Michael Nash ’70

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As presiding judge of the Los Angeles County Juvenile Court, the nation’s largest, Judge Michael Nash has changed the court from a neglected institution into a national model, recognized by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges for many of the innovative programs he initiated.

Among these programs are Adoption Saturday, an event held three times a year, during which volunteer judges and attorneys have finalized over 10,000 adoptions of neglected and abused children. The adoption Saturday program now creates new families in dozens of cities across the country.

Judge Nash has also held the position of Supervising Judge of the Dependency Court twice during the past seven years. It is recognized universally that the work of the dependency court judge is difficult, challenging, stressful, and exceedingly important. However, out of Los Angeles County’s 429 Superior Court judges, only three, including Judge Nash, have volunteered to serve on the dependency court for more than 10 years.

Michael also promoted collaboration between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems to ensure thorough assessments for children who are involved with both systems. He established a conference for social workers, attorneys, judges and probation officers called A New Beginning for Partnerships for Children and Families in Los Angeles, which has been ongoing for 10 years.

Prior to his work on the bench, Michael was the co-prosecutor of the Hillside Strangler case. Of course, he talent was recognized at an early age when he received an Alumni Association scholarship to attend UCLA in 1968.