Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Page 3
Court ‘Legacy’ Project Nears Completion
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Chief Justice Ronald M. George and Justice Judith L. Haller of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Div. One, announced yesterday that an oral history endeavor designed to preserve the history of the state Courts of Appeal is nearing completion.
The justices said jointly in a statement that the California Appellate Court Legacy Project “recounts the stories and preserves the rich judicial history of California judges, courts, and law through the voices of the justices who helped shape the development of California law in the 20th century.”
The project was begun as a statewide effort to commemorate the centennial of the California Courts of Appeal in 2005. It is comprised of more than 70 videotaped interviews of justices of the Courts of Appeal who are retired or are nearing retirement.
Averaging about 90 minutes in length, the interviews touch on the jurists’ youth, education, careers, judicial philosophies, notable opinions, concurrences and dissents, significant historical events, and the attitudes and experiences that have shaped their perspectives.
The interviews have been transferred onto DVDs stored at the California Judicial Center Library in San Francisco.
The Appellate Court Legacy Project Committee of the Administrative Office of the Courts oversees the project. Haller chairs the committee, and its members include: Justice Richard J. McAdams of the Sixth District Court of Appeal, Justice George W. Nicholson of the Third District Court of Appeal, Justice Timothy A. Reardon of the First District Court of Appeal, Justice Laurence D. Rubin of this district’s Court of Appeal, and Justice Steven M. Vartabedian of the Fifth District Court of Appeal.
AOC staff will continue to schedule interviews with justices as they retire from the bench, the release stated.
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