Jerold Krieger
American judge
title: "Jerold Krieger" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1943-births", "2002-deaths", "20th-century-california-state-court-judges", "20th-century-american-lgbtq-people", "american-gay-men", "california-state-court-judges", "lgbtq-appointed-officials-in-the-united-states", "lgbtq-judges", "american-lgbtq-lawyers", "summer-science-program", "ucla-school-of-law-alumni", "university-of-california,-riverside-alumni", "20th-century-american-lawyers", "20th-century-american-jews", "gay-jews"] description: "American judge" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerold_Krieger" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American judge ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Jerold Krieger |
| office | Judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court |
| termstart | 1988 |
| termend | 2002 |
| successor | Tammy Chung Ryu |
| office2 | Judge of the Los Angeles Municipal Court |
| termstart2 | 1983 |
| termend2 | 1988 |
| appointer2 | Jerry Brown |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| alma_mater | University of California, Riverside |
| University of California, Los Angeles School of Law | |
| :: |
| image = | name = Jerold Krieger | imagesize = | caption = | office = Judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court | termstart = 1988 | termend = 2002 | nominator = | appointer = | predecessor = | successor = Tammy Chung Ryu | office2 = Judge of the Los Angeles Municipal Court | termstart2 = 1983 | termend2 = 1988 | nominator2 = | appointer2 = Jerry Brown | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | birth_date = | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | alma_mater = University of California, Riverside University of California, Los Angeles School of Law
Jerold A. Krieger ( – ){{ cite web | title=Jerry A. Krieger | url = https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/22875319:60901 | via = ancestry.com | url-access= subscription | date= 2015 | work = U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007 | type= database record | author=((Social Security Administration)) |url=http://andrejkoymasky.com/liv/fam/biok3/kriege01.html |publisher=Matt & Andrej Koymasky |title=Famous GLTB - Jerold Krieger |date=July 11, 2004 |access-date=July 25, 2011 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-27-we-440-story.html |title=New Leader for Family of Gay Worshipers : Religion: Rabbi Marc Blumenthal hopes mainstream Judaism will soon accept his congregation into its spiritual home |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |last=Hanania |first=Joseph |date=September 27, 1992 |access-date=July 26, 2011 |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/los_angeles/article/bcc_looks_to_future_with_new_home_programs_20110601/ |title=BCC Looks to Future With New Home, Programs |newspaper=The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles |last=Torok |first=Ryan |date=June 1, 2011 |access-date=July 26, 2011 |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/community/article/gay_lesbian_rabbis_share_hurdles_triumphs_20100309/ |title=Gay, Lesbian Rabbis Share Hurdles, Triumphs |newspaper=The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles |last=Gruenbaum Fax |first=Julie |date=March 9, 2010 |access-date=July 26, 2011 |url=http://huc.edu/ijso/SynOrg/pop1.php |publisher=Hebrew Union College |title=Congregation Beth Simchat Torah |access-date=July 26, 2011 |archive-date=October 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005145733/http://huc.edu/ijso/SynOrg/pop1.php |url-status=dead |url=http://www.jqinternational.org/pdf/jqinternational_glbt_haggadah_2008.pdf |publisher=JQ International |title=GLBT Passover Haggadah |page=21 |access-date=July 26, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208010334/http://www.jqinternational.org/pdf/jqinternational_glbt_haggadah_2008.pdf |archive-date=December 8, 2010
Early life and education
Krieger was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of an ophthalmologist. After studying astronomy at the Summer Science Program as a high school student in 1960, he graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a bachelor's degree in political science and then from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in 1968.{{cite news |title=Judge Jerold Krieger, 58; Activist Helped Open Gay-Lesbian Temple |first=Myrna |last=Oliver |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-20-me-krieger20-story.html |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |date=February 20, 2002 |access-date=July 25, 2011
Professional career and judicial service
As a California Deputy Attorney General, he was elected in 1974 to be president of the Association of Deputy Attorneys General. In private practice starting in 1977, he handled civil cases. Krieger was the chairman and treasurer for 1980 reelection campaign of Mike Roos for California State Assembly. Roos recommended Krieger as a judicial appointee.
California Governor Jerry Brown named Krieger to the Los Angeles Municipal Court on December 31, 1982. It was Brown's last day before leaving office at the end of his second term. Krieger was the fifth and final openly gay judge appointed by Brown in his second term as governor, after having appointed none in his first term.{{cite news |url=http://unitedwestandky.com/2011/04/california-senate-debates-bill-that-would-require-lgbt-inclusive-textbooks/ |title=California Senate debates bill that would require LGBT-inclusive textbooks |newspaper=Kentucky Guardian |date=April 4, 2011 |access-date=July 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724034507/http://unitedwestandky.com/2011/04/california-senate-debates-bill-that-would-require-lgbt-inclusive-textbooks/ |archive-date=July 24, 2011
In 1988, Krieger successfully ran for an open seat on the Los Angeles County Superior Court, winning by a large margin. He was unopposed for reelection in 1994 and 2000{{cite web |url=http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/1994-general/1994-general-sov.pdf |publisher=Secretary of State of California |title=Statement of Vote |page=92 |date=December 16, 1994 |access-date=July 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520052453/http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/1994-general/1994-general-sov.pdf |archive-date=May 20, 2011 |url=http://www.smartvoter.org/2000/11/07/ca/la/judicial.html |publisher=League of Women Voters of California |title=Judicial Contests for Los Angeles County, CA |date=December 28, 2000 |access-date=July 25, 2011
Krieger said that "the first time I imposed the death sentence" was one of his most memorable cases on the bench. On the other hand, "civil trials are easy. Heck, it's only about money."
He regularly received praise from lawyers for his legal knowledge and fair decisions. He kept jurors involved and interested through long trials.
Equal rights
Krieger served as a role model on the bench for many openly gay judges who followed him.
He was a member of the California Judicial Council's Access and Fairness Advisory Committee and was chairperson of its Sexual Orientation Fairness Subcommittee.
The subcommittee conducted a six-year study, which was the first of its kind in the nation.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-03-me-20634-story.html |title=Study Finds Court Bias Against Gays |newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |date=January 3, 2001 |access-date=July 25, 2011 |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Gays-Give-Courts-a-Positive-Review-But-study-2956247.php |title=California Senate debates bill that would require LGBT-inclusive textbooks |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=February 2, 2001 |access-date=July 25, 2011
"It's a wake-up call of how much work needs to be done," said Jon W. Davidson, attorney for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. "It has important consequences, because gays and lesbians are going to use the court system. The courts need to deal with [the inequalities] if they're committed to open access for all people."
Commenting on the study, Krieger said it is the laws that are prejudiced, not the judges and court employees. "I can be very fair," he said. "But I'm still not permitted to do a marriage of a gay couple."
Krieger's subcommittee made many recommendations for "ensuring that the court system is fair and accessible to all persons in the state of California" in regards to sexual orientation. These included improving training, developing a diverse pool of clerks and interns, changing the Standards of Judicial Administration to prevent retaliation against whistleblowers, and studying bias in hiring and promotion.{{cite web |url=http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/sexualorient_report.pdf |publisher=Judicial Council of California |title=Sexual Orientation Fairness in the California Courts |pages=v,41–44 |date=January 2001 |access-date=July 25, 2011
Krieger also was a co-founder in 1972 of the world's first gay and lesbian synagogue, Temple Beth Chayim Chadashim. "In the gay community, you don't feel you can be Jewish, and in the Jewish community, you don't feel you can be gay. I'm still a Jew, and I'm also gay. The temple brings it together."
Judge Krieger was co-chair of the Lesbian and Gay Caucus of the California Democratic Party. He developed a reputation as a civil rights activist and political strategist for Democratic candidates. He inspired and help found the Lawyers for Human Rights (now called the Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association of Los Angeles) in 1979 and became its second president.{{cite web |url=http://www.lgla.net/lgla/about/ |publisher=Lesbian and Gay Bar Association |title=History of LGBA |access-date=July 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328045920/http://www.lgla.net/lgla/about/ |archive-date=March 28, 2012
Rabbi Lisa Edwards of Temple Beth Chayim Chadashim recalls that Judge Krieger "used to laugh and sigh with me at the irony that the state of California authorized the two of us to officiate and sign marriage licenses – could even do so for a couple who had been together one day – but that same state of California wouldn't let either of us marry our own partners of so many years."{{cite web |url=http://www.bcc-la.org/content/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/what-i-did-on-my-summer-vacation.pdf |publisher=Temple Beth Chayim Chadashim |first=Rabbi Lisa A. |last=Edwards |title=What I did on my summer vacation |date=September 29, 2008 |access-date=July 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928011324/http://www.bcc-la.org/content/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/what-i-did-on-my-summer-vacation.pdf |archive-date=September 28, 2011
References
References
- Kenneth Ofgang, [http://www.metnews.com/articles/ryux081902.htm Davis Names Tammy Chung Ryu to Superior Court], ''Metropolitan News-Enterprise'' (August 19, 2002).
- Boyarsky, Bill. (June 8, 1988). "Judge Jerold Krieger, 58; Activist Helped Open Gay-Lesbian Temple". [[The Los Angeles Times]].
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