Judge Thomas Anderle’s private chambers door to Department 3 of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. On very short notice, Judge Anderle and his secretary, Marilyn, agreed to conduct a swearing in of a local woman who passed the bar last November on her first attempt. Yassi Escandari-Qajar attended SB High, SBCC and later graduated from UC Berkeley in Environmental Studies. (©Stan Roden)
Judge Anderle gets to know Yassi’s background and history. (©Stan Roden)
Inside the chambers of Judge Anderle are the family of Yassi Eskandari-Qajar watiing for the judge to swear their daughter in as a member of the State Bar of California. From left, brother, Amir; father Manou, mother Fariba and Yassi’s friend, Steven Lybeck. (©Stan Roden)
Yassi takes the oath of the State Bar of California from Judge Anderle. He called special attention to a new line added to the oath in 2014, “”As an officer of the court, I will strive to conduct myself at all times with dignity, courtesy, and integrity.” (©Stan Roden)
Jedge Anderle walked Yassi and the family into the courtroom. He put Yassi into his chair on the bench and gave her and her family a personal tour of the courtoom. (©Stan Roden)
Judge Anderle encouraged Yassi to consider applying for a judgship later in her career. (©Stan Roden)
Yassi looks on while Judge Anderle’s explains some of the intracacies of the court process. (©Stan Roden)
Judge Anderle explains that the railing between the audience and offical personnel is referred to as “the bar,” through which only official sworn members of the State Bar are allowed to cross and address the courts on behalf of others. (©Stan Roden)
Judge Anderle shakes Yassi’s hand, as she displays the signed State Bar oath certificate. (©Stan Roden)
Judge Anderle looks on with visible admiration after Yassi told him that she did not attend law school. Like Abe Lincoln and many others in the 19th and early 20th centuries, e.g., Justice Robert H. Jackson, USSCT, Yassi participated in an apprentiship program instead of law school. For four years, Yassi worked and studied at the Sustainable Economies Law Center, Oakland, Calif. This program qualfied her to sit for the bar examiantion in July 2017. She was one of only 49.6% who passed the July bar. The judge made a special point to say that in all of his 21 years on the bench, she was the first that he had the honor to administer the oath to who did not attend law school. He said he couldn’t wait to tell his tennis buddies, Don Boden (a former Superior Court Judge) and Judge Bruce Dodds (retired). (©Stan Roden)
Yassi gets a quick lesson from the judge on how to properly wield a judge’s gavel. (©Stan Roden)
filming stories that aim for the heart
