Governor Brown makes controversial appointment

Santa Clara County DA’s wife picked to serve as Superior Court judge

Gov. Jerry Brown has taken the unusual step of appointing the wife of Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen to serve as a Superior Court judge in the same county where he manages prosecution of criminal cases.

Amber Rosen, 50, is currently a federal prosecutor. But the court’s presiding judge, Patricia M. Lucas, said Amber Rosen will not handle criminal cases in the county as long as her husband runs the District Attorney’s Office. Jeff Rosen is currently serving his second term as district attorney and is running next year for a third term.

The Rosens were unavailable for comment Friday.

Amber Rosen, 50, has served as deputy chief of the San Jose division of the US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California since 2011. Prior to that, she had served as an assistant US attorney in the office since 1995. She also worked as an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice’s tax division from 1992 to 1995. Rosen earned her law degree from UC Berkeley and her bachelor’s at Harvard. At the end of January, she’ll fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Philip H. Pennypacker. She is a Democrat.

Her father, Joseph L. Sax, was a legal scholar who helped shape environmental law in the United States. He was a law professor at UC Berkely prior to his death in 2014.

Brown also appointed Santa Clara County Judge Mary Greenwood, 60, the former head of the Public Defender’s Office, to the state’s 6th District Court of Appeal. It is apparently the first time a public defender

has ever been appointed to the 6th. Greenwood is a Democrat. The appellate court is located in San Jose and has jurisdiction over Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties.

The governor also named Robert B. Hawk, 59, to serve as a judge in Santa Clara County. Hawk is a partner in the Silicon Valley law firm of Hogan Lovells. He is a Democrat.

In an email to Santa Clara County court employees Friday morning regarding the appointments, presiding judge Lucas said she was “delighted” about Greenwood’s ascension.

“Congratulations, Mary!,” Lucas wrote. “We’ll miss you, but we know you are not going far away.”

Public Defender Molly O’Neal, who became the head of the office after Greenwood became a trial court judge, said Greenwood’s departure is a loss for the local courts.

“But it’s good news for

the appellate court to have someone so fair and with such a good legal mind,” O’Neal said.

Lucas also welcomed Amber Rosen and Hawk.

Hawk has extensive experience in consumer and antitrust class actions, handling claims for false advertising, fraud, violation of consumer protection statutes, privacy-related torts, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of warranty, trade secrets, breach of contract/license, and corporate governance disputes.

Brown also appointed Victor A. Rodriguez, 42, of Oakland, supervising staff attorney for the Honorable Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar at the California Supreme Court, to an Alameda County Superior Court judgeship. Rodriguez is a Democrat.

And the governor appointed Virginia M. George, 58, of Martinez, a partner at George, Schofield, McCormick, to a Contra Costa County Superior Court judgeship. George is a Democrat.

Contact Tracey Kaplan at 408-278-3482.