Alva Keyes was a U.S. District Judge in Los Angeles. He came from a background as a civil rights attorney. In the 1970's he sued the LAPD over the chokehold deaths of an inordinate number of African-American men. Following this suit, the chokehold was barred by LAPD. In 1978 Keyes was then appointed to the federal bench by President Jimmy Carter. He was a large, imposing man with a deep voice who ran a strict courtroom. Despite Keye's background, Harry Bosch believed that he was fundamentally a fair judge.