People who know Sacramento County Bar Association Judge of the Year Arthur G. Scotland praise him for his leadership as presiding justice of the Third District Court of Appeal, his extensive participation in community events and his down-to-earth personality. But perhaps above all they marvel at the energy and enthusiasm he brings to everything he does.

Justice Scotland has “an incredible amount of energy,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Taylor. “I don’t think you can go to an activity in town and not find him active.”

Justice Scotland’s judicial colleagues use varying analogies to describe the energy he brings to all of the activities in which he participates.

“He just keeps going and going, like the Energizer Bunny,” observed Justice Ronald Robie.

“He’s like Moby Dick,” said Ninth Circuit Judge Connie Callahan. “He’s ubiquitous. He’s everywhere.”

Whether Justice Scotland’s activities are more analogous to those of the rabbit in that battery commercial who seemingly never runs out of juice or to a marine mammal of literary fame, it is clear that he maintains a schedule that would prove daunting to anyone. Besides the administrative responsibilities of serving as presiding justice, Justice Scotland, like his predecessor, Robert Puglia, hears the same full calendar of cases as the other justices on the court. His community involvement includes volunteering for the Sacramento Children’s Home, serving as advisor and judge to the Center for Youth Citizenship’s Gordon B. Schaber Mock Trial and Moot Court Competition, and serving on the steering committee for Operation Protect and Defend, a program that sponsors educational initiatives on the Constitution for local high school students. He is also a Past President of the Anthony M. Kennedy American Inn of Court.

Taylor, who has worked with Justice Scotland for the past three years on the Operation Protect and Defend, praised the depth of his involvement.

“He does not participate in these activities to have his name on a list or a roster,” she said. “He actually makes meaningful contributions.”

Taylor said that Justice Scotland’s participation comes from his personal dedication to teaching people about the legal system. “It is important for him to get out into the community and connect with people who don’t know how the system works,” she said.

Justice Robie agreed, calling Justice Scotland “totally dedicated to spreading the word about (the importance of) the rule of law.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, Justice Scotland has made community outreach the hallmark of his five-year tenure as presiding justice. Two or three times each year since 2000, Justice Scotland and his colleagues have left the majestic surroundings of the Library and Courts Building on Capitol Mall to travel to high schools for the court’s outreach program. So far, the program has visited 11 counties in the 23-county Third Appellate District. The Court plans to visit Mono County in September.

The outreach program typically stretches over two days. On the first day, the justices meet with students and teachers. The justices provide a brief overview of the appellate process and then answer any questions that the students and teachers might have about the legal system. The second day consists of oral arguments in the high school auditorium. Copies of the briefs and summaries of the appeals are given to the students and teachers before the program so that they can understand the arguments. Members of the audience are given an opportunity to ask questions, although the justices do not answer questions about the cases being argued. Copies of the court’s opinions in the cases are later sent to the high schools.

Justice Scotland said that the outreach program is designed the demystify the appellate process for participants.

“I have always felt that the effectiveness of our judicial system depends on public confidence in the system,” he said. Creation of the program “was a way for us to help individuals outside Sacramento get a better idea of what we do and to enhance confidence in the judicial system.”

Judge Callahan, who served for six and-a-half years on the Third District before being appointed to the Ninth Circuit last year, said Justice Scotland “is very committed to the court having high visibility and presence both in the legal community and in the community at large.” She said that Justice Scotland’s example inspired other justices on the court to become more involved in the community.

According to the court’s website, Justice Scotland is the eleventh presiding justice of the Third Appellate District, which was one of the three original Courts of Appeal created by a constitutional amendment in 1904. His immediate predecessor, Justice Puglia, served as presiding justice for 25 years, approximately one-quarter of the court’s history.

“When I became presiding justice I told a lot of people I had to get extra thick socks because those were mighty big shoes to fill,” Justice Scotland said. He particularly credits Justice Puglia for creating a collegial environment among the justices that still prevails at the court. “I feel very, very good about the continuing sense of collegiality in this court,”

Justice Scotland said. “This is truly a special court. It is made up of some really interesting people with different backgrounds and life experiences and we just get along so well together. We don’t always agree but when we disagree it’s always collegially.”

Judge Callahan attributed the atmosphere among the justices at the Third Appellate District to Justice Scotland’s superlative people skills.

“He just really commands all of our respect,” she said. “He was very good at determining what (areas) individual justices were gifted in and he used their strengths for the betterment of the court.”

Besides the court outreach program, Justice Scotland said his favorite accomplishment as presiding justice has been to change the process for hiring staff attorneys. Candidates for staff attorney positions at the court who pass through the first round screening process are invited to participate in a practical test in which they are given a case file, a set of legal authorities, and asked to write a decision in one eight-hour day. The applicants then return for an interview with the justices that includes briefing the justices on the mock order.

Justice Scotland said the new hiring procedure allows applicants to demonstrate whether they have the type of skills necessary to succeed as staff attorneys, a different type of lawyering than the typical legal practice.

In a self-effacing manner, Justice Scotland describes his own path to the Court of Appeal as the product of a series of fortuitous circumstances and choices. A Sacramento native, Justice Scotland was “pretty unfocused” when he met with a career advisor as a UC Davis undergraduate. “I went into the placement office and talked to a placement advisor and she asked me a lot of questions. At the time I was pretty immature and I remember saying to her, ‘I love motorcycles. Gee, wouldn’t it be exciting to be a CHP motorcycle cop? You could be driving your motorcycle down the road and enforcing the law.’ I was pretty straight-laced back then.”

Following that conversation, the career advisor sent him information that the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement was looking for investigators. “I thought ‘Wow, I can be a narc,’” Justice Scotland recalled. “I’d had a couple of fraternity brothers who had gotten messed up in drugs in the 60s, and I thought . . . I’d be doing good for society. So I became a law enforcement officer.”

Upon graduation from UC Davis in 1968, Justice Scotland joined the Department of Justice as an investigator. In that position, he testified frequently in court and became fascinated with the legal process and decided that he wanted to be a prosecutor.

After graduating with distinction from the McGeorge School of Law in 1974, Justice Scotland served as a Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney. Two years later, one of Justice Scotland’s law school classmates who was working at the Attorney General’s Office suggested that he would also enjoy working there. Much to the consternation of his fellow deputy district attorneys, Justice Scotland took her advice.

“All my friends in the D.A.’s Office said, ‘You’re crazy. Why do you want to do this? You’ll be bored to death. You’ll be sitting in a library and just reading and writing.’ And actually I loved that part of the work. And I loved the oral presentations before the Court of Appeal.”

The election of state Senator George Deukmejian as Attorney General in November 1978 proved a significant turning point in Judge Scotland’s career. During Deukmejian’s single term as Attorney General, Justice Scotland served in the legislative unit of the office and did special projects for the Attorney General.

When Deukmejian ran for Governor in 1982, Justice Scotland took a leave of absence in order to work on the campaign. The campaign service led to a position with the Governor-elect’s transition team and ultimately to his selection as Cabinet Secretary.

Working for Governor Deukmejian was a “unique honor and opportunity,” Justice Scotland said. “Governor Deukmejian was a man of incredible integrity and great thoroughness.” Although Governor Deukmejian had a public image as the “Iron Duke,” resolute in his positions and immune to pressure to change his mind, Justice Scotland found that he had a decision-making process in which all points of view were extensively considered.

Governor Deukmejian appointed Justice Scotland to the Sacramento Superior Court in 1987 and as an associate justice of the Court of Appeal in 1989. Governor Wilson appointed him Presiding Justice on December 1, 1998.

Justice Scotland, who is 57 years old, was reportedly at one time on Governor Wilson’s short list for appointment to the California Supreme Court. He said he has no career plans beyond his current position. “I am enjoying my job immensely and with continued good health I don’t anticipate doing anything else,” he said.

Justice Scotland’s selection as SCBA Judge of the Year is the latest of several honors he has received. In 2002, the SCBA named him its Humanitarian of the Year and the Center for Youth Citizenship gave him its Community Service Award. He called the Judge of the Year award “a tremendous honor from a group for which I have tremendous respect.”

In his spare time, Justice Scotland enjoys traveling, entertaining, jogging, and theater. He also likes to spend time with family. He and his wife, Susan, have a son, one granddaughter and anticipate the arrival of a grandson in August or September.