Legal News

Law Blog Obituary: Judge Robert M. Takasugi

By Ashby Jones

The death of movie director John Hughes is the headlining obituary in many of the nation’s papers today. But as much as we’d love to wax rhapsodic about his movies, especially The Breakfast Club, a movie which had only one misstep (that cringe-inducing dancing scene), we’re going to reserve this space for a few words about Los Angeles federal judge Robert Takasugi, who died Tuesday at a Los Angeles-area nursing home. He was 78.

The LA Times on Friday has an obituary of Takasugi, whose life and career were more interesting than most, we’re inclined to believe.

Takasugi, who survived a World War II relocation camp, spent most of his 36-year judicial career on the federal bench. He handled a number of high-profile cases, including the 1984 cocaine-trafficking trial of automaker John DeLorean. It was in that case that Takasugi endured one of the more memorable courtroom outbursts, when Larry Flynt showed up in a diaper made out from an American flag. According to the LAT, Takasugi wasn’t visibly ruffled by the event, but he fined the Flynt $250,000 for refusing to reveal the source of an audiotape that threatened to derail the case.

He was known as a fair and demanding judge. “He was completely devoted to assuring that the proceedings in his court would be fair and seen to be fair,” said Andrea Ordin, who appeared before Takasugi when she was a U.S. attorney in the late 1970s. “He also had a very high bar for the prosecutors. He was vigilant that the power of prosecutors not be abused. The prosecutors during the years I was there became better advocates because of it.”

After Takasugi and his family were released from the Tule Lake internment camp in 1945, Takasugi and his family returned to Los Angeles. He earned a bachelor’s degree from UCLA in 1953 and a law degree from USC in 1959.

He opened a law practice in East Los Angeles with a USC classmate, in which he represented many indigent minorities. His son remembers him getting paid in “coins and tamales.” Takasugi was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1973 by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan. Two years later, Gov. Jerry Brown elevated him to the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

In 1976 President Ford named him to the federal bench to fill a vacancy. He took senior status in 1996 but continued to hear cases until April, when he was hospitalized.

Of course, anyone who knew Judge Takasugi is welcome to share thoughts, reflections, etc., in the comments section below.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on August 07, 2009 (boomark / email).