Shahla Sabet. First Iranian American Judge in California SHAHLA S. SABET Honorable Shahla S. Sabet is the first Iranian American Judge appoint to the Superior Court of the State of California. She was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to the bench in San Bernardino County in 1993. Judge Sabet has presided over criminal, civil, juvenile, and family law cases for the last twenty years. Throughout her judicial career Judge Sabet has served as a member of the faculty at the California Judges Center for Education and has taught numerous judges on the topics of judicial ethics, fairness, and equal access to the justice system. She has lead seminars at the Orientation Program and the New Judges College in Berkeley California. Judge Sabet retired from the bench last year and currently sits on assignment as a retired judge under an appointment order by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California. Judge Sabet was named WOMAN OF THE YEAR by California Assembly in 1994. She has received OUTSTANDING ACHEIVEMENT awards from Iranian American Council of Los Angeles in 1998 and from Persian Heritage Society of London in 2000. Judge Sabet received her BA degree from Tehran University then moved to the United States and earned a Master’s Degree from UCLA in 1972 and a Ph.D. from Claremont University in 1977. She earned her J.D. degree from Southwestern University School of Law in 1985 and after practicing law as a Deputy District Attorneys for eight years was appointed to the bench.