Today's DJ has Understated: Justice Peter Krause has always kept a low profile, in politics and on the Court of Appeal.
"I generally shy away from publicity," said Krause,
who worked for Jerry Brown when Brown was attorney general and governor. "My
role as a lawyer in government was certainly not to be the face of any issue.
If my face was getting in the press, something was going terribly wrong."
Krause said he has consciously tried to model himself on one of
the court's veteran members, Justice M. Kathleen Butz. "I
just hope that when my run is over I'll be regarded as well as Kathy Butz, who
just retired," Krause said. "Her personality, her dedication to the
law. She's just so approachable. She just has a sort of aura about her I'd like
to duplicate."
Krause had a typical California childhood in Santa Monica and
Granada Hills. He spent a lot of time bicycling and hiking with his friends,
including on top of the now-notorious Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field. His
life differed from many of his peers in one way though. His parents were
immigrants who fled the war-torn Germany of their youth. Without the benefit of
a college degree, his father rose from being a sheet metal worker to becoming
an engineering planner for Rockwell International, including working on the
Space Shuttle program. His mother had just a 6th grade education in Germany but
taught herself English and raised two boys. "I've
thought more about the immigrant aspect of my upbringing in recent times,"
Krause said. "I'm proud of them."
These days, he said, the whole family takes advantage of the
area's many outdoor activities. His teen daughters play multiple sports, though
these are largely on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, while Krause likes
skiing and kayaking.
A
neighbor and coworker also recently inspired him to start doing his "flat,
3-mile commute" on a bicycle. "Sometimes
Justice [Jonathan K.] Renner and I would leave about the same time," Krause
said. "I'd be stuck in traffic and he would just come riding by waving to
me. It's definitely a nice option to have."
Also in today's DJ's Appellate Zealot's column:
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