Juez, Cargo 16 — Tribunal Superior de California, Condado de Los Angeles

• A judicial candidate should be evaluated on their temperament. 
• A judicial candidate should be evaluated on their integrity. 
• A judicial candidate should be evaluated based on their academic, work and practical experience as an indication of their ability to analyze and apply the law.
• A judicial candidate should be evaluated on their ability to be fair and impartial. 
• A judicial candidate should be evaluated on whether they have an agenda or a cause they want to pursue as a judge.  Agendas and causes are for partisan politics, not for judges.  
• A judicial candidate should be evaluated on whether they are able to write in a clear, cohesive and well thought out manner.
• Judicial candidates should be evaluatated by who endorses and supports them.

• Ensuring that courts are run in an efficient manner by minimizing unnecessary court dates and aiding in early resolutions would mean that there is more time for more people to have access to the courts.  If the courts are efficient, then people do not have to wait unreasonable amounts of time to get justice. 
• Supporting and encouraging pro bono or low cost services would help people get access to the legal system. One way would be to provide on-line or posted notices as to where litigants can find such services.
• Ensuring proper funding and staffing to the extent the courts and judges have a say in that would provide more courts and thus more access.
• Providing help for people who do not know how to navigate the court system, such as volunteers and employees to help people fill out restraining orders and get the matters on calendar. 

Bail must be reasonable and take into account the minimum amount, if any, needed to ensure public safety and the return of the defendant to court. 

A Judicial Candidate’s qualifications, temperament, integrity, and endorsements.  I have been endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, Steve Cooley, Former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, three Labor Unions, Los Angeles African American Women Political Action Committee, the California Peace Officers Association and eighteen other law enforcement endorsements, Mexican American Bar Association, twenty-five elected officials; many judicial officers, over 90 endorsements.

I am the Senior Deputy City Prosecutor for the cities of Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach. I have been employed as a prosecutor for twelve years. I am unique among my peers because prior to becoming a prosecutor, I was a civil litigator and defense attorney for ten years at one of the most respected and largest law firms in the country; Kirkland & Ellis LLP.  I made partner at Kirkland and, among other responsibilities, was put in charge of the firm’s pro bono assistance program, managing a legal team that provided free legal services to those in need.  Very few judicial candidates have that breadth of experience across the legal system.   

This takes judicial initiative by courthouse administrators and judges and local bar associations to work collectively to address the problems.  Some of this is being done now.

The bail system in California needs reform.  The Constitution allows for reasonable bail.  Courts should consider personal factors of a defendant in deciding on conditions of pretrial release and make use of non-monetary conditions, if possible, to ensure that the defendant returns to court and does not endanger the community.

Courts must consider the protection of the public, seriousness of the crime, and notably potential injury to the victim, in setting bail.  But pre-trial release conditions should not be set solely based on a certain amount of money bail. Setting bail at an amount a defendant cannot afford to pay is the functional equivalent of a pretrial detention, or to setting no bail.  Some less restrictive measures in lieu of high money bail could include house arrest, supervised rehabilitation and treatment facilities, electronic monitoring, and other technologies.