Merced County (Merced)
Career Highlights: Appointed to the Merced County Superior Court by Gov. Gray Davis, October 2001; presiding judge, 2008-2010; attorney, Morse, Morse & Morse ALC, 1984-2001; deputy public defender, Merced County, 1980-84
Law School: UC Davis School of Law, 1979
Career Highlights: Appointed to the Merced County Superior Court by Gov. Gray Davis, October 2001; presiding judge, 2008-2010; attorney, Morse, Morse & Morse ALC, 1984-2001; deputy public defender, Merced County, 1980-84
Law School: UC Davis School of Law, 1979
MERCED — After college but before law school, John Kirihara embarked on a short-lived teaching career in an elementary classroom in the Central Valley.
Today, his interaction with youth has come full circle, but not as it was 40-plus years ago: His “teaching” is rehabilitation, and his “classroom” is the courtroom in the Iris Garrett Juvenile Justice Correctional Facility, a 120-bed complex that sits on 25 acres outside ... (continued)
