Morrow: The ideal activist

by PETER KAYE

In winning appointment to the federal bench, Margaret Morrow overcame opposition by conservative Republican senators who feared she would be a judicial activist.

Had I been asked to testify, here’s what I would have told the Senate:

“Candidate Morrow has a history of activism. I served alongside her for four years on the California State Bar Board of Governors and I witnessed repeated instances.

“While on the board, she became aware the bar was operating an overpriced and inefficient discipline system. As president, she had several options.

“The easy choice would have been to follow her predecessors and do nothing. She could have brought the issue before the board of governors, which has difficulty deciding where to eat dinner. Or referred it to the bar staff, so they could have dragged their feet until a new president was elected.

“Instead, she appointed a blue ribbon committee, headed by former Justice Arthur Alarcon, which issued a report calling for reforms and cost cutting.

“With a straight face, Morrow gave the report to the board of governors, which dutifully followed the recommendations. Millions of dollars were saved.

“So when it comes to economy, efficiency and leadership, Morrow is indeed an activist.

“At a bar leaders’ meeting, I was having a drink with Margaret and a few friends when I realized I was in a circle of 10 women lawyers.

“I started to leave, but Margaret urged me to stay and I listened to these women — Republicans and Democrats, blacks, whites and Asians — talk about their ideals, goals and frustrations with the law.

“There was no question who was the leader, the mover, the plotter in this informal sisterhood. And there is no doubt in my mind, then or now, what a role model she is to women lawyers and attorneys of color.

“So when it comes to equal opportunity and how to earn it, Morrow is indeed an activist.

“When Morrow became president of the State Bar, I was a third-year board member eligible for a major committee chair. As a non-lawyer, I was reluctant to accept the Committee on Communications & Bar Relations, but she said my background in the former would compensate for my ignorance of the latter.

“We disagreed on some issues, agreed on others, reached consensus on all and accomplished a lot that year — including establishment of this newspaper.

“I contrast her with the president the second time I became eligible to head a major committee. His appointments were all lawyers — more qualified, he said, than public members. Had Morrow been president last year, the bar wouldn’t be in the mess it is today.

“So when it comes to working with an old, white, male, Republican journalist, Morrow is an activist.”

As a federal judge, Morrow won’t be the ideological advocate her opponents had in mind. Her intelligence, compassion, humor and dedication made her an ideal choice.

As she drops out of the news, Morrow’s career will quietly go forward. We’ll hear from her again — when she is nominated for higher office.

Peter Kaye is editorial director of NBC 7/39 in San Diego and was appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson to two three-year terms on the State Bar Board of Governors..