October 12, 2022

Dear Members and Friends of LACBA:

Among the questions Los Angeles County voters will be asked to answer on November 8 are whether four sitting justices of the California Supreme Court, including Chief Justice designate Patricia Guerrero, and twelve sitting justices of the Second District Court of Appeal should be retained in office for another twelve-year term.* 

I join the Los Angeles Times in encouraging you and all Los Angeles County voters to retain these justices in office.

The most essential principle of American democracy is the “rule of law,” the principle that everyone in our society is held accountable to laws that are fairly applied. California’s judicial retention election process was designed to promote the rule of law. It insulates sitting justices from outside political pressures, fostering judicial independence and neutral, fair-minded decision-making that takes into account only the applicable law and the facts of the particular case before the court. As Caroline Kennedy has observed: “The bedrock of our democracy is the rule of law and that means we have an independent judiciary, judges who can make decisions independent of the political winds that are blowing."

Like me, you have probably have not agreed with every decision handed down by California’s appellate justices. But we can never doubt the intellect, passion, work ethic, and, above all, the integrity that these judicial officers bring each day to the vital task of judging. Ultimately, a vote in favor of the experienced and thoroughly vetted sitting justices of the California Supreme Court and Court of Appeal is not a political decision. It is a vote in favor of the rule of law.

Please vote for retention, and please encourage your colleagues, family, and friends to do so as well. 
 
Thank you very much for your support for the rule of law and for the Los Angeles County Bar Association. 

Gratefully, 

Ann I. Park, President
Los Angeles County Bar Association

 

*The four Justices of the Supreme Court on the ballot are:
California Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero
Associate Justice Goodwin Liu
Associate Justice Joshua Groban
Associate Justice Martin J. Jenkins

The twelve Justices of the Second District Court of Appeal are:
Justice Audrey B. Collins
Justice Brian S. Currey
Justice Elizabeth Annette Grimes
Justice Hernaldo J. Baltodano
Justice John L. Segal
Justice John Shepard Wiley Jr.
Justice Judith M. Ashmann
Justice Lamar W. Baker
Justice Luis A. Lavin
Justice Frances Rothschild
Justice Laurence D. Rubin
Justice Maria E. Stratton