THE RECALL CAMPAIGN, Judge Is No Stranger to Controversy

[Judi Lynn]

August 16, 2003 E-mail story Print


THE RECALL CAMPAIGN
Judge Is No Stranger to Controversy
He has been involved in cases involving medical marijuana and Nazi memorabilia.


By Monte Morin, Times Staff Writer


In Bay Area legal circles, U.S. District Judge Jeremy D. Fogel has a reputation for unraveling Silicon Valley's most tangled technology cases and encouraging courtroom combatants to settle before they even reach trial.

But the 53-year-old San Jose resident is best known for his involvement in controversial cases concerning medicinal marijuana and the sale of Nazi memorabilia on the Internet.

On Friday, Fogel added California's Oct. 7 recall election to that list of contentious issues. He announced, in response to complaints from civil rights groups, that he might postpone the vote.

A moderate Democrat who was appointed to the federal bench in the Northern District of California by President Clinton in 1998, Fogel has been described as among the court's youngest and brightest jurists.

"To be as experienced a federal judge as Jeremy is at age 53 is very rare," said Marc Poche, a Santa Clara County Superior Court jurist.
"He's got a reputation as a very balanced, very thoroughgoing guy." (snip/...)


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-fedjudge16aug16,1,2142215.story?coll=la-news-politics-california

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