New bill would make filing complaints against judges easier

A bill inspired by a State Auditor's report would require the Commission on Judicial Performance to make it easier to file complaints against judges.

AB 1842 calls on the agency "to establish and implement a procedure to permit the electronic filing of complaints against judges" by Jan. 1, 2022. It would demand courthouses post public notices about the agency, its mission, a definition of judicial misconduct and how to file a complaint.

The law would also mandate that the agency make a report to the Legislature each May 1 "until the requirements of the bill have been completed," and require the agency to hold a biennial public meeting on rulemaking.

The bill's author is Assemblyman Rudy Salas Jr., D-Bakersfield, who became chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee one year ago. He said the goal of the bill, introduced Monday, is to help implement recommendations that grew out of a State Auditor's report ordered by the committee in 2016 but not completed until last April due to a two-year court battle.

"I was troubled by the CJP's lack of accessibility and transparency outlined in the State audit," Salas said in an email. "This legislation will help enforce California's standards of judicial conduct in a transparent and accessible manner."

Commission Director and Chief Counsel Gregory P. Dresser said his agency has agreed to abide by the recommendations of that report, but added it is seeking more money do so.

"The Legislature would need to allocate additional funding to the commission to permit the commission to implement some of the recommendations," Dresser said in an email. "For example, there would need to be additional funding for the commission to acquire a new case management system that would permit complaints to be filed online. We are working with the Legislature and the Department of Finance to obtain the necessary additional funding."

The audit followed years of complaints by litigants and advocacy groups that said the commission's discipline process was inconsistent, opaque and failed to sanction some problem judges.

"This bill is important and helps implement some of the Auditor's recommendations from the CJP audit, but honestly, we wish it tackled the commission's refusal to address ongoing patterns of misconduct by specific judges over many years, among other crucial lapses in public protection that the report identified," said Kathleen Russell, executive director of the Center for Judicial Excellence, by email.

The commission sued State Auditor Elaine Howle weeks after the audit request, claiming her office did not have the right to information and statistics on judicial discipline. The case ended in a settlement -- following threats by lawmakers to withhold some of the Commission's budget -- that allowed the auditor to do her work in return for privacy guarantees sought by the commission. Commission on Judicial Performance v. Howle, A153547 (Cal. App. 1st, filed Jan. 8, 2018).

When her report finally came out, it identified numerous problems with the commission's investigatory processes, and recommended its investigative and disciplinary processes be separated. It also recommended lawmakers "propose and submit to voters an amendment to the California Constitution to reform CJP's structure and disciplinary proceedings to ensure the public has a significant role in deciding judicial discipline."

The bill could ultimately lead to more complaints being filed against judges.

The president of the California Judges Association said the organization supports the commission's mission to protect the public, and participated in a hearing by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee last June.

"At the hearing, we stated that CJA and all justices and bench officers in the state fully support the fundamental mission of the CJP, which includes protecting the public," said retired Orange County Superior Court Judge B. Tam Nomoto Schumann via email. "AB 1842 aligns with the Auditor's recommendations to improve the CJP's transparency and accessibility to the public."