grew up in Southern California, the elder son of a Jewish deli owner. In 1967, he left UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in history and a law degree, married his wife, Diane, and headed to Vietnam with the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

After two years, he returned to California and took a position with the Ventura County district attorney’s office. He later went into private practice, with an emphasis on personal injury cases and insurance defense. In 1982, he was appointed to the Superior Court.

Perren Is Called a Man of Compassion

Away from the courthouse, Perren has been involved in community groups and his temple, where he has sung as a soloist. A tenor, he also sings with the Ventura College Opera Workshop and is currently between performances in a local production of Puccini’s “La Boheme.”

Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Greg Totten, a former director of the California District Attorneys Assn., prosecuted a capital murder case in front of Perren in 1992. Totten said that although he didn’t always agree with Perren, he respected him.

“He was an outstanding trial judge and I think he has been a great appellate justice,” Totten said. “He is a man of immense courage, passion for his work and scholarly aptitude. And he has a great compassion for human beings.”

Moreno, 52, was described Wednesday as “fairly liberal, not extremely liberal.”

Former Gov. George Deukmejian appointed Moreno to the Los Angeles Municipal Court and former Gov. Pete Wilson elevated him to the Superior Court. Former President Bill Clinton put Moreno on the federal bench.

Latino lawyers have asked Davis to appoint a Latino to the court and have argued that Moreno would be highly qualified for the job.

California Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter was Deukmejian’s appointments secretary when Deukmejian selected Moreno.

“I remember at the time I was highly impressed with his background,” Baxter said. “It was an easy recommendation to make.”

Donald Re, a prominent criminal defense lawyer who has appeared many times before Moreno, said he had mixed emotions about the prospect of Moreno leaving the federal bench.

“He’s a very knowledgeable judge,” said Re. “He is always completely prepared. He is a complete gentleman.

“He’s the kind of judge who, when he rules against you, you know that he’s given you every consideration and has done it for the right reasons.”

Moreno is from downtown Los Angeles and earned his degrees at Yale and Stanford universities. He worked as a prosecutor in the Los Angeles city attorney’s office for four years and in a large civil law firm for nearly 10 years before he went on the bench. In 1982, he was president of the Mexican American Bar Assn.

UC Berkeley law professor Stephen Barnett said most of Moreno’s court opinions on the federal bench have been on trademark law. “I am not aware of any cases that have really tested his basic ideology,” Barnett said.

Moreno’s lack of appellate experience is not a drawback, the professor stressed. “He has the kind of experience Stanley Mosk had before he went on the court,” Barnett said.

The other Los Angeles candidate, Superior Court Judge Perluss, 53, also has never served full time on appellate court. But lawyers and judges said he is highly qualified for the state high court. Davis appointed him to the bench in October 1999.

“He is superb . . . intellectually brilliant,” said former 9th Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Shirley Hufstedler. Perluss clerked for Hufstedler on that court and later practiced law with her.

“He is left of center, but not very far left,” she said. “He is a strong believer in the protection of constitutional rights. At the same time, he is a careful lawyer, a judge who follows decisions of higher courts, whether or not he agrees with them.”

She said Perluss graduated first in his class as an undergraduate at Stanford and again at Harvard Law School. Court of Appeal judges in Los Angeles are said to have raved about his ability when he has filled in there, and he also has taught law at UCLA.

From 1995 to 1999, Perluss was a partner in the law firm of Morrison & Foerster in Los Angeles, where he litigated complex business and financial disputes.

He also served as a law clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart and was deputy general counsel to the Christopher Commission, which investigated the Los Angeles Police Department after the Rodney King beating.

Perluss has represented environmental activists without charge and served on the boards of various public interest groups.

He is married to a rabbi, Emily H. Feigenson, who serves at a Reformed Jewish temple in Bel-Air.

Cornell, 53, the Central Valley candidate, was described by lawyers and a judge as conservative to moderate. Former Gov. Pete Wilson appointed Cornell to the Superior Court in Merced, and Davis elevated him to the Court of Appeal. As a lawyer, Cornell specialized in family law.

Justice Baxter, who has known Cornell for many years, described him as “a solid guy,” like all of Davis’ candidates for the court.

Cornell, a former vice president of the State Bar Board of Governors, earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a law degree with honors from George Washington University.

Before serving on the Superior Court, he served part time as a U.S. magistrate on the U.S. District Court’s Eastern District of California from 1986 to 1992.

Cornell Described as ‘Highly Efficient’

A Central Valley lawyer who has known Cornell for more than 20 years said he was an excellent family law specialist with strong leadership skills.

“In his heart, he is more liberal than conservative, but on the bench you wouldn’t know it,” said the lawyer, who declined to be identified by name.

He said that Cornell lacks Mosk’s compassion and is never one to “schmooze,” but that he works hard and is “highly efficient.”

Donald Fischbach, former State Bar president, said he was pleased that Cornell is being considered. “We would be happy to see more representation from the Central Valley,” on the court, said the Fresno County lawyer.

Times staff writers David Rosenzweig and Tracy Wilson contributed to this story.