Honorees

Hon. Judith Nelson Keep

1944-2004

Judge Judith Keep was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1944.  She was unable to convince her very traditional father that she should attend college in the East, so she came to California.  Although she had no lawyers in her family and majored in literature, she became interested in the law in college when she had watched some trials (Dicta June 1978).  She graduated from Scripps College in Claremont, California and thereafter taught English for a brief time at The Bishop’s School in La Jolla. 

During law school at University of San Diego Law School, she volunteered at Legal Aid in San Diego and then traveled to Washington, D.C. with the Justice Department’s Honors Program.  In her third year, she was on the Law Review Board.  She graduated first in her class at USD Law School, and became one of its most honored alumnus.  Because it was difficult for women to be hired, her law professors would give out her name as “J. Keep” just to get an interview.  Some firms were shocked and at others she was asked about birth control or was propositioned (Dicta June 1978).  She worked for Defenders, Inc. a non-profit criminal defense group, from 1971-1973.  She was in private practice, principally as a criminal defense attorney, from 1973-1976. Earning one of the smallest federal paychecks in the history, she became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for four days before Governor Brown appointed her to the state bench in 1976.

She was appointed to the San Diego Municipal Court.  In 1980 she was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.  Judge Keep was the first woman appointed to that court.  She served as the Chief Judge of the district from 1991 to 1998.  During her tenure on the federal bench Judge Keep was involved in numerous committees of both the 9th Circuit and the federal judiciary and remained active in community affairs.

Among her many accomplishments: she was selected by the Chief Justice to the elite Blue Ribbon Study Commission to plan and evaluate the future of the federal judiciary; she was elected by her peers to be the single representative of the Ninth Circuit on the U.S. Judicial Conference – the policy making body of the federal judiciary; and she was the youngest Chief Judge of the Southern District of California – presiding over our district for seven years with poise, charm, and bold leadership.

In an interview with Dicta in 1984, Judge Keep acknowledged that being a woman was “a dominating factor in receiving her state and federal appointments” at a time when most judges were male Caucasians, and she felt “a special obligation to be a positive role model to women who are entering the legal profession.” (DictaJan. 1984). “If a man is a bad judge, he’s a bad judge.  But, if a woman is a bad judge, it reflects on other women and affects their chances. Interestingly, I feel more people are shocked by my age than by my sex when they come to my courtroom.” (Dicta June 1976). 

At 32, she was one of the youngest appointments to the Municipal bench.  She looked “forward to the day when being a woman on the bench won’t be noteworthy.”  In 1984, “it still is.”  Years later, in 1991, Judy Keep joined a unique trio of female Chiefs of San Diego trial courts (along with Judith McConnell, then Presiding Judge of the Superior Court and Patricia A.Y. Cowett, then Presiding Judge of the Municipal Court).  Keep quipped the three judges would form a “troika.”  (San Diego Transcript, Jan 24, 1991).  All three women were friends who had formed the “Old Girls” club fifteen years earlier to provide support in the male-dominated legal profession in the 1970s (California Lawyer, March 1991 at 22).

She recalled with humor that one pro per party called her “Your Honoress” or perhaps, “Your Onerous.”  (DictaJan. 1984; San Diego Transcript 10/22/90). In one change of plea hearing she advised the defendant a fine up to $2 million could be imposed, and the defendant interrupted to ask if he could make monthly payments of $50.  Judge Keep said god should be as good as to allow him to live so long to pay it off. (100 Years of Justice, Chronicle of the San Diego County Bar Assn, at 82-83).

The San Diego County Bar Association named her Legal Professional of the Year in 1998 for her tireless work as Chief Judge when the District was burdened with the heaviest criminal felony case load in the country as the U.S. Attorney’s Office doubled in size.  In addition to presiding over numerous complex drug cartel cases, her noteworthy criminal cases included a Customs inspectors who’s false corruption charges against senior officers aired on 60 Minutes; a hate crime against synagogues; a Medi-Cal racketeering scam; a nation-wide pharmaceutical fraud case; and the controversial tax evasion prosecution of a criminal defense attorney.

Judge Keep was an excellent criminal defense attorney and served with distinction on the state and federal courts.  Although she is remembered for her competence, energy and involvement, her lasting legacy is probably best represented by her decency, wonderful personality, and enthusiasm for life.  She died in September 2004.

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