Laughlin Edward Waters Sr. (August 16, 1914 – June 3, 2002) 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 ...

Education and career

Born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Waters received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

in 1939 and was 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 ...

Infantry during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, from 1942 to 1945, achieving the rank of captain. A statue of him was erected in a French town his troops liberated, and he was mentioned in

Stephen Ambrose Stephen Edward Ambrose (January 10, 1936 – October 13, 2002) was an American historian, academic, and author, most noted for his books on World War II and his biographies of U.S. presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. He was a long ...

's '' Citizen Soldiers''.Wayne R. Gross
Lessons in Judicial Grace
''OC Lawyer'', July 1, 2013. He was a deputy attorney general of the State of California from 1946 to 1947, receiving 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 ...

from the

USC Gould School of Law The University of Southern California Gould School of Law located in Los Angeles, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Or ...

in 1947. He was in private practice in Los Angeles from 1947 to 1953. He was a Republican member of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

for the 58th district from 1947 to 1953. He was

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the Southern District of California from 1953 to 1961, returning to private practice in Los Angeles from 1961 to 1976.

Federal judicial service

On April 26, 1976, Waters was nominated by President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge Jesse William Curtis Jr. Waters 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 May 11, 1976, and received his commission on May 12, 1976. He assumed senior status on July 6, 1986, serving in that capacity until his death on June 3, 2002, in Los Angeles.Myrna Oliver
Obituary: Laughlin E. Waters, 87; U.S. District Judge and Politician
''The Los Angeles Times'', June 6, 2002.

References

Sources

*
Laughlin E. Waters
Oral history interview, conducted 1987 by Carlos Vasquez for California State Archives State Government Oral History Program.

External links

Join California Laughlin E. Waters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Laughlin Edward Sr. 1914 births 2002 deaths Republican Party members of the California State Assembly United States attorneys for the Central District of California Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California United States district court judges appointed by Gerald Ford United States Army officers USC Gould School of Law alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century members of the California State Legislature