Judge Harry Pregerson was a Prince

In just the last few days, one charmed Prince Harry has gotten engaged and another Prince Harry has left us. Judge Harry Pregerson, the longest serving judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, died Nov. 25. The homeless, and us, in the legal community, have lost a hero.

The Marine in him was evident as he wrested concessions from the players in the Century Freeway litigation. He kept the case, Keith v. Volpe, 352 F.Supp. 1324 (C.D. Cal. 1972), when he went onto the 9th Circuit. It lasted for decades until the Pregerson-brokered settlement. There would be housing for the displaced (4,000 low-income units); there would be environmental protection review, tutors and scholarships for the displaced children, job training for women and minorities -- all from highway set-aside funds. All of those efforts which helped underprivileged Angelinos resulted in the State Assembly (years later) naming the 105/110 interchange south of Downtown Los Angeles for him. Judge Pregerson was also the jurist, well known on the Westside, for his rulings which kept the Hyperion Sewage Treatment plant from pumping untreated sewage into Santa Monica Bay.

Judge Pregerson was keen on training young lawyers and helping pro per litigants. I first met him in the early 1990s. He became one of my "judicial consultants" when I produced the 9th Circuit's film, "Perfecting Your Appeal," the circuit's first foray in teaching lawyers -- through film -- how to write, file and argue before the 9th Circuit. After that he used my crew to make a heart-tugging video about his "baby," the Bell Shelter (Salvation Army). The Bell Shelter was a Judge Pregerson creation. Using the federal McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, which authorizes the adaptive re-use of decommissioned military or federal facilities, Judge Pregerson spearheaded the conversion of 40,000 square feet of the former Army base in Bell. From its inception in 1988, Bell continues to provide some 350 formerly homeless families, housing, training, education and much needed help to complete forms for disability and insurance.

Judge Pregerson was instrumental, as well, in ensuring that there would be a federal day care center (finally) when the Roybal federal courthouse was constructed on Temple and Alameda. Before the Pregerson Day Care center opened in the 1990s, many of the federal prosecutors and deputy federal defenders had next-to-no-options in downtown for having their kids in day care nearby. For many of us, once we knew we were pregnant (or adopting) we'd race over to the Pregerson Day Care Center to ensure that our children would be on the list for one of the six coveted newborn slots in the "baby room." How wonderful it was for me and my fellow federal employees to be able to go to work each day at the federal courthouse with kids in tow and have them close by. Each of my three children spent five years at "Pregerson," graduated from the preschool and went off to kindergarten.

Every once in a while, he would make a discrete appearance at the center, with his trademark hat and twinkling eyes, you understood that his "mission" was to make the world a better place. Judge Pregerson was a prince among men. He will be missed.