News
Judges and Judiciary
May 26, 2001
White, 79, Served on 1st DCA
Retired state appellate Justice Clinton White, a mentor to black Bay Area attorneys who was known for his booming voice and dedication to individual rights, has died at age 79.
White, who served as presiding justice of the 1st District's Division 3 for 17 years, was a prominent criminal defense lawyer in Oakland for almost 30 years before he was appointed to the Alameda County Superior Court by former Gov. Edmund "Jerry" Brown in 1977.
He retired from the appellate bench in 1995 to have quadruple bypass surgery.
Colleagues remember White, who led the defense team in the widely-publicized "Zebra" murder case in the mid-1970s, as a lawyer with a commanding courtroom presence, as a liberal judge who zealously protected defendants' rights and as a baseball fanatic.
Describing White as a "great justice and a totally reliable friend," retired 1st District Justice Marc Poché recalled White's strong presence on the court.
"He possessed an innate sense of fairness and his opinions - majority, concurring or dissenting - advertised that in block letters," Poché said. "He had a sense of humor that could and did rock our courtroom with more force than the last two San Francisco earthquakes."
Describing White, himself and other colleagues as "probably the most liberal appellate panel in San Francisco's history," Poché noted, "The justice system will miss him, but, more important, those low on the social totem pole knew just how hard he worked to get each of them a fair shake."
One of his proudest achievements was handling the first jury trial for a black defendant in North Richmond. He represented a woman accused of stealing a cube of butter who refused to accept a suspended sentence. White won the case. "Those are the cases that turned this country around," White told an interviewer in 1983.
In one of White's most notable decisions, Planned Parenthood Shasta-Diablo v. Williams, 12 Cal.App.4th 1817 (1993), he wrote that California could guarantee abortion rights beyond those required by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Joan Lewis, a 6th District research attorney who worked for White for six years, recalled him as a "wonderful, fun and intelligent" man with a "passion for defendants' rights and civil rights." White was a mentor for black attorneys, she said, but noted that "he was hard on them because he believed they had to be more excellent than white attorneys."
Describing White's deep voice as a "basso profundo that filled a room," William Hancock, a San Francisco appellate lawyer who also worked as White's research attorney, said he had a "profound respect and affection" for the justice.
"He was a lot of fun to work for," Hancock remembered. "He used to say, 'You have to have the courage of your convictions,' especially when writing dissenting opinions. That's the way he lived his life; he was a real pioneer."
Hancock said White was a scholar and an athlete who coached inner city baseball teams, one including a kid named Ricky Henderson, now a veteran major leaguer.
Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff, who squared off against White when the jurist was a defense lawyer, described White as "one of the best cross-examiners I've ever seen."
"He had a tremendous courtroom presence; I was pleased to get a hung jury," Orloff said.
A racquetball fan, White regularly played with Orloff and his son. "He was just a wonderful guy who loved everybody's kids."
When he became an Alameda County judge, White was "very effective at training deputy DAs about some of the issues they wouldn't have seen otherwise; he just made you look more deeply into underlying issues," Orloff said. "Clint was one of a kind."
White served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, then graduated from UC Berkeley and received his law degree from Boalt Hall. After opening his Oakland law office, he was appointed by the court to represent members of the Black Panther Party and the Black Muslims charged with killing whites in the 1975 "Zebra" case.
He was elevated to the 1st District Court of Appeals in 1978.
Throughout his career, White remained active in the National Bar Association, the oldest and largest black bar organization, and served on its judicial council. Locally, he was a founding member and past president of the Charles Houston Law Club, which later became the Charles Houston Bar Association.
In 1979, he was appointed Northern California commissioner of Youth Baseball.
White is survived by his wife of 54 years, Fay; and four children, Ann, Ben, Peter and Bryan.
A viewing will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Fouche's Hudson Funeral Home, 3665 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Allen Temple Baptist Church, 8500 E. 14th St., Oakland. Private burial will be at East Lawn Cemetery, Sacramento.
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Donna Domino
Daily Journal Staff Writer
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