Dean Douglas Pregerson (born January 28, 1951) is a Senior United States district judge 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 Federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in Southern and Central California, ...

Education and career

Born to a Jewish family in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Pregerson received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

in 1972 and a Juris Doctor from the

UC Davis School of Law The University of California, Davis School of Law (Martin Luther King Jr. Hall), referred to as UC Davis School of Law and commonly known as King Hall, is the professional graduate law school of the University of California, Davis. The school rec ...

in 1976. Pregerson began his career as a Parole Hearing Officer with the California Department of Corrections in 1977. In 1978, Pregerson became an Assistant Public Defender in Agana,

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. Although some public defender services were available in Guam beginning in 1968, Pregerson joined the first class of public defenders in the modern Guam Public Defender Service Corporation. He served in that role for three years before entering private practice in Ventura, California in 1978. Pregerson remained in private practice, specializing in civil litigation, from 1981 until his appointment to the federal judiciary in 1996. During that time, Pregerson served in numerous roles, including as the Vice-President and General Counsel of the Torrance Company. At the time of his appointment, Pregerson was a partner in the firm of Pregerson, Richman & Luna.

Federal judicial service

On January 26, 1996, Pregerson was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

to a seat on the

vacated by

A. Wallace Tashima Atsushi Wallace Tashima (born June 24, 1934) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and a former United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Central Distric ...

. Pregerson was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on July 24, 1996, and received his commission on August 1, 1996. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on January 28, 2016.

Notable cases

Pregerson has been involved in many cases related to the entertainment industry, the use of concealed stun belts on prisoners in court, as well as the planned completion of the I-710 Freeway.

Personal life

Pregerson's father, Harry Pregerson, was a federal judge on the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

. In December 2013, Pregerson's son, David, age 23, was killed by a hit and run driver while walking home in the Pacific Palisades community of Los Angeles. In December 2021, Pregerson's wife, Sharon, age 64, died.

References

External links