Metropolitan News-Enterprise, CA
March 29 2004
National Group to Honor Former Justice Arabian At Ellis Island in May
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Former California Supreme Court Justice Armand Arabian will be among
those honored by a national umbrella group for ethnic organizations
at a gala event in New York City in May, the group said.
In a release last week, the National Ethnic Coalition of
Organizations, Inc. said it would extend to Arabian its Ellis Island
Medal of Honor at a black tie reception to be held May 15 in the
historic Great Hall on Ellis Island.
The medal is given, according to NECO, `to Americans of diverse
origins for their outstanding contributions to their own ethnic
groups and to American society.’
Honorees typically include U.S. presidents, Nobel Prize winners,
leaders of industry, and gifted artists, performers, and athletes.
Arabian, the first Armenian American to serve on California’s highest
court, has won a number of honors, including the Mesrob Mashdots
Medal. That honor, named for the creator of the Armenian alphabet and
among the highest in the Armenian church, was presented by the head
of the church at a ceremony in Lebanon in 1999.
Arabian retired in 1996 after 20 years in the state judiciary. He is
now an attorney and private judge in Van Nuys.