PAC to help challenged LA judges says it has $300,000 for 2022 elections

A group representing over 300 judges in Los Angeles County who banded together to support sitting bench officers facing election challenges or recalls announced Friday it has amassed more than $300,000 to deploy in the coming months.

The Los Angeles Judges Political Action Committee founded by former LA County Superior Court Presiding Judge Kevin Brazile and PAC Chair Judge Dean Hansell said in a statement that if a judge is ever challenged in either a judicial election or a recall attempt, the PAC will provide immediate financial and technical support to the challenged judge. The PAC donors said they are committed to raising additional funds from the judiciary to support a challenged judge, and that their spending power continues to grow each month, according to the announcement.

The impetus for creating the PAC, Hansell said, was a growing number of judges who were concerned they could be challenged in a retention election as a result of making a legally correct but unpopular ruling.

"Driven by the need to be able to call things in the way they see them in an impartial way, without fear of the consequences of it, the judges wanted to protect themselves," Hansell said. "To mount a judicial campaign in a county of our size can be a very expensive proposition, especially for a public servant such as a judge."

The PAC was created in April 2018, around the time Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky was recalled over his sentencing of a university student convicted of rape. Critics of the six-month sentence said it was unjustifiably light. However the Commission on Judicial performance issued an opinion saying Persky's decision, while unpopular, was fully consistent with the law,

Persky was the first California judge to be recalled in 86 years.

While threats to recall a judge rarely amount to much, a growing number of judges appear to have received them in recent years, Hansell said. In 2021, six LA County Superior Court judges received formal recall notices, he said.

In addition to its goal to educate the public and provide complete and accurate information about the courts, judges and lawful judicial decisions made by judges, the PAC announcement also said, "the goal of LAJ-PAC is to safeguard the impartiality of the courts and judges against incorrect information, misleading reports and/or false information."

The PAC, which includes more than 300 judges donating money, is separate from the LA Superior Court and unaffiliated with any political party, according to the organization. It does not actively seek contributions from law firms or attorneys but there is no cap on the amount an active or retired judge can contribute.

The PAC, which includes more than 300 judges donating money, is separate from the LA Superior Court and unaffiliated with any political party. It does not actively seek contributions from law firms or attorneys but there is no cap on the amount an active or retired judge can contribute.