Laughlin Edward Waters Sr.

Laughlin Edward Waters Sr. (August 16, 1914 – June 3, 2002) was a United States federal judge.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Waters received an A.B. from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1939 and was in the United States Army Infantry during World War II, from 1942 to 1945, achieving the rank of Captain. A statue of him was erected in a French town his troops liberated, and he was mentioned in Stephen Ambrose's Citizen Soldiers.^[1]

He was a deputy attorney general of State of California from 1946 to 1947, receiving a J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School in 1947. He was in private practice in Los Angeles from 1947 to 1953. He was a member of the California State Assembly from 1947 to 1953.^[2] He was a United States Attorney for the Southern District of California from 1953 to 1961, returning to private practice in Los Angeles, California from 1961 to 1976.

On April 26, 1976, Waters was nominated by President Gerald Ford to a seat on the United States District Court for the Central District of California vacated by Jesse W. Curtis. Waters was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 11, 1976, and received his commission on May 12, 1976. He assumed senior status on July 6, 1986, serving in that capacity until his death, in Los Angeles.

Waters died in 2002. He was survived by his wife, Voula, his son Laughlin Jr., and four daughters, Maura, Deirdre, Megan and Eileen.^[3]

References

Sources

• Laughlin Edward Waters Sr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Laughlin E. Waters, Oral history interview, conducted 1987 by Carlos Vasquez for California State Archives State Government Oral History Program.