Armand Arabian

Armand was born in New York City to John and Aghavnie (née Yalian) Arabian, who had immigrated from Armenia following the 1915 Armenian genocide. Arabian received a B.A. in Psychology from Boston University in 1956. He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1956 to 1958. After his discharge, he obtained a J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1961, and a LL.M. from the University of Southern California Law Center in 1970.{{cite web|title=Members: Armand Arabian|url=http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/32798|publisher=California State Bar|accessdate=June 8, 2017}}

Before his appointment to the court, Arabian was a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, 1962–1963, and an attorney in private practice in Van Nuys, California, 1963–1972. In 1972, Arabian was appointed by California Governor Ronald Reagan as a Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge, where he served one year. Arabian was then elevated by Governor Reagan to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, where he presided from 1973 to 1983.

In 1979, Arabian's initial appointment to the Court of Appeals was the subject of controversy: "When California Governor Jerry Brown left the state to campaign for the presidency in 1979, California Lieutenant Governor Mike Curb appointed Armand Arabian to the court of appeal, knowing well that Brown intended to appoint someone else. When Brown returned, he withdrew Arabian's appointment and made his own. The ensuing dispute made it to the state supreme court, which ruled both the appointment and the withdrawal legal."{{cite news|last1=Singer-Vine|first1=Jeremy|title=When the Cat's Away...What happens when a governor goes on the campaign trail?|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2011/08/when_the_cats_away_.html|accessdate=June 8, 2017|work=Slate|date=August 18, 2011}} Four years later, Governor George Deukmejian officially appointed Arabian an associate justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second District, where he served from 1983 to 1990.

In 1990, Deukmejian appointed Arabian the 105th justice to the California Supreme Court, where he served until his retirement in 1996.{{cite news|last1=Dolan|first1=Maura|title=State Justice Arabian Expected to Step Down : Law: Conservative Deukmejian appointee will announce Supreme Court retirement Monday, sources say.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-11-10-mn-1680-story.html|access-date=June 8, 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=November 10, 1995}}{{cite news|last1=Capps|first1=Steven A.|last2=Sullivan|first2=Kathleen|title=Pro-choice pick for high court draws fire|url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Pro-choice-pick-for-high-court-draws-fire-3151666.php|accessdate=June 8, 2017|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=January 26, 1996}}{{cite news|last1=Egelko|first1=Bob|title=Gov. Jerry Brown lets state Supreme Court vacancy linger|url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Gov-Jerry-Brown-lets-state-Supreme-Court-vacancy-5897407.php|accessdate=June 8, 2017|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=November 16, 2014}} As a jurist, Arabian was known as a law-and-order conservative.{{cite news|last1=Chiang|first1=Harriet|title=State Top Court Begins to Show Wilson's Stamp / Capable new justices move panel to center|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/PAGE-ONE-State-Top-Court-Begins-to-Show-2996833.php|accessdate=June 8, 2017|work=San Francisco Gate|date=January 29, 1996}}{{cite news|title=State Supreme Court Refuses New Trial For 'Trailside Killer'|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/State-Supreme-Court-Refuses-New-Trial-For-3043472.php|accessdate=June 8, 2017|work=San Francisco Gate|date=March 7, 1995}}

On the court, he was a leader in the reform of California rape laws.{{cite news|last1=Brazil|first1=Eric|last2=Hatfield|first2=Larry D.|title=Justice Arabian to step down in February|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Justice-Arabian-to-step-down-in-February-3121879.php|accessdate=June 8, 2017|work=San Francisco Gate|date=November 13, 1995}}{{cite web|title=Press release: An Open Conversation Between Appo Jabarian & Justice Armand Arabian|url=http://www.glendaleca.gov/home/showdocument?id=24156|publisher=City of Glendale, California|accessdate=June 8, 2017}} In a 1973 criminal trial, Arabian declined to instruct the jury to treat skeptically the victim's testimony—to the effect that a rape charge "is easily made and, once made, difficult to defend against"—an instruction the state Supreme Court had ruled was mandatory.{{cite news|title=When a Judge Decides Not to Follow the Letter of the Law / The Commission on Judicial Performance has reined in a member of the bench. Despite the outcry, its action isn't altogether surprising|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/When-a-Judge-Decides-Not-to-Follow-the-Letter-of-3000762.php|accessdate=June 8, 2017|work=San Francisco Gate|date=July 19, 1998}} In 1994, Arabian wrote the unanimous opinion in People v. Iniguez (1994),[http://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/4th/7/847.html People v. Iniguez], 7 Cal.4th 847 (1994) which held that a sexual assault without struggle can be deemed rape, instead of the lesser crime of sexual battery.{{cite news|last1=Dolan|first1=Maura|title=Assault Without Struggle Can Be Rape, Court Says|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-24-mn-61624-story.html|access-date=June 8, 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 24, 1994}}{{cite news|last1=Lewin|first1=Tamar|title=Courts Struggle Over How Much Force It Takes to Be a Rape|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/03/us/courts-struggle-over-how-much-force-it-takes-to-be-a-rape.html?mcubz=0|accessdate=June 8, 2017|work=New York Times|date=June 3, 1994}}

Since stepping down from the bench, Arabian has worked as a mediator and arbitrator.{{cite web|title=Hon. Armand Arabian|url=http://arc4adr.com/hon_armand_arabian.html|publisher=Alternative Resolution Centers|accessdate=June 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009024441/http://arc4adr.com/hon_armand_arabian.html|archive-date=October 9, 2017|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Ex-Justice Arabian To Open Van Nuys Arbitration Office|url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Ex-Justice-Arabian-To-Open-Van-Nuys-Arbitration-2992099.php|accessdate=June 8, 2017|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=February 29, 1996}}{{cite news|last1=Guccione|first1=Jean|title=Referee Quits in Ethics Dispute|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-08-me-49645-story.html|access-date=June 8, 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=July 8, 2000}}{{cite book|last1=Schrag|first1=Peter|title=Paradise Lost: California's Experience, America's Future|date=2004|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=0520243870|page=111|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XHBBH4yXV90C&q=%22armand+arabian%22&pg=PA111|accessdate=June 8, 2017}} He has also served on the Board of Visitors at Pepperdine University School of Law.{{cite web|title=Board of Visitors|url=https://law.pepperdine.edu/about/our-people/administration/board/|publisher=Pepperdine University Law School|accessdate=June 8, 2017}}

Arabian has received numerous honors and awards.{{cite web|title=Entry for Armand Arabian|url=http://whoswholifetimeachievers.com/2017/03/08/armand-arabian/|publisher=Marquis Who's Who|accessdate=June 8, 2017}}{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In 1973, the Armenian Professional Society conferred on him its annual Achievement Award.{{cite web|title=List of Achievement Award Recipients|url=http://www.armenianprofessionalsociety.org/awards.html|publisher=Armenian Professional Society|accessdate=June 8, 2017}} In 1981, Arabian received Boston University School of Law's Silver Shingle Award for Distinguished Service to the Legal Profession, and in 1990, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University.{{cite web|title=Past Silver Shingle Award Recipients|url=https://www.bu.edu/law/alumni/alumni-awards/past-silver-shingle-award-recipients/|publisher=Boston University School of Law|accessdate=June 8, 2017}}{{cite web|title=Boston University Alumni Award Recipients: 1946-2014|url=https://www.bu.edu/alumni/about/notable-alumni/distinguished-alumni-awards/|publisher=Boston University|accessdate=June 8, 2017}} In 2011, Arabian was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association's Community Legal Foundation.{{cite web|title=Valley Community Legal Foundation to Honor Arabian, Nash|url=http://www.metnews.com/articles/2011/vclf042511.htm|publisher=Metropolitan News-Enterprise|date=April 25, 2011|accessdate=June 8, 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Grace|first1=Roger M.|title=At National Armenian Bar Gathering: Delightful People, Abysmal Chinese Food|url=http://www.metnews.com/articles/2011/perspectives051611.htm|publisher=Metropolitan News-Enterprise (Los Angeles, CA)|accessdate=June 8, 2017|date=May 16, 2011}} Arabian was given honorary Doctor of Law degrees by several law schools, including: Southwestern School Law, 1990; Pepperdine University, 1990; University of West Los Angeles, 1994; Thomas Jefferson School of Law, 1997; and American College Law, 2001.

On August 26, 1962, he married Nancy Megurian (February 17, 1939 – July 21, 2016) in Los Angeles, California.State of California. California Marriage Index, 1960-1985. Microfiche [database online]. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California, via Provo, UT, USA: [http://www.ancestry.com Ancestry.com] Operations Inc, 2007. They had two children: a daughter, Allison Ann Demurjian, and a son, Robert Armand Arabian, who is also an attorney.{{cite web|title=Members: Robert Armand Arabian|url=http://members.calbar.ca.gov/fal/Member/Detail/177963|publisher=California Bar Association|accessdate=June 8, 2017}} He died on March 28, 2018, at the age of 83.[http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-armand-arabian-20180330-story.html Former California Supreme Court Justice Armand Arabian, an advocate for rape victims, dies at 83]

{{cite book|last1=Arabian|first1=Armand|title=From Gravel to Gavel|date=2011|publisher=Flagship Books|location=Los Angeles, CA|isbn=978-0615550435}}

--- (2010). [http://pepperdinelawreview.com/the-sexual-assault-counselor-victim-privilege-jurisdictional-delay-into-an-unclaimed-sanctuary/ The Sexual Assault Counselor-Victim Privilege: Jurisdictional Delay into an Unclaimed Sanctuary]{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, 37 Pepp. L. Rev. 5, an update of his earlier article, "The Cautionary Instruction in Sex Cases: A Lingering Insult," 10 Sw. L. Rev. 585 (1985).

--- (November 1995). [http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/plr/vol23/iss1/1/ "Condos, Cats and CC&R's: Invasion of the Castle Common,"] 23 Pepperdine L. Rev. 1.

• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/selfishcauses/6692643789 Photo of Armand Arabian], January 10, 2011, at his Van Nuys, California, law office.
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• List of justices of the Supreme Court of California
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{{reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/ArabianA.pdf Armand Arabian biography]. California State Courts.
• [http://www.cschs.org/history/california-supreme-court-justices/armand-arabian/ Armand Arabian]. California Supreme Court Historical Society.
• [https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3784/armand-arabian/ Court opinions authored by Armand Arabian]. Courtlistener.com.
• [http://www.courts.ca.gov/12523.htm Past & Present Justices]. California State Courts.
• [http://www.courts.ca.gov/2405.htm Former Justices]. California Court of Appeal, Second District.

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{{s-legal}}

{{s-bef|before=Marcus Kaufman}}

{{s-ttl|title=Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California|years=1990–1996}}

{{s-aft|after=Ming W. Chin}}

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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arabian, Armand M.}}

Category:1934 births

Category:2018 deaths

Category:American legal writers

Category:American people of Armenian descent

Category:Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni

Category:Boston University School of Law alumni

Category:California Republicans

Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of California

Category:Lawyers from Los Angeles

Category:Lawyers from New York City

Category:Military personnel from New York City

Category:Superior court judges in the United States

Category:USC Gould School of Law alumni

Category:20th-century California state court judges

Category:20th-century American lawyers

Category:United States Army officers