If you follow us on Instagram you may have seen our recent reporting on the public admonishment of Judge Daviann Mitchell for her inappropriate behavior while serving at Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse by the Commission on Judicial Performance. Here’s what you need to know about judicial public admonishment and what may or may not happen when a judge acts inappropriately:
In LA County, a judicial term is a total of six years. After a judge finishes their 6-year term they are technically up for re-election. However, they must be challenged by someone for their seat or else they will not appear on the ballot. This translates to judges holding their seats for far longer than 6 years. The longest serving judge in LA County has been in office since 1982 and in the last decade only 10 total judges have ever been challenged for their seat. This rule allows for our county judges to essentially serve lifetime appointments, similar to judges on the federal bench.
As you may suspect , there are limited ways to hold bad actors in the judiciary accountable in California. The CA Code of Judicial Ethics sets the standard on how judges conduct themselves both inside the courtroom and in the community. The Commission on Judicial Performance (CJP) is responsible for making sure that judges across the state are behaving ethically.
Eleven total people serve on this commission:
- One person from the Court of Appeal (a federal judge).
- Two people from the Superior Courts (local judges), chosen by the California Supreme Court.
- Two lawyers picked by the governor.
- Six regular folks – two chosen by the governor, two by the Senate Committee on Rules, and two by the speaker of the Assembly.
Once the Commission becomes aware of an alleged violation of the judicial code of ethics, they can can impose one of five disciplinary actions:
- Advisory letter to judge (confidential)
- Private admonishment of judge (confidential)
- Public admonishment of judge
- Public censure
- Removal from office
However, it is incredibly rare for the CJP to remove a judge from office. In fact, the 2023 Commission’s Annual Report revealed that no judge was removed from office throughout the state of California. Judges are given the option of retiring or resigning during the investigation and the commission can then close the investigation once the judge has removed themselves from office. How is that for accountability?
In the last year the three following LA County Judges received some type of discipline from the Commission on Judicial Performance:
- Emily Cole (Severe Public Censure)
- Thomas J. Griego (Public Admonishment)
- Daviann L. Mitchell (Public Admonishment)
Notably, Daviann Mitchell was praised by the MetNews last October as a ‘Person of the Year’ despite her tentative public admonishment being known since September 2024. Since the CJP remains reluctant to remove unethical judges from office, it is so important that we continue to Court Watch and use Rate My Judge to draw attention to the injustices and unethical behavior that is happening on the bench across LA County’s 38 courthouses! If you’re not in LA and want to see judicial accountability in your area, reach out to us at cwinfo@ladefensx.org.
To file a complaint with the CJP about a bad judge, please visit the CJP website here.
Citations
- https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-04-02/california-judicial-watchdog-commission-admonishes-la-judge-for-third-time;
- File A Complaint, Rate My Judge, https://la.ratemyjudge.com/complaint/
