1969_10 The Daily Collegian October 1969

              Sltrs   Brian Cod For
lodge's Removal
I printed la ttm LOS ANGELES
TIMES, October t, 1999
By RM
Loo Angeles Times Staff Writer
SAJf JOSE-Demanda ana-Mad
hare Wednesday (October 1) tor
toe rsBlgaaftoo of o Superior
Coart Judge who made anti-Max!
eaa remarks from the bench and
aMd •Maybe Hitler was right
shorn destroying the animals in
oar society."
A coart transcript showa that
Judge Ceroid S. Chargin In een-
teutonc o 17-year-old Mexican -
American boy tor lnceat aald:
■. . . Mexican pooplo after 13
yeara of age, think It ls perfectly
all right to go out and act like
an inlmal ... we ought to send
yoo out of the country — send you
back to Mexico. You belong ln
prison for the rest of your life
tor dmnc tMnga of tola Mnd. You
ought to commit atorida. .."
The fudge then warn on to soy
thM •Maybe Hitler was right The
tomali ln our society probably
ought to be deatroyed because
they hove no right to live among
Exeerpu from the transcript
wMch showed what Chargin aMd
ware distributed by ttm California
Rural Legal Assistance aad the
Community Ssrvlcs Organization, a Mexican-American group
Tha nomaa of the Juvenilea Involved were not dlocloeed In the
excerpts distributed.
The Mexican-A merlcan boy
was charged wtth Incest with Ma
15-year-old Mater, who la mentally retarded The boy clMma
he lo innocent and thM ba pleaded
guilty only beeauee attorneys advised Mm to do so ao that tha
eaaa would not go to trlM.
The boy was arrested after the
County Wei far a Deportment
learned about the girl's preg-
nancy.
Chargin placed the boy on pro-
Wednesday about 200 members
of Metocen-American organisations and civil right croups picketed tho Superior Court building
ln downtown Son Jose. Thle city
of 490,000 people has the largest
Spanish surname population ln
urban Northern CMlfornla.
A meetine between community
represents-vos and presiding
judge Joseph Kelly was unproductive, accordlnc to Paul Sancho r, chairman of the graduate
achool of SociM Work ot Son
Jose SUte CoUego.
•Jodge Kelly Informed about
30 leedera of the Mexican-American community that he could do
nettling," Sanchez aald.
'He rightfully Informed us thst
he has no jurisdiction In getting
Judge Chargin off the bench.
However, what shocked as ia thM
Judge Kelly waa not sufficiently
morally shocked by Judge Chargin'a behavior to aupport us even
philoaophlcMly."
Sanchez aMd that the community la ln a very volatile mood and
thM "anything could happen.'
Chargin, 65, member of an old
San Jase family of ranchers, told
newamen that "juvenile court
proceedings are private for the
protection of the minor and the
family Involved.
•Only those persons directly
concerned are allowed to be
preeeot. For tttto reason It la
dliiicMt to comment as tolly and
freer/ aa otherwise might be the
Speaking shout ths remarks
that he mede ln court, Chargin
told newamen that the distribution
of the excerpts waa "not only a
disservice to the youth and family
Involved but may Involve a violation of the law."
Tha California Rural Legal
Assistance said no law haa been
violated becauae the nomas of
the minors were nM divulged.
The group confirmed  thst  it
has complained to ths State Ju-
dlclal Qualifications Commission wMch has been asked to remove Chargin from the bench.
The judge told newsmen that
"I am compelled to set the record straitht ln this regard. The
case Involved the admitted un-
natural crime of Incest between
a 17-year-old boy and his 15-
year-old alster. who is now pregnant. Without revealing more of
the facts. It waa a situation which
waa ao revolting It offended my
sense of morality and conscience."
Chargin said thai he ia not
prejudiced against any ethnic
group.
"I am pleased to say thai my
entire adult Ufa. both in the law
and on ths Superior Court bench,
has been an effort and a si riving
for justice tor Ml.
•The most recent example of
tMs is my nomination of the only
Mexican-A merlcan individual
presently serving on the County
Grand Jury."
Al Pinnon. head of the San Jose
Community Ssr vl ce Organization, told newsmen that Chargin's
remarks were "racist, bigoted,
biased and defamatory to all individuals of Mexican .incest ry and
we cannot In good conscience,
remain Mlent ..."
According to the court transcript, right after Chargin made
Ma   remarks about the Mexican
people, animals and Hitler, the
boy's attoraey, Fred Locoro, Interrupted.
•Yoar honor, I don't ttttak I
can Mt hare oad listen to thM
sort of thing."
The judge answered, •You're
going to have to Ueten to It be-
coaeo I consider tttte s very vM>
gar rotten human being."
Later, Locoro said, •What appalls me la that the court ls saying that Hitler waa right In genocide.*
To that the judge answered:
"What are ww going to do with
mad dogs ln oar society? Either
ww have to Mil them or send
them to an institution or place
them out of the bonds of good
people because that's the theory
-one theory of punishment is that
they gat to the pool tion that they
want to act Uke mad dogs, then
we have to seperate them from
society."
In Ms statement to the press
C herein aMd that ths reason he
made thoee sutemenU waa that
•it la an accepted fact that those
lecturea (In court) are stated tn
harsh terma to impreaa upon tho
minds of ths youth ths seriousness of the situation in which
they find themselves.
■Sometimes, the words of ths
lecture are purposely accentuated and exagerated. However, It
la to the Mtlmate disposition of
this case that one must look.
•In this case the youth wes returned to his grandmother, as a
ward of the court under supervision of the Juvenile Probation
Department, which followed tho
recommendation of the Juvenile
Probation Depertment.
"Suffice it to say, much harsher alternative dispositions were
available to me."
The U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights said that It would investigate the metier.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Mexican-American community inSan
Jose said they wers having trouble keeping militants from taking
draattc steps.
Pinnon said ths Mexican -
American community would be
satisfied only with the removal
of Chargin from the bench. He
aMd that although It la true that
Judge Kelly cannot remove Chargin. he doea have the authority
to transfer Mm from ths juvenile
court.
•But Judge Kelly ig not willlnt
to do even that." Pinnon said. "It
seems to us that Judge Kelly haa
a moral responsibility hers ss
fsr as the Mexican-A merlcan
community la concerned to at
least side with us philosophically. We cannot have tMs sort
ot man (Chargin) on the bench."
">_i
The Judge Who
Invoked Hitler
(Thia ia a reprint from an Oct.
10 .Fresno Bee Editorial, written
by C. K. Mc Clotchy, executive
editor)
CLOSEST SCRUTINY - The
Honorable Gerald S. Chartln. a
judge of the Superior Court ln
San Jose, recently mode tho astonishing statement Adolf Hitler
possibly was on the rlcht track
when he organized a program of
genocide.
Now there ore a lot of kooks
and nuto running around loose
expressing some pretty wild
ideas. Most of them are harmless and ahould ba ignored. After
Ml. free apeech ahould be avtol-
able to everyone, even a blithering idiot, as lone as he does
not shout •fire* tn a crowded
theater.
But Judge Chartln la something different than the vlllege
screwball preaching Ms nonsense
to Ms wifs or a trapped neighbor. The judge ia a public
servant whoee function la to
render     even-handed     juatlce.
The judge expreaaed hla out-
rageous belief while he was
sitting on the bench. It was
made on company time, so to
speak, and therefore deserves the
cloeeet    scrutiny of the public.
It occurred when Chargin was
presiding at a juvenile hearing
Involving a 17-year-old boy accused of having tneeatuoua relations with Ma 15-year-old
retarded Mater. The youth, aa
American of Metocan descent,
maintained Ms Innocence. He
said hs pleaded gtolty only on
advice of counsel.
DIATRIBE---Judge Chartln
then launched Into a diatribe
which waa at once disgracaful
and Irrational. He aMd the boy
ahould be oent •back to Mexico"
and then attacked all people of
Mexican descent.
•You are lower than atomals
and haven't the right to live to
organized aoctety--juet miserable, rotten people." He added: "Maybe Hitler was right.
The animals in oar society
probably ought to be destroyed
bocBuss they have ao right to
live among toaaaa batata.*
NM content with associating
himself with ths barbaroue racial practices of Hitler, the judge
levelled o eertee of personally iasMtlag com menu.
He told this 17.yaar-old bey
bo "ought to eema-t atoelde."
trntoda la a crime againet hu
manity, yet Judge Chargin glvea
ttoa advice wtoto spooking os o
jodge.
In an entirely gratultoua remark about the Mater of the boy,
the judge eaid ahe probably wiU
have a half a dozen children
and three or four marrlagea before she ls 19. What right doea
he have to bo speculate and so
insult' tMs unfortunate retarded child" Where is compassion ln such mouthtngs of a
jurlaf
SLUR - There Is something
particularly degrading and unfair about attacks on individuals tied lo reciM slurs.
A msn csn dlsprovs or deny tha
untalr charge he ls a thief,
a wito-booter or juat plain
dumb, but it le Mmost impossible
for sn individual to counter
the insinuations hooped upon
an entire race.
Even more to the point, raclM
alurs are Inaccurate. Generally
tbey are based on prejudiced
lack of understanding. Judge
Chargin ln Ms comments has
eaat aspersions on a whole category of people - ln tola case
those Americans who happen to
be of Mexican descent. Tbs fact
hla » inalnuations are eo out-
rageoue they reveal thMr own
bigoted 1-laeneae does not change
the need for a review of Judge
Chargin'a fitness to sit on toe
bench In judgement of Ms follow
men.
He dares to do this to a people
for whom California reserves
special affection. For tho Mexican and Spanish harltags, la this
tor west stste. Is predated
only by the Indian, and much of
that heritage la common, now, to
the California culture. Rotten
people Look fo ths grand architecture brought fo the California
landscape, to tho gentle influence of the Mexican In the songs
recalled from CMltornU'a
toaatoag years, to tho splendid
record of citizenship found In
thoee communities wherever
tho American of MsMcan descent
gat has. Chargin's was sn al-
most  unbelievable Insult.
Judge Chargin
clear ha lacks tha
and ttm understanding to Mt to o
aaot ot judgment, if ha wanu to
ba a btgm, thM la Ms buM-
nasa—so long ae hs doss It oa
his tims. BM whaa aa uses Ms
position aa a judge to spew oon-
sauae af tola dark aatare It la
lima tor Mm to leave toa beech—
graeetolty to r