Edward Rafeedie (January 6, 1929 – March 25, 2008) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Central District of California The United States District Court for the Central District of California (in case citations, C.D. Cal.; commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is a United States district court, federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in South ...

Early life and career

Rafeedie was born to

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

immigrants in

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. His family moved to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, California when he was seven years old. He lived for a while in the

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before moving back to California. After graduating from Venice High School in 1946, Rafeedie traveled the carnival circuit with a portable electric horse-race game called Derby. He attended

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the U ...

from 1946 to 1947. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1950 to 1952 during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He then attended

Santa Monica College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a Public university, public community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. The coll ...

from 1954 to 1955 and University of Southern California Law Center, where he graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in 1957 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1959. Afterwards, he worked in private practice in Santa Monica from 1959 to 1969.

State judicial service

Rafeedie was appointed as a Municipal Court Judge in 1969 by

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, th ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

. In 1971, Governor Reagan elevated him to the

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

, where he served a total of 11 years. During his tenure on the Superior Court, Rafeedie presided over several high-profile civil cases, including the contested conservatorship of

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer who performed in films and vaudeville on television, radio, and the stage. He is considered one of America's greatest comed ...

, the

Britt Ekland Britt Ekland (born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in ''The Double Man (1967 film), The Double Man'' (1967), ''The Night They ...

and

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

palimony trial and part of the

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

divorce case. He also sentenced the daredevil

Evel Knievel Robert Craig Knievel (October 17, 1938November 30, 2007), known professionally as Evel Knievel (), was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Throughout his career, he attempted List of Evel Knievel career jumps, more than 75 ramp-to-ra ...

to jail for attacking a television executive with a baseball bat. Rafeedie was also known for his calendar management of cases and his concern about efficient management of trials. His nickname was, "Speedie Rafeedie," because of his penchant for denying trial continuances.

Federal judicial service

Rafeedie was nominated by President

on August 24, 1982, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge David W. Williams. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on September 22, 1982, and received commission on September 24, 1982. He assumed senior status on January 6, 1996. His service was terminated on March 25, 2008, due to death.

Notable case

Rafeedie's most controversial case was in 1990, when he ruled that the kidnapping of Dr. Humberto Alvarez Machain was illegal and ordered his repatriation to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Alvarez Machain was accused of aiding drug traffickers in the 1985 torturing and killing of Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, who was a

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...

agent. Because the DEA had paid a group of Mexican citizens to kidnap him in Mexico and fly him to the United States to stand trial, Rafeedie ruled that the kidnapping was a violation of the United States-Mexico

extradition treaty In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

. He commented after the ruling that "``There has to be stronger evidence than you have offered to find that a man is guilty of kidnapping, murder and torture,`` Rafeedie told prosecutors. ``This does not rise to the level required to get this case to the jury.``" The ruling stunned the

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and angered government agents. However, the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

later overruled his decision, holding that the extradition treaty did not prohibit kidnapping. This was due to a ruling that stated the United States Government had the right to kidnap and prosecute an alleged criminal regardless of the treaty. Immediately thereafter, a large number of countries holding treaties with the United States demanded that their treaties be amended, adding anti-kidnapping language.

Death

Rafeedie died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in Malibu, California on March 25, 2008, at the age of 79. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rafeedie, Edward 1929 births 2008 deaths American people of Palestinian descent California state court judges Deaths from cancer in California Judges of the United States District Court for the Central District of California Los Angeles City College alumni Lawyers from Orange, New Jersey Santa Monica College alumni Superior court judges in the United States United States Army soldiers United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan United States Army personnel of the Korean War USC Gould School of Law alumni