Oral Histories

Interview of Laughlin E. Waters

Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California from 1976 to 1986. Senior judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California from 1988 to 2002.
Subtitle:
Laughlin E. Waters
Series:
California State Archives State Government Oral History Program
Topic:
Politics and Government
Biographical Note:
Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California from 1976 to 1986. Senior judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California from 1988 to 2002.
Interviewer:
Vasquez, Carlos
Interviewee:
Waters, Laughlin E.
Persons Present:
Waters and Vasquez.
Place Conducted:
Water's home in Los Angeles, California.
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.
Interviewer Background and Preparation:
The interview was conducted by Carlos Vasquez, Director, UCLA State Government Interview Series, UCLA Oral History Program; B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.A., Political Science, Stanford University; Ph.D. candidate, History, UCLA.There exist no private papers which the interviewer was able to consult for this interview.
Processing of Interview:
Vasquez checked the verbatim manuscript of the interview against the original tape recordings, edited for punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling, and verified proper names. Insertions by the editor are bracketed. The interviewer also prepared the introductory materials.Waters reviewed the edited transcript and returned the transcript to the UCLA Oral History Program with only minor corrections. Brackets followed by an asterisk indicate instances in which Waters, while reviewing the draft transcript, added substantial information to the text.
Language:
English
Copyright:
CSA
Series Statement:
Interviews in this series were undertaken by the UCLA Oral History Program under the auspices of the California State Archives and in conjunction with the California State University, Fullerton, Oral History Program; California State University, Sacramento, Center for California Studies Oral History Program; Claremont Graduate School Oral History Program; and the University of California, Berkeley, Regional Oral History Office. Funds were allocated to the state archives after Governor George Deukmejian signed into law Assembly Bill 2104 (Chapter 965 of the Statutes of 1985), establishing a state government oral history program "to provide through the use of oral history a continuing documentation of state policy development as reflected in California's legislative and executive history." All interviews in the series are available at the California State Archives in Sacramento.
Abstract:
Family background; education; distinguished combat service during World War II in Europe; elected in 1946 to represent Fifty-eighth Assembly District; succeeds older brother Frank Waters, Jr., and father Frank J. Waters, Sr., in assembly seat; carries important legislation relating to highway construction, education, and reapportionment; Republican chair of Committee on Elections and Reapportionment, 1951; appointed U. S. attorney for the Southern California District, 1953; returns to private law practice, 1961; appointed by President Gerald R. Ford to Federal Court of Appeals, Central District of California, 1976; Earl Warren as California governor and United States Supreme Court justice.