Hon. Ronald S.W. Lew was our program for Friday. Hon. Lew stressed the importance of public service and giving back to the community in his presentation. He also mentioned how invaluable Hon. Manuel L. Real was as a mentor.

Hon. Real passed away on June 26, 2019 at the age of 95. Hon. Real was the longest serving active District Judge in the United States and in modern history in the United States, having served fifty years as an active District Judge. He was also the father of our very own Mike Real and his lovely wife, Paula.

Hon. Lew attended night school at Southwestern Law School while working for his father in the laundry business. He gained admission to law school by merely walking in and filling out an application. Times have changed. However, he was drafted for the Vietnam War and served our Country for three years. He returned and finished law school in the day program before taking a position with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office, first in the Criminal Division and then in the Civil Division.

After his time in the District Attorney’s Office, he opened his own practice but was again called to serve our Country when he was given the position of Los Angeles fire and police pension commissioner, a position that lasted from 1976 to 1982. Hon. Lew was a judge on the Los Angeles Municipal Court from 1982 to 1984 and on the Los Angeles Superior Court from 1984 to 1987.

Hon. Lew was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on February 2, 1987, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 7, 1987. Outside of Hawaii, Hon. Lew was the first Chinese-American appointed to the Federal bench.

In addition to serving our Country, the District Attorney’s Office, and the bench, Hon. Lew also founded the Chinatown Service Center, which is the largest community-based Chinese American health and human services organization in Southern California. He started the Chinese Lawyers Association as well.

Hon. Lew explained that the main difference between the State courts and Federal courts is jurisdiction. State courts are courts of general jurisdiction taking every case and Federal courts are created by Congress and are courts of limited jurisdiction taking only the cases given to them. About 10% of the cases in Federal court are criminal and 90% are civil; however, the 10% take up 90% of the time because of time constraints provided by the Constitution.

Hon. Lew presided over the first Mexican mafia trial in the United States where 23 defendants were charged with 78 counts of RICO acts. RICO stands for “The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.” Only 13 defendants went to trial as some were sadly killed and others took a plea. A special court was built for security reasons and the trial took one year. Hon. Lew still had his civil matters to complete and he had to hire additional attorneys to assist him.

Although we could have listened to Hon. Lew for hours, our meetings only allow for 30 minutes of presentation time. Hon. Lew just started to explain his international travels and work on courts in other countries when his time was up. It would be great to have him come back and explain more about these international efforts to improve the justice system in other countries.

In Hon. Lew’s spare time, he gets three hours of sleep. This last part I made up, but for someone so busy and selfless it could very well be the case. While he was a member of the Optimist Club and the Lions Club, I am hopeful that he will some-day add Arcadia Rotarian to his resume. Because, after all, with speakers like Hon. Lew, it is easy to see why we are the greatest Rotary Club in the World.