July-August 2004 www.sbcba.

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contract department. He says the company invited county has tended to give priority with limited
BenchMarks: him after passing the Bar Exam to join its legal resources to juvenile court services, but the
team, but wanting to broaden his horizons, he resources of probation services need to be
A. Rex Victor became in 1968 a deputy district attorney of San supplemented with more preventive services.
Bernardino County. As he recalls, the thought of Meanwhile, state budgeting for the new fiscal
Superior Court Judge, trial work was rather intimidating, so “I thought year was up in the air.
County of San Bernardino the best way to do it was to try it.” It was typical Addressing juvenile crime trends, Judge
of that era for trial attorneys to cut their teeth at Victor feels there has been an increase in violent
by Ed Butler the DA’s office. In his four years there, he and drug crime, greater randomness in violence,
prosecuted cases ranging from infractions to death and a greater incidence of female defendants.
penalty cases, the latter including attempted He estimates that drug abuse is involved in
go getter who was working by age murder of a prison guard by two life incarcerees. 60-70 percent of local delinquency cases and

A 11 or 12, Judge A. Rex Victor

remains a youthful, energized go-
getter at age 69 as presiding judge of
San Bernardino County Juvenile Court.
His next career phase was partnering in an
Ontario-based law firm for three years, mostly in
civil practice but also appointive criminal defense
assignments. As appointee he took over a criminal
more than one fifth of 470 juvenile hall
incarcerees are in need of psychotropic drugs.
It troubles him that 70 to 80 of those confined
in the hall are awaiting trial in adult court.
While he has filled a wide variety of case that led to establishing the limited defense of While the new Rancho Cucamonga juvenile
judicial assignments in his 18 years as necessity for escape from a state prison. hall reduced crowding and another would open
Superior Court judge, he is especially When 1975 rolled around, he rejoined the this summer in Apple Valley, Judge Victor says
sobered and stimulated by the weighty district attorney’s office in the administrative the Central Juvenile Hall in San Bernardino is
impact of his court’s dependency and capacity of assistant district attorney. He was antiquated and inadequate, with a resulting high
delinquency arms in the lives of challenged recruited for the role by newly elected DA Jim cost in personnel in maintenance.
children of the county. Cramer, whom Judge Victor had worked under at He says there have been positive results from
Sharing the juvenile bench with five other the Ontario DA’s office when Judge Cramer was the recently approved house arrest program, in
judges, he starts his work day as early as 7 chief deputy there. which enrollees are closely monitored with daily
a.m., coping with strict time deadlines and a After that Judge Victor spent five years as a sole visits by probation officers. The county still
caseload bursting at the seams. practitioner attorney in San Bernardino, practicing operates one boot camp at Heart Bar in the local
The father of five women, Judge Victor in business, corporate, real estate and criminal mountains, which the judge says is popular with
expresses his heart for children as he areas. incarcerees for its short 90-day term but a mixed
emphasizes rehabilitation of delinquents and He says he had no difficulty switching from blessing in terms of rehabilitation success.
reuniting dependent children with their criminal prosecution to defense and back again. Judge Victor describes dependency court as
parents if possible. He says prosecutors draw satisfaction from “family court with a vengeance,” in that
He was one of six siblings growing up in representing “the good side” and for defenders, sometimes parental rights are lost and the
Omaha, Neb., and as it turned out, the only “your satisfaction was doing a good job for your children must be put up for adoption. There is a
one to graduate from college. The son of a client.” legal deadline of 18 months to reunify children
Mobile Oil warehouseman, he early He says he enjoyed the wide variety of law in protective care with their parents.
developed the habit of working. He was practice he undertook and feels the variety was “a Rehabilitation is evaluated in six-month
working in a liquor store by age 11 or 12 and great preparation for being a judge.” Encouraged increments.
a grocery store at about 12. He can’t by his experience in applying for bench office, “I Judge Victor sees drug abuse as a major
remember when he didn’t have some sort of saw some judges I very much admired. I observed problem in dependency, implicated in 80 to 90
job; sports pursuits were limited to informal their objectivity, their ability to communicate, the percent of such cases. He is outraged to see
sandlot football, baseball and soccer. His fact that they were learned and respected in the pregnant women continue to use drugs knowing
jobs over the years included that of law.” that is harming their child.
stevedore, janitor, waiter and ditch digger. Just as he embraced variety as an attorney, He says the juvenile justice system aims for
To make ends meet during the Depression, Judge Victor has sought change in judicial all parties in dependency matters to be fairly
his mother worked as a laundress and dress assignment every 3-5 years. At first his calendars represented, with a new court building slated to
maker and staffed a bakery outlet sales were divided among civil, criminal and probate, open this summer. He praises the attorneys as
counter during World War II. before he spent several years with fulltime vertical “the strength of the dependency court, in my
Judge Victor graduated at age 21 from St. criminal calendars. Then came five years presiding mind.”
Louis University, St. Louis, Mo., with a over civil matters, three years presiding over Judge Victor has high praise for the attorneys
bachelor of science degree in business and juvenile court, five years on civil fast track, and with whom he associates in court. “I thoroughly
finance. Anticipating being drafted into the two years now back presiding over juvenile court. enjoy the company of attorneys - I like the way
military, he joined his sister and her husband Along the way he also spent several years in the their minds work.” He says judges learn from
in Southern California, where they both Superior Court appellate department and has attorneys, as he did presiding over probate
worked for the Pomona division of General served on the State Appellate Court by matters when he was still green in that area.
Dynamics. While the draft did not assignment. Generally, he appreciates it when attorneys in
materialize for him, a General Dynamics job Judge Victor says his favorite assignment is his court are prompt, prepared and professional.
did, in its planning and estimating civil, as “it’s the most challenging, the broadest, it He reports rarely having perceived uncivility on
department working on contract proposals to has the most variety.” However, he views juvenile the part of lawyers, and when it happens, it is
the federal government. Working there he court as the most important assignment, due to the more likely in the civil area.
met his future wife, Becky, a fellow impact that it has. Along with a busy practice and judging
employee. He says the biggest challenge at juvenile court schedule, Judge Victor has engaged himself as
Judge Victor’s interest in the law was is coping with the sheer volume of caseload. Time a policy maker for several organizations. He was
kindled when the company established a law lines are strictly applied, and a study has found trustee of the county law library for perhaps a
department at Pomona. One of the lawyers that San Bernardino should have 9.8 dependency dozen years as both attorney and judge, and he
who worked there was Kenneth Ziebarth, judges instead of the two that are devoted to that. has served as director of the local bar
who encouraged Judge Victor to go to law The other four juvenile judges are devoted to association, chamber of commerce and Inland
school and, in the capacity of Superior Court delinquency matters, two at San Bernardino and Counties Legal Services.
judge, swore in Judge Victor as a Gov. one each at Rancho Cucamonga and Victorville. Off work he is an avid reader with eclectic
Deukmejian appointee judge in 1986. Describing juvenile delinquency court as tastes and still ice skates, but his favorite hobby
Judge Victor says he observed lawyers to “criminal court with a heart,” due to its emphasis these days is indulging his grandchildren, who
be interesting and smart people and he upon rehabilitation over punishment, Judge Victor range from seven months to 14 years of age.
undertook, as then a father of three, to enroll says dispositions must be reached promptly to be
in the night program at Loyola University of meaningful for growing youth as well as to Ed Butler is Manager of the Rancho
Los Angeles School of Law. Continuing to accommodate the rules of procedure. He points out Cucamonga Branch of the San Bernardino
work at General Dynamics, he shifted to its that different strategies of rehabilitation will work County Law Library.
with some youth but not with others. He says the