The 10 races for Los Angeles Superior Court judge produced five winners in the March primary, and five contests in which no candidate won a majority. In the November 5 runoff, The Times suggested the following:
Office No. 39: Steve Napolitano
Steve Napolitano stands apart from most court candidates because of the diversity of experience. He represents inmates at parole hearings, which means he is the public defender for Californians serving their sentences. He also serves as an administrative law judge, hearing civil cases alleging violations of city or county codes. He has his own practice dealing with contract matters.
It’s all on top of a long career in government, including the Manhattan Beach City Council where he led the city’s efforts to atone for its role in shutting Black property owners out of Bruce’s Beach many decades earlier. He was chief of staff for Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, and at the same time had a private law practice (with county permission).
A diverse background like Napolitano’s is a valuable asset. Lawyers who spend their entire careers as prosecutors or criminal defense attorneys usually become very good at what they do but are not necessarily the best judges. Having seen the justice system through one window, they may have trouble making the transition to the bench, where a broader and more balanced perspective is needed.
George A. Turner Jr. is an accomplished and well-regarded deputy public defender who will probably make an able judge. But like most aspiring judges, he is mostly a one-stop-shop lawyer. Voters can’t go wrong in this race, but the best choice for this Supreme Court seat is Napolitano.
Office No. 48: Ericka J. Wiley
Ericka J. Wiley has spent most of her career in criminal defense, but has varied experiences that give her a broader perspective. Before practicing law, she worked in a maternity home, taking teenage mothers to court for dependency and delinquency. In the midst of a hiring freeze in Los Angeles County, he took a job as a deputy public defender in largely rural Merced County. Back in LA, he defends a client accused of capital and sex crimes. Recognized for his expertise, he was promoted to an administrative position, supervising attorneys in the Bellflower trial of the Supreme Court. But he chose to give it a try and is now back in the courtroom. She says she has taken non-traditional tracks in life, such as becoming a mother at 49.
Wiley is one of three candidates supported by Defenders of Justice, a slate led by the social justice organization La Defensa. Critics say the slate has a political agenda that is at odds with fact-based and fair justice. If this is not the case, every candidate deserves to be evaluated based on their ability, experience and integrity. It was a test that Wiley passed easily; he is a standout candidate and if elected he will probably be a very good judge.
His opponent, Renee Rose, has also practiced law in two counties (Riverside and Los Angeles), albeit as a prosecutor. He is also qualified to be a judge, but voters can only elect one. Wiley is a better choice.
Office No. 97: Sharon Tebusan
Sharon Ransom brings exactly the qualities that voters should look for in a judge: She has the breadth of personal and professional experience, and combines expertise in the law with the willingness to exercise discretion not only to continue to be responsible but to solve underlying problems, including addiction, mental illness and poverty.
Ransom worked for 17 years as an operator for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department while raising children as a single mother. He was almost 40 when he started his new career as a criminal prosecutor. During her 18 years as a deputy district attorney, she has worked on some of the office’s most challenging assignments, including narcotics and elder abuse cases. He now works in a mental health unit where defendants suffer from mental illness and are often homeless. He has handled dozens of jury trials, displaying what others describe as a calm and professional demeanor.
Her opponent, former Deputy Public Defender La Shae Henderson, also argued for a balanced approach to criminal justice. But Ransom is the most likely to deliver and a better option.
Office No. 135: Steven Yee Mac
Steven Yee Mac is a deputy district attorney, a title that belies his varied and impressive legal background. After serving as an intelligence officer in the US Army, he joined the Judge Advocate General Corps, defending soldiers accused of wrongdoing and exploring the role of drugs and trauma in alleged wrongdoing. He also practices contract law. He was interviewed for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office by Zoom while deployed in Afghanistan.
As a prosecutor, his job focused on murders, extortion and other crimes committed in the area around MacArthur Park. Victims belong to immigrant families, just like his family.
He is a respected trial lawyer with the skills, attitude and maturity to make an outstanding judge.
Georgia Huerta is also an experienced and well-regarded deputy district attorney. This is another race where voters can do no wrong. But the Mac has an advantage in the breadth of experience.
Office No. 137: Tracey M. Blount
Tracy M. Blount represents Los Angeles County in dependency court, where judges want to remove children from their homes because of abuse or neglect. He previously worked as a paralegal, then as an appellate attorney in the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office.
Blount is highly regarded for his skill and calm demeanor. That is very important in the dependency court, where emotions can be high and the dynamic changes during the process from quasi-prosecutorial – because the lawyer makes a case against the parents – to collaboration, because the parties try to make a plan to reunite the family while keeping the children- the child is safe.
His opponent is Luz E. Herrera, whose varied legal career has taken him from a small practice in Compton to lead clinical programs at law schools at Southern California and Texas A&M. He may be a good judge, but of the two Blount is the more qualified.