Judge Dies
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Multnomah County Presiding Judge Dies of Cancer at 72
Oregonian
Thursday, January 8, 1998
By Fred Leeson
Multnomah County Presiding Judge Donald H. Londer, who led the state's
largest court system through its most sweeping internal changes, died of
cancer early today in a Portland hospital. He was 72.
Londer, who was appointed to vacancies in Multnomah County District Court
in 1975 and then Circuit Court in 1983, held the title of presiding judge
more than 11 years, longer than any judge before him.
Londer's administrative skills had a large effect on the public's
dealings with the court: After being appointed presiding judge in 1986,
he imposed procedures that speeded up civil and domestic relations
dockets and revamped jury duty from two weeks to as little as one day.
Londer also expanded mediation, arbitration and pre-settlement conference
programs aimed at resolving civil cases short of trial. In addition, he
lobbied successfully for improved courthouse security. He also supervised
the gradual merger of district and circuit courts
Although much of Londer's administrative work occurred behind the scenes,
he earned national attention in 1986 when he struck down a $39 million
jury verdict against the Church of Scientology in a case that later
settled out of court. He also showed up in national news in 1994 when he
accepted Tonya Harding's guilty plea stemming from the Nancy Kerrigan
assault case.
"He has done a magnificent job serving the needs of the people of
Multnomah County and the state of Oregon," said Wallace P. Carson Jr.,
chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Carson will select Londer's
successor as presiding judge after consulting with the county's 34 other
judges.
"He will be remembered as one of the most significant presiding judges in
the county's history," Carson said. "He demonstrated a keen ability for
administrative matters and for moving dockets along promptly."
Londer was appointed presiding judge in 1986 by Carson's predecessor,
former Chief Justice Edwin J. Peterson. It was Peterson, then head of the
state court system, who promised state legislators that Oregon courts
could handle their dockets more efficiently.
"Our challenge was to speed up the pace at which cases were decided,"
Peterson recalled. "I couldn't have asked for a stronger supporter than
Don Londer to achieve the goals the Legislature had set for us," he said.
During Londer's tenure, the time span from filing civil and domestic
relations complaints to their trial dates was cut roughly in half, making
the Portland courts among the speediest in the nation for their size.
Although some lawyers balked at the speed at which Londer wanted to
progress, the judge held firm against granting what once would have been
routine postponements. In time, Londer reported that many lawyers came to
appreciate the faster pace because it allowed them to handle more cases
with the resulting increase in income.
"He had the courage to make some innovative changes not all the other
judges favored at the time," Peterson said. "But though the changes he
accomplished were not always by consensus, they were always done
tactfully, gracefully and civilly."
In 1993, Multnomah County, at Londer's urging, won a federal grant for a
new program in which convicted felons used computers to learn to read, as
well as to gain basic math and life skills. It is called the Donald. H.
Londer Learning Center for Adult Probationers.
"Throwing people in jail over and over isn't the answer," Londer said
when the center opened. "The system has to give people a chance. If one
person comes out of there knowing how to fill out an employment
application, the whole thing will be worth it."
Londer kept his cancer private. He had worked at the courthouse as
recently as late November.
The son of Russian immigrant parents, Londer moved to Portland in 1932
from St. Paul, Minn., where he was born Oct. 13, 1925. As a teen-ager,
Londer boxed as an amateur, sometimes using fictitious names so his
mother wouldn't know the full extent of his involvement in the ring.
Londer enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943, serving until 1946.
He served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve from 1950 to 1969, retiring as a
captain.
He majored in business at the University of Oregon and later graduated
first in his class at the old Northwestern College of Law in 1964. He
worked as a Multnomah County deputy sheriff while going to law school at
night.
In his private law practice, Londer concentrated on personal injury and
worker's compensation law. His partners included well-known Portland
trial attorneys Nels Peterson and Nick Chaivoe.
Gov. Robert Straub appointed Londer to the district bench in 1975. Gov.
Victor Atiyeh promoted him to the circuit bench in 1983.
Londer was a former chariman of the American Bar Association's committee
on court facilities and was a member of that association's task force on
reducing litigation costs and delay. He was a member of several Oregon
State Bar committees both as a lawyer and later as a judge.
Londer was selected in 1993 as Oregon's Legal First Citizen of the Year
by the Oregon Law Related Education Project.
Survivors include his wife, Bette J.; two daughters, Elaine Kantor and
Randi Miller, both of Portland; two stepsons, Jay Horenstein of Portland
and Greg Horenstein of Everett, Wash.; and three granddaughters.
A funeral will be at noon Friday in Congregation Shaarie Torah, 920 N.W.
25th Ave. Burial will be private.
The family suggested remembrances to the Robison Jewish Home or the
American Cancer Society.
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Justin the Blue
an...@bermuda.io.com (Anima) writes:
>supernews@feedME writes:
>>Multnomah County Presiding Judge Dies of Cancer at 72
>>Oregonian
>>Thursday, January 8, 1998
> >Although much of Londer's administrative work occurred behind the
> >scenes, he earned national attention in 1986 when he struck down
> >a $39 million jury verdict against the Church of Scientology in a
> >case that later settled out of court.
>Which case was this, please?
The Christofferon-Titchbourne case, if memory serves.
...Justin the Blue
--
Justin the Blue * ea...@agora.rdrop.com * Sundial Earth Station
-----------'Better Living through the Lambert Conformal Projection'------------
"Thank God I didn't die! That would be terrible!!!"
-- Pearl Cheung as the Lady Chu in _Venus_the_Ninja_
rgonnet
Justin the Blue wrote:
> an...@bermuda.io.com (Anima) writes:
>
> >supernews@feedME writes:
>
> >>Multnomah County Presiding Judge Dies of Cancer at 72
> >>Oregonian
> >>Thursday, January 8, 1998
>
> > >Although much of Londer's administrative work occurred behind the
> > >scenes, he earned national attention in 1986 when he struck down
> > >a $39 million jury verdict against the Church of Scientology in a
> > >case that later settled out of court.
>
> >Which case was this, please?
>
> The Christofferon-Titchbourne case, if memory serves.
>
Requiescat in Pace.
This guy was someone. Alas the Julie Christofferson family did not resists the
"settlements" of elhubbie's standard ethics/legal/shit makers.
Roger
Robert Vaughn Young
Anima (an...@bermuda.io.com) wrote:
: supernews@feedME writes:
: >Multnomah County Presiding Judge Dies of Cancer at 72
: >Oregonian
: >Thursday, January 8, 1998
: >Multnomah County Presiding Judge Donald H. Londer, who led the
: >state's largest court system through its most sweeping internal
: >changes, died of cancer early today in a Portland hospital. He
: >was 72.
: >Although much of Londer's administrative work occurred behind the
: >scenes, he earned national attention in 1986 when he struck down
: >a $39 million jury verdict against the Church of Scientology in a
: >case that later settled out of court.
: Which case was this, please?
This was the Julie Christo(pherson) case. ("Christo" was how it was called
inside. She claimed damage by Scientology.) In 1986 when this was being
tried, Miscavige ordered all Scientologists to Portland for the trial and
picketing and protests went on for weeks. I don't know how many were
really there but it was in the thousands at the high point. Travolta flew
in one night in one of his jets to say hi, which I think was the first
real use of him in a "front line" situation. In the courtroom, DM (who
would come up to visit) had ordered the front rows be occupied by "OTs"
who would beam the judge. Many of us were up there for months.
--
*----------------------------------------------*
Robert Vaughn Young * The most potent weapon of the oppressor is *
wri...@eskimo.com * the mind of the oppressed. - Steve Biko *
*----------------------------------------------*
Dan Gabor
> Anima (an...@bermuda.io.com) wrote:
> : supernews@feedME writes:
> : >Thursday, January 8, 1998
> : >changes, died of cancer early today in a Portland hospital. He
> : >was 72.
> : >a $39 million jury verdict against the Church of Scientology in a
> : >case that later settled out of court.
> This was the Julie Christo(pherson) case. ("Christo" was how it was called
> inside. She claimed damage by Scientology.) In 1986 when this was being
> tried, Miscavige ordered all Scientologists to Portland for the trial and
> picketing and protests went on for weeks. I don't know how many were
> really there but it was in the thousands at the high point. Travolta flew
> in one night in one of his jets to say hi, which I think was the first
> real use of him in a "front line" situation. In the courtroom, DM (who
> would come up to visit) had ordered the front rows be occupied by "OTs"
> who would beam the judge. Many of us were up there for months.
> --
> *----------------------------------------------*
> Robert Vaughn Young * The most potent weapon of the oppressor is *
> wri...@eskimo.com * the mind of the oppressed. - Steve Biko *
> *----------------------------------------------*