Law Is One Of Many Interests For Judge White
By Nancy Saracino

One of the newest members of the Sacramento Superior Court bench is well known for having served in high-profile appointed positions and elected office. But how many people know that Judge Steve White loves power tools?

“I am always finding something new that strikes my interest. Last year it was power tools. I made things for my kids, and learned how to use routers and other tools,” White said. His interest did not stop at power tools. “After that it was painting. My daughter wanted her room done, so I bought books on painting. She was the decorator and I was the worker.” Judge White worked on his daughter’s bedroom and then turned to painting other rooms in the house. “But now I don’t want to do it anymore,” he laughed.

While he may not be well known for his handiwork with a paintbrush, Judge White is widely recognized as the former Sacramento District Attorney and as the former Inspector General for California’s correctional system.

His career at the District Attorney’s Office began during law school, when he worked at the office as part of a UC Davis clinical program. He joined the office as a Deputy District Attorney after graduation. “I tried my first jury case the day after I was sworn in as a lawyer,” White said. “I found the job very satisfying and challenging,” he added. While he tried his hand at private practice, he returned to his work at the District Attorney’s Office after discovering he missed the excitement of trial work and fulfillment of public service. “It was the first time I was ever confronted with the decision to make a lot of money or do something I really wanted to do,” White commented. “I found it to be a very easy decision.” During his initial tenure at the D.A.’s Office, White worked to set up the first statewide career criminal program.

Judge White moved from trial work into the legislative and policy side of prosecutions when he served as the executive director of the California District Attorneys’ Association. Judge Allen Sumner believes that Judge White’s work for the association “is a tremendous help in implementing and interpreting statutes. Steve assisted in drafting a lot of legislation, including DUI legislation lowering blood alcohol limits and imposing mandatory sentences for violators,” Sumner said. According to Judge Sumner, understanding the public policy underpinning what the Legislature was trying to achieve is helpful to ruling on legal matters involving those laws.

Following his tenure at the District Attorneys’ Association, Judge White worked as Chief of the Criminal Division at the Attorney General’s from Office 1983 to 1989, when he was appointed to serve out the term of Sacramento District Attorney John Dougherty. Judge White was elected District Attorney in 1990. “He did an exemplary job in the District Attorney’s O Office,” said Mort Friedman of Friedman, Collard and Panneton. “Steve came to work for my firm many years ago, and then made the decision to become a prosecutor, rather than a plaintiff’s lawyer,” he said with a chuckle. “Steve has a great deal of maturity, understanding and empathy. He listens and then makes up his mind. He is his own person and a fine individual, and I’m certain he’s an excellent judge,” Friedman stated.

Judge Sumner also recognizes the value of Judge White’s experience at the D.A.’s Office to his service on the bench: “As a line Deputy and then elected D.A., Steve has tremendous knowledge of the prosecution of cases within Sacramento county,” Sumner said. “Steve is very bright, quick and articulate, and has a great knowledge of law and procedures,” he continued. “The records that come from his proceedings will be very thorough and very clear.”

While his early career focused on public service, Judge White spent a few years in private practice at the firm of Kronick, Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard, where he was a shareholder. Bruce Scheidt, a shareholder at the firm, commented that “ I always found Steve to be remarkably professional, cordial, gracious and good humored. He had a great manner in working with non-legal staff and other attorneys. I had the pleasure of working directly under Steve in one case, and he was a terrific mentor.”

In 1999, Governor Davis appointed Judge White to serve as the Inspector General overseeing the state’s correctional system. His tenure there ended when Governor Davis appointed Judge White to the Sacramento bench in November 2003. Judge White said that he always wanted to be a judge. “I had thought to express an interest in going on the bench at the end of the second Davis term, or at the time I thought would be the end of the second Davis term, but it appeared that the end happened sooner than I planned,” he explained. Judge White was appointed before the recall election was held.

When he is not presiding over trials, Judge White enjoys riding horses with his children, Devyn, age 12, and Dylan, age 14. He said he enjoys riding, but really likes to jump horses, and has done so competitively. “I like the riding,” he said, “but the real excitement is in the jumping.” Judge White is married to Laurel White, an Assistant United States Attorney who specializes in the prosecution of child pornography and child exploitation. Ms. White recently received the 2004 National Exploited Children’s Award for her efforts in prosecuting down an online child pornography business that led to the arrest of several child predators.

Judge White is enjoying his work at the Sacramento Superior Court. “Everything I’ve liked the most in my practice of law and my career overall has involved public issues, policy matters or legal issues that transcend the issues of the individual case. This has been a good place to satisfy those needs. I was looking forward to doing this, and I always thought I’d find being a judge professionally satisfying, but it has been even more than I expected,” he said.

Judge Emily Vasquez is very pleased to have Judge White on the Sacramento bench. “Steve and I worked together in private practice and I have followed his distinguished career in public service. Steve possesses a strong combination of professional and academic excellence, and a deep compassion for people and the law. He is an excellent addition to an already very distinguished bench,” Judge Vasquez said.

The author, Nancy Saracino, is a Supervising Deputy Attorney General in Sacramento.