HTLA: How to Choose an LA County Judge

Episode 30

Jerry Abeles  00:00

There are judges that handle the disposition of an estate after somebody dies, judges that handle divorces and child custody. They [music in] range from handling misdemeanors and traffic tickets to multimillion dollar cases, to murder trials.

Brian De Los Santos  00:21

This is How to LA, the show where we drop a little bit of knowledge about this city in every episode. I'm Brian De Los Santos. Today, we're gonna be talking about one of the local election races coming up because remember, voting is happening now, and next Tuesday is the last day to cast your ballot. This time, we're gonna talk about a less glamorous petition. But it's one that everyone seems to have questions about when an election comes around- Superior Court Judge. [music out] Actually, this is a race that people probably don't ever think about until it shows up on the ballot every two years. Why? Because most people only see a judge when they have run-ins with the law. It's not a role that seems to impact most people's day-to-day lives. But anytime a case is put to the court, there's a judge to interpret it and make a decision based on the law. They're kind of like the court refs, for example-

Jerry Abeles  01:13

They can assign whether or not a child is given to one parent or another in a dispute. They can incarcerate somebody; they can award money damages. My name is Jerry Abeles. I am an attorney in Los Angeles. I am the chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Judicial Elections Evaluation Committee.

Brian De Los Santos  01:34

We brought in Abeles to help us figure out a few things before Election Day. Namely, what situations do superior court judges have power over and why it's important folks really consider who to vote for.

Jerry Abeles  01:46

They range from handling misdemeanors and traffic tickets to multimillion dollar cases, to gang trials, gang prosecutions, murder trials, and the like.

Brian De Los Santos  01:59

Basically, superior court judges handle all the cases you're likely to run into, and then some. [music in]

News Anchor  02:04

[audio clip] Britney Spears breaking her silence and saying in a Los Angeles court that she wants her life back.

Presiding Juror  02:10

[audio clip] Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles, we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder...

Brian De Los Santos  02:18

The judge makes sure all sides are abiding by the proper rules. The judge hears the arguments, then the judge hands down the ruling based on the evidence and their interpretation of the law. But [music out] you're probably asking yourself, isn't the law crystal clear? Stealing is wrong. Murder is wrong. Right?

Jerry Abeles  02:38

There are times where the law is not as clear cut as yes or no, you're right or wrong. The judge still has some [music in] discretion to exercise what's called equity. Sometimes there's some interpretation involved. And so you want to have somebody who when interpreting the law and how it applies to a particular situation, will have the sufficient experience, will have a good background and empathy for the parties involved. And the judge is gonna try to make it fair for both sides. They want to do things the right way. And that's not necessarily strict letter of the law, but that's part of what judges have to do.

Brian De Los Santos  03:19

It kind of sounds like you're saying like, in the end this judge is a human. There is some sort of character with this person, right? It's not just like a paper, or set in stone.

Jerry Abeles  03:27

Judges actually are human. [music out]

Brian De Los Santos  03:31

Got it. A candidate's background and level experience can offer insight into how they will perform on the bench. But how does one figure all that out?

Brian De Los Santos  03:41

[sounds of typing on computer] So, I see this candidate for judge. All right, well, it's a resume essentially. That's not that much information on this person. Go back...

Brian De Los Santos  03:53

So I want to try to figure out more about the candidates, and it turns out that campaign websites are not that useful because judges are supposed to be impartial and nonpartisan, so they don't campaign the way other elected officials do, like the mayoral candidates who might spend millions of dollars on ads and rallies. Simona Grossi is a law professor at Loyola Law School. She says voters are lacking information about the people running for superior court judge.

Simona Grossi  04:18

They're people that are not only responsible, but they can do so much for our community. So we need to choose wisely when we elect them. But the problem is that we don't know who they are.

Brian De Los Santos  04:31

Outside of the campaign websites I mentioned, there's only a couple of places to do research on candidates, and none really provide a complete picture. Grossi points to the Los Angeles Times which interviews the candidates and then gives them a thumbs up or thumbs down about who you should vote for. So that's one place to go, but it's kind of subjective. The Voter's Edge website also has some info. But the resource people probably go to the most is the Los Angeles County Bar Association or LACBA for short. Remember Jerry Abeles, [music in] the attorney we heard from earlier? He's a part of LACBA's Judicial Elections Evaluation Committee, which comes up with ratings for each candidate. He explains how it works.

Jerry Abeles  05:12

We have a committee of about 50 people. We provide a candidate with a fairly lengthy questionnaire that asks about their entire work history, their community service, whether they've ever been disciplined by the bar, and we ask for 75 references, opposing counsel, judges they've appeared in front of, more colleagues who can vouch for them...

Brian De Los Santos  05:38

Abeles says they're looking at a few categories- skill set, work history, science of bias, judicial temperament, and professional reputation. Based on that research, the committee publishes a rating of either non-qualified, qualified, well-qualified, or exceptionally qualified. [music out] It seems so straightforward, but it's never that easy, right? Loyola's Simona Grossi says that LACBA provides a good service, but for her, the ratings sometimes raise more questions than answers.

Simona Grossi  06:09

How come some of them is rated unqualified? I don't know.

Brian De Los Santos  06:12

On LACBA's website, people can read about how the committee comes up with its ratings. You know, that process that Abeles just told us about? All of the rules and regulations are available to the public, but the candidate investigations are not.

Simona Grossi  06:24

They're not available.

Brian De Los Santos  06:26

Grossi questions whether that should change.

Simona Grossi  06:28

How difficult it is to publish them? So that might help forming proper judgment on these judges.

Brian De Los Santos  06:36

Okay, so where do we go from here? We learned that resources are limited, and often don't present the whole truth about a candidate. Our advice is to put in a little extra time researching these folks. Check out all the info that is available and make an educated decision. I know it sounds like a lot. And it is. But remember, these judges can have a lot of influence over people's lives. Many candidates are listed as public defenders or district attorneys. Understand what those roles mean. Also, you might want to consider diversity. LA is a place made of all types of people. It might be important to you that the bench reflects the population of the county. One final thing that Simona Grossi suggests is to find out where judges are from and what communities they serve.

Simona Grossi  07:27

They live in the community. They are elected. They should feel that responsibility even more because they are called to interpret and apply state laws, to respond to the specific needs of our community, the community wherever they live in.

Brian De Los Santos  07:41

[music in] If you feel like you need more on how to vote for judges, check out our website. At LAist, we don't interview the candidates, but our colleague, Caitlin Hernández, has a great breakdown on the judges’ race and also what goes into those LACBA ratings. You can find all of that at LAist.com/vote. We'll be back here next week with a lot more. Stay cute, LA and remember: Go vote.

Brian De Los Santos  08:09

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. [music out]