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Barry Baskin
Barry Baskin was a judge on the Superior Court of Contra Costa County. In 2002, he was appointed by former Governor Gray Davis to serve on the court and his term expired in 2016.
Education
Baskin received his education at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa Law degree Johannesburg, ZA from 1973 - 1978.[1]
Career
Baskin served as a Law Clerk and Managing Partner for Baskin & Partners in South Africa from 1973 to 1986, when he moved to San Francisco. From 1987 - 1989, Baskin was an associate with the California firm Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro. From 1989 - 2002 he was a partner with Farrow, Bramson, Baskin & Plutzik. In 2002, Baskin received his appointment to the Contra Costa County Superior Court from Governor Gray Davis.[1]
Associations
Baskin serves on the California Judges Association Ethics Committee and is a member of the State Bar of California. He is also actively involved with the Contra Costa County Bar Association and the American Bar Association.[1]
Noteworthy cases
In early 2009 the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility, a taxpayer group surveying California pension payments, filed a Public Records Request for the names of retirees whose gross monthly pension benefits exceed $8,333 in any month in 2009.[2] In May of 2009, retired Contra Costa Sheriff's Deputy Donna Irwin filed a petition for a restraining order barring the release of the requested information. She claimed that releasing the amount of her pension would be an invasion of privacy.[3]
Lawyers for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility intervened in the case, arguing that taxpayer dollars used to pay public pensions are a matter of public record. They were joined in the lawsuit by the Contra Costa Times, the Los Angeles Times and the California Newspaper Publishers Association.
Judge Baskin ruled that publicly funded pensions are indeed a matter of public record, writing that: "Access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state." He granted the Motion for Leave to Intervene to the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility.[4] As a result, the Contra Costa County Employees Retirement Association will release the names and pension amounts of former county employees who collect $100,000 or more per year to the Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility.[5]
External links
- List of Contra Costa County judges
- Contra Costa County Superior Court Civil Tentative Rulings
- California Courts, "Trial Courts Roster"
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Judge Baskin Biography
- ↑ Editor & Publisher "Two California Papers Join Fight for Release of Pension Data" June 18, 2009 (dead link)
- ↑ Legal Newsline "Calif. judge orders release of public pension data" July 4, 2009
- ↑ 6/25/09 Rulings (see Department 7 - Judge Baskin: 06-25-09, page 5)
- ↑ Contra Costa Times "Contra Costa court OKs release of public employee pension data" July 2, 2009
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Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California
State courts:
California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts
State resources:
Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California
