Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Monday, June 23, 2003

 

Page 3

 

Judge Michael Nash, Rex Heinke Named to State Judicial Council

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Nash and Century City attorney Rex Heinke have been named to the Judicial Council of California, the Administrative Office of the Courts announced Friday.

Nash was one of four new judicial members named to the council by George, who chairs the council, for three-year terms beginning Sept. 14. Heinke was named by the State Bar Board of Governors as the newest attorney member, the AOC said in a release.

Also named to the state courts’ primary rulemaking and advisory body were Sacramento Superior Court Presiding Judge Michael T. Garcia, San Diego Superior Court Presiding Judge Richard Strauss, and San Joaquin Superior Court Judge William J. Murray. Orange Superior Court Executive Officer Alan Slater was reappointed as an advisory member.

Nash told the MetNews he accepted the assignment because of his “desire to contribute to the courts in a positive way.” He said he does not “have a particular agenda” or issue focus, but will “help the council and the court system in anyway I can, utilizing the 18 years I’ve had as a judge.”

Nash is presiding judge of the juvenile court, and has held that post or the position of supervising judge of the dependency courts since 1995. He is co-chair of the Judicial Council’s Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee, and was the council’s representative to a task force of the California Attorney General on the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act.

He will succeed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Aviva K. Bobb on the council.

Heinke, a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, will replace Los Angeles attorney Rex Heeseman. His immediate task as a member-designate, he said, will be to get up to speed on the budget crisis.

“It’s a very significant challenge that the entire state faces, including the entire judiciary and the Judicial Council,” he commented. He has not been very focused on the issue up to now, he said, but added that he was going to review “a huge bundle of stuff” that had just arrived in the mail.

Heinke, a Los Angeles litigator since 1976, has served as president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Foundation and Public Counsel. Well known for his advocacy of the First Amendment on behalf of media clients, he has been honored by the ACLU and the Society of Professional Journalists.

Garcia will replace Alameda Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Sabraw on the council. He has been a trial judge since 1987 and is now dean of the B. E. Witkin Judicial College of California.

Strauss will take the council seat now held by Orange Superior Court Judge Gail A. Andler. He has been a Superior Court judge since 1995 and currently serves on the Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee to the Judicial Council.

Murray replaces Fresno Superior Court Presiding Judge Brad R. Hill. Since his appointment to the superior court bench in 1995, Murray has chaired the court’s committees on community-focused court planning, jury service, and media relations.

He is a member of the Judicial Council’s Criminal Law Advisory Committee and Task Force on Jury System Improvements.

Slater has been a top-level court administrator for more than 30 years and has served on numerous judicial council committees.

 

Copyright 2003, Metropolitan News Company