* James Tante; Judge, Penal Board Member

James D. Tante, 86, former judge of the Los Angeles Superior and Municipal Courts and member of the California Adult Authority. Born in Savannah, Ga., Tante was raised in Chicago, where he attended DePaul University before moving west to earn law degrees at Loyola University and USC. When his education was interrupted by World War II, Tante became a lieutenant in the Army Air Corps; he was discharged eventually as a major. His legal career began with work in the motion picture industry, as a business representative for the Studio Electrical Technicians, Local 728, a director of the Motion Picture Pension Plan and a trustee of the Motion Picture Health and Welfare Plan. By 1955, Tante segued into judicial administration, first conducting hearings on paroles and other matters as a member of the California Adult Authority and serving on the State Board of Corrections. In 1959, he was named a Juvenile Court referee and commissioner, and three years later was appointed to the Municipal Court bench by then-Gov. Pat Brown. Tante was elevated by Brown in 1965 to the Superior Court. Among other cases, Tante rejected an ACLU effort to block Easter sunrise services in the Hollywood Bowl and issued a precedent-setting decision in a civil case brought by the Queen of Angels Hospital. It established the state attorney general’s right to regulate charitable trust funds, even when they are controlled by religious organizations. On Monday at Laguna Hills, of pneumonia.