Percy Anderson (judge)

Anderson received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1970, followed by a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law in 1975.

From 1969 to 1972 he was a house advisor and later Assistant Dean of the UCLA Office of Housing. In 1972, he served as Auditor of the California Department of Finance. Anderson was a directing attorney for San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc., from 1975 to 1978, and was a lecturer at UCLA in 1977 and 1978. From 1979 to 1985, he was an assistant United States attorney for the Central District of California. From 1985 to 1996, Anderson was a partner at Bryan Cave.[http://www3.ce9.uscourts.gov/web/ocelibra.nsf/0/8aaddb061c477df588256bbc005eda18?OpenDocument "Senate Confirms Two Federal Judge Nominees for Central District of California"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331021738/http://www3.ce9.uscourts.gov/web/ocelibra.nsf/0/8aaddb061c477df588256bbc005eda18?OpenDocument |date=2012-03-31 }}, press release, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, May 17, 2002.

Until his appointment to the district court, Anderson worked at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal.

In 1992, he was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to serve as a United States district judge for the Central District of California, but did not receive a Senate confirmation hearing.{{Cite web |date=October 8, 1992 |title=PN978 — Percy Anderson — The Judiciary |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/102nd-congress/978 |access-date=March 12, 2024 |website=congress.gov}}

Anderson was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 23, 2002, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Central District of California vacated by Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, who was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on August 3, 1998. Anderson was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 25, 2002, and received his commission on May 1, 2002.{{FJC Bio|nid=1391476|inline=yes}}

In 2006, Anderson was removed from a wrongful conviction lawsuit case by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-sep-14-me-atkins14-story.html "Panel Takes Judge Off Federal Case"], Henry Weinstein, Los Angeles Times, September 14, 2006. Lawyers for the plaintiff, a man who had spent twelve years in prison on a rape conviction but was later cleared by DNA evidence, had complained that Anderson was biased against the plaintiff. On the day Anderson declared a mistrial (due to a deadlocked jury), a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit ruled that due to Anderson's actions during the case his "impartiality might be questioned" and that the case should be expediently retried before another judge.

In 2008, the Ninth Circuit overturned a trial Anderson presided over, ruling that Anderson should have disqualified himself due to his stock holdings in a corporation alleged to be a part of fraudulent business activities in the case.[https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Homestore-CEO-s-fraud-conviction-overturned-3232666.php "Homestore CEO's fraud conviction overturned"], Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, January 15, 2008.

In a 2011 Los Angeles Times article,[http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-judge-delays-20110822,0,6199430.story "Relief delayed for prisoners deemed wrongfully convicted"], Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times, August 21, 2011. Anderson was criticized for extensive delays in reviewing writs of habeas corpus. In particular, Anderson was alleged to refuse to rule upon writs in which junior judicial officials have found merit to a finding in favor of prisoner release; three cases have "languished unattended" in "years-long inaction"—these three cases waiting five years or more for rulings from Anderson. Legal experts have said that the delays are "highly unusual" and critics have asserted that Anderson's handling of these cases is concerning and may warrant a misconduct inquiry.

• List of African-American federal judges
• List of African-American jurists

{{reflist}}

• {{FJC Bio|nid=1391476}}
• [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015090382139&view=1up&seq=754 107-2 Hearings: Confirmation Hearings on Federal Appointments, S. Hrg. 107-584, Pt. 3, January 24, February 26, March 19, April 11, and April 25, 2002, *] {{PD notice}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-legal}}

{{s-bef|before=Kim McLane Wardlaw}}

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California}}|years=2002–present}}

{{s-inc}}

{{end}}

{{United States 9th Circuit district judges}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Percy}}

Category:1948 births

Category:Living people

Category:African-American judges

Category:Assistant United States attorneys

Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Central District of California

Category:Lawyers from Long Beach, California

Category:UCLA School of Law alumni

Category:United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush