Eastern District of California Blog

Ninth Circuit Reverses EDCA Ruling Invalidating California Laws Limiting Parole Hearings

An appeals court Monday reversed a Sacramento federal judge’s ruling that two state laws limiting parole hearings and giving the governor authority to block paroles were unconstitutional.

The late U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton ruled in 2014 that the two statutes created a significant risk of making murder sentences longer than they otherwise would have been, even though the prison terms were imposed before the laws were enacted.

Proposition 9, a ballot initiative passed by the voters in 2008, and Proposition 89, passed by voters in 1988, “retrospectively increased punishments, in violation of the ex post facto clause of the U.S. Constitution,” Karlton wrote in his 58-page order.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed and, in a 30-page opinion [here] published Monday, reversed Karlton.

Sac Bee, 2/22/16

A Tribute To Judge Karlton

I'm posting here the record of the Tribute to Judge Karlton held at the Sacramento federal courthouse on September 26, 2014, with remarks from Congresswoman Doris Matsui, Chief EDCA Judge Morrison C. England, Jr., EDCA District Judge William B. Shubb, California Court of Appeal Associate Justice Coleman A. Blease, Northern District Judge Thelton E. Henderson, EDCA Magistrate Judge Allison Claire, as well as Judge Karlton himself.

I invite readers to add their own thoughts or stories in the comment section or by emailing me directly.  I'll start with one of my own stories.

Many years ago, I defended at trial before Judge Karlton a chiropractor accused of tax crimes.  At one point, I objected to testimony by a government witness.  After excusing the jury, Judge Karlton chastised me for not objecting sooner.  He ruled that my objection was late -- the evidence was already in through earlier testimony.  Although I disagreed, I was more upset that he criticized me in the presence of my client, who now believed he had an incompetent attorney whose failure had allowed in prejudicial testimony.

When we went in to the judge's chambers later in the trial to discuss another issue, I said that, while I appreciated the judge's comments, his criticism had hurt my attorney-client relationship.  He responded, "I know, attorneys have been telling me that for 20 years, but I just can't help myself sometimes."  He then told me that I had been correct -- he now realized why I had not objected earlier.  

When trial resumed, I cross-examined the government's case agent about her analysis of my client's accounts, a critical issue.  I was convinced that I had found errors in her work that would discredit her.  But when I first confronted her, she had a good explanation and I realized I had been mistaken. I became frustrated and she became emboldened, sidestepping my questions, offering her own jabs.  As I felt my control slipping away, Judge Karlton interrupted and scolded her:  "These are straight-forward questions.  Just answer the questions!"  He repeated his admonition whenever she wavered. The witness finally gave me straight answers, admitting several mistakes in her analysis.   

I view Judge Karlton's reaction as akin to the umpire who, after making a bad call against you, makes another in your favor to balance the scales.  A kind of rough justice, which ended well when the jury acquitted my client.

RIP Judge Karlton

The Sacramento Bee reported that Judge Karlton passed away Saturday night at home.  [Updated story here]  RIP Judge Karlton, You'll be missed.

Lawrence K. Karlton, who arrived in Sacramento while in the Army and stayed to become a federal judge whose rulings aimed to help people who needed it the most, died Saturday night at age 80.

Retired from the federal court for the Eastern District of California at the end of September, Karlton died at his home on the Garden Highway from a heart valve problem he had dealt with for several years. His wife, Sue Karlton, and daughter, Emily Williams, were with him when he died.

Karlton left private practice in 1976 when then-Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to the Sacramento Superior Court. He was nominated for the Eastern District bench by President Jimmy Carter and confirmed in 1979. He retired in the fall of 2014.

Karlton’s written legal opinions on mental health care for inmates, amnesty for undocumented immigrants, and preservation of the environment stand as significant influences on key issues.

William B. Shubb, the longest-serving federal judge sitting on the Sacramento-based Eastern District bench, said Sunday that Karlton’s dedication to the law was contagious.

“I first witnessed his passion when he and I were opposing counsel on a case in federal court,” Shubb recalled. “Back then, it was a passion for his client’s cause. But he never lost that passion. As a judge, it was transformed into a passion for getting it right. He instilled it in everybody that worked with him, other judges and his law clerks particularly.”

Dale A. Drozd, a U. S. magistrate judge in Sacramento and the third person to serve as a Karlton law clerk, said Sunday that 10 days ago he had visited his mentor, who was at home on hospice.

“We had a long talk about a lot of things,” Drozd said with a bittersweet chuckle. “He asked me to bring him a copy of the Supreme Court’s decision on same sex marriage. He wanted to read it. So I did. I’m sure he was pleased. That was Larry Karlton.”

Ninth Circuit Upholds EDCA Habeas Order To Retry Murder Defendant

A federal appellate court has frustrated the efforts of prosecutors to avoid a retrial of Richard Alex Williams, doing life without parole on a first-degree murder conviction 17 years ago in Sacramento.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton last year ordered Williams, now 37, released or retried within 60 days. The now-retired judge found the guilty verdict unconstitutional because Supervising Deputy District Attorney Rob Gold was guided by race when he kept an African American woman off the jury. The judge further found that some of the reasons Gold gave for his action were pretexts.

The judge halted implementation of the order while the state pursued an appeal, but a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld Karlton’s decision.

Sac Bee, 6/29/15

California Changes Policy For Mentally Ill Prison Inmates

California prison officials said Friday they are changing state policy so mentally ill inmates who act out can get counseling instead of being automatically sent to isolation cells or kept in prison longer.

It is the latest in a series of policy shifts after a federal judge ruled a year ago that the state's treatment of mentally ill inmates violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment, in part because their illness isn't taken into account when they are disciplined.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton acted after the release of videos made by correctional officers that showed guards pumping pepper spray into the cells of mentally ill inmates, some of them screaming and delirious.

The tactics were used on inmates who refused to take medication, be handcuffed or leave their cells.

The new policy was filed Friday in federal court in Sacramento.

"This is a very significant reform of the disciplinary process for prisoners with mental illness," said Michael Bien, an attorney representing mentally ill inmates in the long-running lawsuit. "What's the point of punishing someone who's psychotic?"

The change is good for inmates and taxpayers, Bien said, because keeping inmates in disciplinary segregation is expensive and keeps them in prison longer by taking away early release credits at a time when the state is under a federal court order to reduce the inmate population.

UT SanDiego, 4/3/15

Judge Karlton: A Legal Giant Steps Down

Denny Walsh has a piece in the Forum section of today's Sacramento Bee entitled "A Legal Giant Steps Down" on Judge Karlton's retirement after 35 years on the EDCA federal bench.

California Prisons Agree To Dramatically Improve Conditions For Mentally Ill Inmates

Four months after a federal judge in Sacramento declared that conditions for mentally ill inmates in the state’s prisons were “horrific,” California corrections officials unveiled sweeping new policies that will house them in specially designed units, provide greater time out of their cells and offer vastly increased treatment for the ill prisoners.

The new policies, outlined in a filing Friday in federal court, dramatically alter the manner in which tens of thousands of state prison inmates are to be treated, and are designed to reduce the number of prisoner suicides and deaths.

* * *

Karlton, who has overseen for nearly a quarter century the legal battle over how mentally ill inmates are treated, signed off on the revised policies Friday afternoon, marking what is likely to be the final order he will issue that dramatically reshapes California prison policy before his retirement Oct. 1.

Sacramento Bee, 8/29/14

EDCA Court Throws Out Sacramento County Death Sentence

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the death penalty of a transient who fatally stabbed a man 33 years ago on a bank of the American River in Sacramento and fled in the victim’s car.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton adopted the recommendation of a magistrate judge that a lesser sentence be imposed on Larry Junior Webster, unless the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office initiates a retrial of the penalty phase within 90 days.

“We’re glad the guilt phase was not overturned,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Grippi said. “We will take a hard look at the penalty phase and decide whether we want to retry it.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge Dale A. Drozd had found that Webster, the recipient of a Bronze Star for combat bravery in the Vietnam War, was denied a fair trial in the penalty phase because his counsel was incompetent. Karlton agreed with Drozd that Webster was deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to “effective assistance of counsel” due to his lawyer’s “failure to investigate and present a mitigation case ... to the jury.”

Sacramento Bee, 8/26/14

EDCA Court Overturns Murder Conviction For Batson Violation

According to the Sacramento Bee, Judge Karlton granted habeas relief, overturning a 1998 murder conviction, because the prosecutor was found to have struck an African-American juror because of her race.  The decision adopted findings and recommendations by Magistrate Judge Claire.

Judge Karlton Announces Retirement Effective October 1

U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton, one of the longest serving federal judges in the Eastern District of California, announced Friday that he will step down Oct. 1.

Karlton has served 35 years on the federal bench in Sacramento, where the Eastern District is based.

Sacramento Bee, 4/4/14