Judges and Judiciary
Aug. 10, 2002
Davis Puts Commissioners on Superior Court
LOS ANGELES - Gov. Gray Davis has promoted three Los Angeles-area court commissioners to the Los Angeles Superior Court bench: Commissioner Kelvin Filer of Long Beach, Commissioner Steven P. Sanora of Alhambra and Commissioner Thomas R. White of Canyon Country.
"These three were obviously very qualified candidates, and that's what we look for above all else," said Alex Traverso, spokesman for Davis.
The appointments leave Los Angeles Superior Court with 15 vacancies, including 13 that opened over the previous seven months. Since his election in 1998, Davis has appointed 215 judges statewide, 37 of them this year.
"Making appointments isn't exactly the easiest thing to do. It's a pretty time-consuming process when you take into account all the factors," Traverso said. "We don't base appointments on a timetable, really. It's more about getting qualified people into the spots."
Filer, a native of Compton, is a 1980 graduate of Boalt Hall. He became a Compton Municipal Court commissioner in 1993 and a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner in January 2000 after the Municipal and Superior courts merged. Filer, 46, has been working in the court's South Central district.
"I'm just very grateful that I was able to get appointed. I feel very fortunate and blessed," Filer said.
Filer began his career in 1980 at the state public defender's office, handling criminal appeals and post-conviction work. In 1982, he started a criminal defense and personal-injury practice in Compton. As a Superior Court commissioner, Filer oversaw both felony and misdemeanor trials, as well as limited-jurisdiction civil cases.
Filer is a member of several bar associations and served for 12 years on the board of the Compton Unified School District. He writes poetry in his spare time. He also writes thank-you notes to the jurors who hear his cases.
"I'm like most other individuals in our system, who recognize the value of the jury," Filer said.
Sanora served as a Municipal Court commissioner in the Rio Hondo Judicial District from 1992 to 1999. After court unification, he presided over domestic violence court and drunken-driving court in Rio Hondo.
Sanora, 52, is a 1974 graduate of USC School of Law. He practiced criminal law for several years before becoming a commissioner. Sanora could not be reached to discuss his appointment.
White has been a commissioner in the North Valley District of Los Angeles Superior Court, presiding over the teen court, the night traffic court, and matters including preliminary hearings, trials, sentencing and arraignments.
White began his career in the office of the judge advocate general of the U.S. Air Force in 1970, where he both prosecuted and defended criminal cases. In 1974, he began a 23-year stint in private practice.
White was nearly elected district attorney of Canyon Country in the late 1970s, when the area attempted to become its own county. White was the top vote-getter, but the county secession effort went down to defeat.
"I was elected, but unfortunately they had no place to put me," he said.
White is a former president of the Santa Clarita Valley Attorney's Association as well as of the Canyon Country Chamber of Commerce. He is a founding member of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.
White said becoming a judge had been a career goal.
"I've had this in mind for quite a while," he said.
Katherine Gaidos
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