James P. Gray is the presiding judge of the Superior Court of Orange County, Calif, of which he has been a member since 1989. Judge Gray earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1966, taught in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, and then earned a law degree from the University of Southern California in 1971. From 1972 through 1975, he practiced law with the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General"s Corps in Guam and California, after which he served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney"s office in Los Angeles. As a federal prosecutor, he "witnessed the filling of our nation"s prisons with low-level drug offenders who are not particularly intelligent, organized or violent, leaving this unbelievably lucrative illicit drug market to people who are smart, organized and prone to a level of violence that makes Al Capone look like Arthur Murray." That experience led Gray to re-examine the "War on Drugs" and to seek better ways to reduce the harms of both drug abuse and drug policy. His 2001 book, "Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs," is widely regarded as one of the most thoroughgoing and thoughtful contributions to this effort.
