Judicial Decisions

The Nov. 4 ballot contains the names of a host of justices facing confirmation votes for appellate court seats they already hold. There are also a number of contested elections for judgeships on the Superior or Municipal Courts, which are lower in the judicial hierarchy.

As we have already explained, we urge the retention of all six justices up for confirmation for the State Supreme Court, the state’s highest tribunal. Vote yes for Rose Elizabeth Bird, Joseph R. Grodin, Malcolm M. Lucas, Stanley Mosk, Edward A. Panelli and Cruz Reynoso.

The Court of Appeal is the state’s intermediate court of review, just below the State Supreme Court. Fourteen justices of that court, all in the second appellate district, will be on the ballot in Los Angeles County. They should all be retained. Vote yes for Vaino Spencer, Campbell M. Lucas, Robert R. Devich, Morio L. Fukuto, Elwood Lui, Armand Arabian, John A. Arguelles, David N. Eagleson, Steven J. Stone, Arthur Gilbert, Richard W. Abbe, Mildred L. Lillie, Earl Johnson and Leon Thompson.

In addition, there are two contested seats for the Superior Court, the trial court for major civil cases and felonies in the state court system. In each of the races, two Municipal Court judges are seeking elevation to a vacant Superior Court seat.

For Office No. 1, we endorse Leon S. Kaplan over Alban Isaac Niles. After we supported Kaplan in the June primary, we received a letter from Niles saying that we had made a mistake and asking that we take another look at the candidates before the general election. We have done so. We talked to each of the candidates again and reviewed their records, and we continue to believe that Kaplan is better qualified by virtue of experience, training and temperament. For Office No. 12, Bernard Kaufman, a Municipal Court judge in Burbank for 10 years who practiced law for 22 years before that, is the overwhelming choice. His opponent, Maxine F. Thomas, has, if anything, demonstrated her unsuitability for the bench by her silly and shrill performance as presiding judge of the Los Angeles Municipal Court.

In addition, two candidates are vying for a seat on the Pasadena Municipal Court. Judson W. Morris, a deputy district attorney there, is better qualified than Kevil W. “Chip” Martin.