Alumni Lunch Conversation with Judge Charles Wilson '93
The Honorable Charles Wilson ’93 recently visited campus as part of a new initiative, Alumni Lunch Conversations. The recently launched program invites alumni who represent diverse careers and interests for a lunchtime chat with students.
Charles came to Crystal as a 7th grader from his hometown of East Palo Alto. His mother sought a more challenging environment for her bright son who was a top student at his prior school. Charles is unabashed in recalling that Crystal was a struggle at first. The community was welcoming and supportive, but the academics were at a much higher level than he had previously encountered.
Charles worked hard and, with the continuing support from his teachers classmates, did well at Crystal. He recalls, "There were incredibly high expectations--the faculty pushed us to reach our full potential--and it was the best thing for me." Things at Crystal are not much different now!
Students and faculty asked Charles many insightful questions about his career path and the justice system in general. A senior wondered how he came to the law? As an undergraduate at UCLA, Charles--like most of the country--became mesmerized by the OJ Simpson trial. It was basically must-see-television everyday and, since Charles was one of the few in his dorm to have a T.V. at the time, he was continually hosting friends and discussing the latest news. He was hooked.
From there, Charles earned a joint J.D. and M.B.A from the University of San Francisco. He thought he would focus on business and started off representing pharmaceutical companies, but then took the leap to public service as a Deputy D.A. for Alameda County, specializing in family violence cases. From the D.A.'s office, he was appointed to the Superior Court bench of Santa Clara by Governor Brown. He now is the supervising judge for all of the family violence cases in the county.
Another student asked Charles what the difference is between being a lawyer and a judge. He explained, "Lawyers are advocates, there responsibility is to their client. Judges serve no client and must remain neutral. It is a lot like a umpire who has to call balls and strikes."
History teacher Kent Holubar wanted to know, in light of the current issues with the justice system and Black Lives Matter Movement, what police relations were like for him growing up in a predominantly working class and African American area. Charles recalled, "East Palo Alto was great place to grow up in early childhood. It was a tight-knit community. In the mid 1980s the crack epidemic swept through like a wave, destroying our community as it did in so many others across the nation. No one know how to handle this and police were given a greenlight to do whatever necessary to squash it. Some of the ramifications of the policies developed back then, such as mandatory sentencing for drug offence, had a long-term, negative effect on the justice system today. I was a good kid and didn't get into trouble, but when non-local law enforcement (county, state, federal) were called in, it was often hard for them to know who was part of the problem and who wasn't. I used to drive my dad's Mercedes to school. In East Palo Alto, that was enough to get me pulled over--a young African American male in a luxury car. When I drove it to Crystal, that kept me from being pulled over since I looked more like I belonged."
Students also wanted to know what a typical day of a judge looks like. The numbers were quite surprising. Charles said, “In family violence court alone, we try 20,000+ cases a year. I probably try 50 cases a day which means I get about 5 minutes per case. It's not a lot of time. Making solid judgments is difficult to do in this situation as I have to weigh so many scenarios. For example, many cases involve people with drug/alcohol dependency problems and/or mental illness. Often times, the only place these defendants can get help is in jail. In fact, jails are the primary providers of mental health care in this country for a large population. It’s a sad reality, but it can often be better to remand people into the system, and keep them there while they get treatment, so that they can face trial in better circumstances. Making this type of judgment in a short amount of time is complex but necessary.”
Judge Wilson, a natural, gregarious storyteller shared a great deal more with students and faculty than we can possibly recount here. Suffice it say that it was a rich banquet of ideas, inspiration and insight. We look forward to future Alumni Conversations in which our esteemed alums can share a bite to eat and a lot of wisdom.