Carl W. Anderson

Carl West Anderson is an American retired Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Four. He was appointed on November 2, 1984, by Governor Deukmejian and confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments on December 6, 1984. Anderson was confirmed by the electorate on November 4, 1986 and reconfirmed in 1990. He retired on September 15, 1997.

Prior to this, Anderson was an Associate Justice of the same court, Division Three, from April 4, 1984 to December 6, 1984. He was appointed by Governor Deukmejian on March 9, 1984, succeeding Associate Justice Sidney Feinberg, who had retired. Anderson also served as an Associate Justice pro tempore in Division 4 in 1981.

Before that, he was a Judge of the Superior Court of Alameda County from January 4, 1975 to April 4, 1984. Anderson was appointed by Governor Reagan on January 3, 1975 and was later elected in 1976 and 1982, both times unopposed. He was rated in the upper third of superior court judges by the Alameda County Bar Association in 1983.

Before being a judge, Anderson was a Senior Trial Deputy District Attorney (1973-75) and a Deputy District Attorney (1964-73) of Alameda County. He was also a Legislative Advocate for the California District Attorneys Association, the California Peace Officers Association, and the California State Sheriffs Association from 1967-73.

Anderson is a member of the California Judges Association, the Alameda County Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. He is a former member of the California State Bar’s Criminal Law & Procedure Committee (1970-74) and a former director of the Rotary Club of Oakland (1980-82), the Lake Merritt Breakfast Club (1982-83), the YMCA Youth Development Project (1976-77), the Lincoln Child Center (1976-77), and the East Bay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1977-83). Anderson was also the Chairman of the Board of Volunteers of America California Bay Area (1984-87) and a former Chairman of the California Attorney General’s Judicial Advisory Commission on Victims of Crime (1981).

He is a Piedmont Council Boy Scouts of America member (1984-1996), a former Chairman of Troop Committee, Troop 1, BSA, Piedmont (1983-84), a Distinguished Eagle Scout (1991), a Silver Beaver (1989), and an Eagle Scout (1949). Anderson is also a member of the Appellate Judges Conference (1996-97) and the Council of Chief Judges of Courts of Appeal of the United States (President 1992-93).

Anderson has served as a moderator of CEB programs (1992 and 1987), a faculty member of the California Continuing Judicial Studies Program (CJSP) (CJER) Appellate Courts Institute (1996), Appellate staff attorneys Institute (1996, 1984, and 1983), a lecturer on Juvenile Court Law for the New Judges Orientation (CJER) (1978), a seminar leader for the Juvenile Court Institute (CJER) (1977), an instructor in Criminal Law and Evidence at Chabot Community College (1970-75), and a post-graduate fellow to Germany (sponsored by Boalt Hall Dept. of International Legal Studies and the Center for Study of Law & Society, University of California).

Anderson served in the U.S. Army Reserve (Second Lieutenant, MPC, June 1957; active reserve with 91st Division Training, 1964-67; Captain, January 1967; Honorably Discharged, July 20, 1972). He holds an LL.M. (1992) from the Graduate Program for Judges, University of Virginia, an LL.B. (1962) from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, and a B.A. (1957, Political Science) from the University of California, Berkeley.

Anderson is married and has two children. He is a Republican and a former Trustee of the Piedmont Community Church (1980-82). He was admitted to the California Bar on January 28, 1963.