Governor Jerry Brown named Tom Dyer of Sacramento, a UC Davis Law School Graduate and Peter Williams of Sacramento to fill two of the three vacancies on the Yolo Super Court. Both men are Democrats and both have a background as prosecutors Mr. Dyer with the Sutter County DA’s Office and Mr. Williams with the US Attorney’s Office.
They replace Kathleen White and Steven Basha, but one vacancy, for Janet Gaard remains.
(From Press Release) – Tom M. Dyer, 44, of Sacramento, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Yolo County Superior Court. Dyer has served as chief deputy legislative affairs secretary in the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. since 2015. He served as legislative director at the California Department of Finance from 2012 to 2015 and at the California Department of Personnel Administration from 2010 to 2012. Dyer served as staff counsel at the California Department of Social Services in 2009, labor relations counsel at the California Department of Personnel Administration from 2006 to 2008 and enforcement counsel at the California Fair Political Practices Commission in 2006. He served as a deputy district attorney at the Sutter County District Attorney’s Office from 2003 to 2005. Dyer earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Kathleen M. White. Dyer plans to continue serving in his current position in the Governor’s Office until the end of the Administration. Dyer is a Democrat.
(From Press Release) – Peter M. Williams, 50, of Sacramento, has been appointed to a judgeship in the Yolo County Superior Court. Williams has served as deputy secretary, general counsel at the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency since 2016. Prior to that, he served in several positions at the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General from 2001 to 2015, where he was supervisor of the Fraud and Special Prosecutions Unit and was a cross-designated special federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in both the Eastern and Central Districts of California. He was an associate at Boutin Jones Inc. from 2000 to 2001, at Carle, Mackie, Power and Ross from 1998 to 2000 and at Bolling, Walter and Gawthrop from 1996 to 1998. Williams earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Steven M. Basha. Williams is a Democrat.
The compensation for each of these positions is $207,424.
Disappointing. No people of color. No women. Two of the vacancies were held by women. Both men former prosecutors. I’ve been hopeful that Governor Brown would be able to shake up the courts – nope.
The two recent Yolo County judicial appointments may do nothing to address diversity of the bench locally, but that’s a small sample size. Overall, Jerry Brown has a decent record on increasing diversity among California judges: https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/survey-california-bench-continues-to-grow-more-diverse.
More here: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2018/03/01/governor-brown-releases-2017-judicial-appointment-data/
As I posted on Facebook, there are now only two women (Beronio or Cortes) and only one person of color (Cortes) on the Yolo County Bench.
Eric: you’re not troubled by their lack of ties to Yolo? And weren’t you one of those complaining about the lack of fair housing, how about two women on the Yolo County Bench? Isn’t that a problem for you? How about a county where over half the defendants are people of color, and only one Judge is a woman of Color?
Did I say that the lack of diversity on the Yolo County bench was not an issue? I merely pointed out that (contrary to your implication) Gov. Brown has a pretty good overall record on his judicial appointments and diversity. Your insinuations about what is or is not a problem for me are unwarranted.
A couple of political hacks. There are several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas that address this issue.
Jim – Please provide the basis for your characterization of these specific appointees as political hacks. Or is this merely another of your gratuitous slurs of anyone involved in state government?