Hard-Line Judge Is Being Judged Herself

In a realm that relishes decorum, Orange County Superior Court Judge Susanne S. Shaw’s not afraid to mouth off.

She’ll do her own version of Scared Straight from the bench, telling a good-looking defendant he’ll be a prized catch among his fellow prison inmates. She’s been known to sing to felons as they’re hauled off to jail. But when she thinks they deserve it, Shaw offers a break for a sympathetic defendant, her supporters say.

While Orange County judges are criticized for faithfully following a party line, ever fearful of being labeled too liberal in a county that prides itself on law-and-order conservatism, Shaw may be the last of a dying breed, some say. Yet her job may be on the line.

The state Commission on Judicial Performance announced this week that it is taking the unusual step of investigating Shaw for improper conduct, a probe that could result in her removal from office. The commission alleges that Shaw violated several judicial ethics standards by making undignified and discourteous comments, creating the appearance of partiality and intimidating and demeaning court participants.

While Shaw, 52, has won her share of enemies, many are rallying around the judge, who is known for her hard-line stance in drunk driving cases.

“I think that she is a no-nonsense kind of person,” said Reidel Post, director of the Orange County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, who has observed Shaw in many court proceedings. “She’s tough on crime, but she’s fair.”

The judge declined to comment Thursday. Her attorney has said her courtroom remarks have been taken out of context.

But critics contend that Shaw is an erratic jurist who heaps abuse daily on people who appear in her court. Her behavior, they say, prevents defendants from getting a fair shake.

“Singing is the least of the problems,” said Irvine defense attorney Jeffrey Wilens, who successfully challenged one of Shaw’s rulings in 1997. A higher court found that Shaw improperly deterred a witness in a drug case from testifying on the defendant’s behalf, Wilens said. The attorney added that appearing before Shaw with a drunk driving case is like “legal suicide.”

In another incident set forth in the complaint, Shaw lashed out at a prosecutor in a drunk driving case as a “hypocrite” who was most likely guilty of the same behavior as the defendant.

A graduate of Balboa Law College in San Diego, Shaw was known as a hard-charging and aggressive prosecutor before being elected to the bench in 1984.

She remained so as a judge, those who know her say. But she has a compassionate side, too, they add.

“There are two kinds of judges--one who has a marble demeanor and the kind of judge who has a human face. Susie is the queen of the human face,” said Superior Court Judge Pam L. Iles.

Her style can be termed confrontational, but it never crosses the boundaries into judicial misconduct, supporters say.

“I think it’s a bum rap,” said John Bovee, a senior Orange County deputy public defender, about the charges. Shaw “calls them as she sees them,” dispensing harsh judgments as well as giving a break to a deserving defendant, he said.

Judges, ever sensitive to the views of voters, are increasingly unwilling to make unpopular decisions, he said. Shaw is a throwback.

“I think a lot more judges are afraid to make courageous decisions these days,” he said. “I wouldn’t put Susie in that category.”

Others question Shaw’s abilities.

Kurt Klug, an Irvine real estate consultant, recalled being berated by Shaw while trying to argue a small-claims case against a copier company. Shaw, he said, acted like a “dictator. . . . She has a total lack of regard for everyone in the courtroom.”

If the allegations are true, experts say, Shaw’s behavior reflects badly on the judicial system.

“The whole system depends on an impartial, unbiased, unemotional sage at the center,” said Katherine C. Sheehan, a professor at Southwestern University School of Law. “The more you make it hard to believe that, the more the participants feel they are getting arbitrarily shuttled around.”