Greater Judicial Diversity Sought, but Jury Still Out

With as many as four judgeships coming open on Ventura County’s courts, Democratic political leaders already are moving to create a dramatic shift in the balance of a local bench that critics have long viewed as too male, too white and too dominated by ex-prosecutors.

During 16 years of Republican rule, a wave of former prosecutors was swept onto the Ventura County bench. Between them, Govs. Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian appointed nearly a dozen deputy district attorneys.

As a result, the county’s 26 judicial seats are filled by 19 former prosecutors, six former civil attorneys and just one former public defender. There are four women, one Latino and one African American.

But as Gov. Gray Davis prepares to tackle his first judicial appointments, Ventura County’s Democratic leaders have begun positioning themselves as key advisors in hopes of shifting the balance of power. Local attorneys and party leaders plan to press Davis to appoint more women and minorities whose legal backgrounds are rooted in areas of the law other than sending defendants to jail.

“I think it is important that public institutions reflect the diversity of our state,” said state Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo), who has already spoken to the governor about openings on the county’s Superior Court.

“I do expect to play a role,” O’Connell said. “We want to make sure that we have quality judges.”

So far Davis has given no clear indication as to how he will handle appointments. His office is still working on new application forms. But statewide it is expected Davis will be inundated with judicial aspirants in the months ahead as Democratic judges who postponed retirement until after he took office begin to step down. Ventura County is no exception.

Last month, Superior Court Judge William L. Peck retired after 19 years on the bench, and Judge Joe D. Hadden intends to step down in May. Both were appointed by former Gov. Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr.

Justice Steven J. Stone retired Jan. 5 from the Court of Appeal, and Superior Court Judges Steven Z. Perren and Melinda A. Johnson are seeking his seat. If either is elevated, it would create a vacancy on the lower court.

Also, a Superior Court position could open if state lawmakers pass legislation aimed at creating 50 new judgeships statewide. Ventura County was allotted one of 40 seats in 1997, but the funding was never approved and the measure died.

Now, attorneys who felt they didn’t stand a chance at a judgeship during back-to-back Republican administrations see a prime opportunity for a run at the bench.

“I suspect there are a lot of people out there saying, ‘Maybe this is my time,’ ” said Ventura attorney David Shain, a former president of the Ventura County Bar Assn. and one of the Democrats some lawyers consider a possible candidate for one of the openings.

“No one knows for sure what approach this governor is going to take,” said Shain, who is not among those who have openly applied for a seat. “But clearly it is going to open up the process to people who would not have had a chance in the last 16 years.”

Selection Advisory Panels a Possibility

During that time, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury and a small group of local Republican advisors helped shape the county bench by suggesting to the state’s Republican governors who would make good judges and who would not.

Sources say Davis and his judicial appointments secretary are considering setting up local advisory committees such as those used by past governors, but haven’t done so yet.

Meanwhile, O’Connell has set up his own ad hoc committee of close confidants to advise him on judicial applicants. And the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee also plans to become involved.

“We anticipate putting our word in on applicants,” said Robert Gallaway, former Democratic Central Committee chairman and a Ventura tax attorney.

“I don’t think the governor is going to give carte blanche to anybody,” Gallaway said. He added, however, that Davis is trying to develop a profile of the type of person who would be a good judge and may turn to O’Connell and Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) for advice.

A former Ventura attorney, Jackson said she fully intends to give the governor her two cents’ worth on appointments while sharing her own concerns over the lack of professional and ethnic diversity on the bench.

“We need to include more people from the minority community, more women,” Jackson said. “I think it is very important that the bench reflect the faces of the people who come before it.”

It’s a concern many lawyers expect Davis and his judicial appointments secretary, Burt Pines, to take seriously.

Some lawyers say Jackson’s husband, former prosecutor and retired criminal defense attorney George Eskin, will also be extremely influential. Eskin used to work for Pines in the city attorney’s office, and last year served on the State Bar’s judicial nominees commission, or “Jenny Commission,” which evaluates applicants and makes recommendations to the governor. Downplaying his powerful connections, Eskin said he will not be involved in the decision-making process: “I am not going to be on the inside.”

Some attorneys hope Davis relies solely on the Jenny Commission’s evaluations and recommendations by statewide lawyers’ groups rather than a special judicial evaluation committee he might set up himself. Among them is Tina Rasnow, a Ventura lawyer active in California Women Lawyers. She criticizes past gubernatorial selection committees as being too secretive.

Concerns Voiced Over the Selection Process

All too often, Rasnow believes, the judicial selection process has come down to the whispered recommendations of friends and well-connected party backers.

“I don’t see that anyone has that kind of hold or influence, and there shouldn’t be that,” Rasnow said. “I hope it won’t be who you know. If the governor wants to know who the best applicants are, that is what the bar association is for and the Jenny Commission.”

Despite such concerns, there is no indication Davis plans to deviate from the established political tradition of setting up his own selection committees. Although the application process is still in the early stages, several attorneys and one court commissioner have already expressed interest in an appointment.

Commissioner Kent Kellegrew, a former civil attorney and prosecutor, went through the appointments process last year, even though he is a Democrat. He was interviewed by Wilson’s appointments secretary two months ago but not given a judgeship. The 45-year-old commissioner plans to apply again. Kellegrew now presides over misdemeanor criminal cases and the county’s night court as one of three commissioners, each appointed by county judges instead of the governor.

Of the lawyers seeking a judgeship, one high-profile candidate is Deputy Public Defender Gary Windom, who lost last fall’s judicial election to prosecutor Kevin McGee. Windom, 48, applied for an appointment last month while on a trip to Sacramento. A former civil attorney and law school teacher, he has garnered the support of the local defense bar and the Democratic Central Committee.

Ventura attorney Edward Lacey has also submitted his name for consideration. A soft-spoken former special education teacher, the 57-year-old Lacey has practiced civil and criminal defense law in the county for about 18 years. He is married to longtime county Supervisor Susan Lacey, a well-connected deal maker in Democratic politics.

Two-time judicial candidate and Thousand Oaks family law attorney Cathleen Drury says she may also apply. Drury, 47, has long complained about the lack of professional diversity on the bench, and feels the time is right for a family law attorney to be appointed.

Some Argue Criticism Has Been Overblown

But the name high on nearly every list is former legal aid attorney Carmen Ramirez. For 16 years, Ramirez, 50, headed Channel Counties Legal Services before taking a government job two months ago and opening the county’s first Self-Help Legal Access Center in Oxnard’s La Colonia barrio. Although Ramirez says she has not made up her mind whether to apply, lawyers and party backers are already pushing her as a leading candidate.

“She’s a good lawyer, she’s balanced,” said current Democratic Central Committee Chairman Hank Lacayo, who says the judiciary needs better minority representation. “I think it is high time for a Latina to be considered for the bench.”

But while acknowledging a need for more diversity, some judges say criticism of the bench’s current configuration has been overblown. Just because the judiciary is represented by former prosecutors, they say, doesn’t mean cases are handled any differently.

“I don’t think we have crusaders here,” Presiding Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. said. “I think we have a very high-quality bench. I think it would benefit from greater diversity. I think that is a legitimate concern, it should represent the community in which it serves.

“But there is some sort of illusion that people who come from similar backgrounds think alike and that is not the case.”

Campbell said he expects the governor will want to appoint the best-qualified person--not one who fits a certain niche. And lawyers on both sides of the political aisle agree.

“I think you will continue to see high-quality, high-caliber individuals appointed,” Bradbury said. “If this governor is to be taken at his word, he is going to be looking at moderates to appoint at all levels of his administration.”

Indeed, Davis supporters and opponents expect the governor to be cautious and balanced in his appointments, sensitive to concerns about gender and racial diversity while still maintaining a law enforcement presence on the bench.

“I don’t think prosecutors are going to be cut out,” said Gallaway of the Democratic Central Committee. “You’ll still see people appointed from the D.A.’s office. But you’re going to see a good representation of active civil litigators.”

Bradbury and his top deputies agree.

“It would be a mistake to assume that prosecutors are going to take a back seat,” said Greg Totten, chief assistant district attorney and former executive director of the California District Attorney’s Assn.

“I still think in this day and age, law enforcement and crime victims will have a strong voice in Sacramento,” Totten said. “But at the same time, I think you will see more people applying from different areas.”

Directly Elected to Superior Court

Of those judges now on the bench, former prosecutors Donald Coleman, John Dobroth, Kevin McGee and Colleen “Toy” White were directly elected to the Superior Court. Judge Bruce Clark was also elected, in 1978, to the Municipal Court. But a month before he was to begin his term, Clark was appointed by Brown to the vacant Municipal Court seat. The appointment allowed him to start a month earlier.

During the early 1980s, Brown appointed Judges Perren, Johnson and Hadden to the Superior Court, and Judges Steven Hintz and Art Gutierrez to the Municipal Court.

During the Republican era, Deukmejian appointed former prosecutors Campbell, Barry Klopfer, Herbert Curtis and Ken Riley to the Municipal Court. He appointed Thomas Hutchins, a former prosecutor, and attorneys Barbara Lane and John Smiley to the Superior Court.

Wilson elevated Campbell and Riley to the Superior Court. He also appointed ex-prosecutors James Cloninger, Vincent O’Neill and Rebecca Riley to the Superior Court, and Edward Brodie, Roland Purnell and civil attorney David Long to the Municipal Court. Long was later elevated by Wilson to the Superior Court.

Last year a successful ballot measure aimed at streamlining the bench unified the two courts by eliminating the Municipal Court. Now, all the county’s judges serve on the Superior Court, with annual salaries of $110,612.

In the last year of his term, Wilson broadened the county’s judiciary by appointing three judges with civil backgrounds: Brian Back, Henry Walsh and Glen Reiser. And some lawyers predict Davis will continue that pattern.

“I think in Ventura County we are blessed with an excellent bench,” said Democratic attorney John Howard, who went to Sacramento two years ago on behalf of the local bar association to push for the appointment of more civil lawyers.

“But we don’t have the broad range of background and life experiences that we should have,” he said. “I expect with Gray Davis that will change a little bit.”

Those contemplating a run at the bench are counting on it.

“This system has to be integrated,” Windom said. In its current configuration, Windom said, the judiciary does not reflect the county’s population, which he said can be alienating to those who come before it. Drury agrees and said she hopes Davis will be receptive to those concerns.

“He’s made a lot of noises about being inclusive,” she said. “That makes me very hopeful.”

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Balancing the Bench

In the next year, as many as four seats could open up on the Ventura County Superior Court. With a Democratic governor making the appointments for the first time in 16 years, more women. minorities and non-prosecutors may be tapped for those positions.

Judicial Breakdown

Of the 26 judges now presiding over the county’s courts:

19 are former prosecutors

6 are former civil attorneys

1 is a former public defender

22 are men

4 are women

17 judges were appointed by Republican Govs. George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson

5 were appointed by Democrat Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr.

4 were elected directly to their seats

Early Contenders

So far, three candidates--Gary Windom, Edward Lacey and Kent Kellegrew--have submitted their names for appointment. Thousand Oaks attorney Cathleen Drury and former legal aid lawyer Carmen Ramirez are considering whether to apply.

Gary Windom

Ventura County deputy public defender who lost the November election for judge.

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Edward Lacey

Ventura civil attorney and husband of county Supervisor Susan Lacey.

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Cathleen Drury

Thousand Oaks family law attorney who ran unsuccessfully for judge in 1996 and 1998.

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Carmen Ramirez

Poverty lawyer and former directing attorney for Channel Counties Legal Services.

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Kent Kellegrew

Court commissioner since 1997 who currently presides over misdemeanor criminal cases and the county’s night court.

Potential Advisors

As applications for judgeships begin to trickle into the offices of Gov. Gray Davis, leaders in the county’s Democratic ranks and aa prominent attorney have emerged as potential aadvisors to Davis and his appointments secretary.

Sen. Jack O’Connell

(D-San Luis Obispo), a key party leader and ally of the governor who has a strong voice on issues affecting the tri-counties.

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Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson

(D-Santa Barbara), a former Santa Barbara County prosecutor and Ventura family law attorney.

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Robert Gallaway

Past chairman of the Democratic Central Committee and a Ventura tax attorney.

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George Eskin

Former Ventura County prosecutor and retired criminal defense attorney who served on the state commissiom that evaluates judicial candidates.