The Hispanic Bar Association of Orange County Applauds the Commission on Judicial Performance’s
Admonishment of Judge James M. Brooks

PRESS RELEASE

Friday, May 16, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact:  Eric Alderete, Chair, Judicial Appointments Committee, (714) 488-4822, emalderete@yahoo.com
                Norma García Guillén, President, (714) 585-3058, nvgarcia@sbcglobal.net 

THE HISPANIC BAR ASSOCIATION OF ORANGE COUNTY (“HBA”) APPLAUDS THE Commission on Judicial Performance’S ADMONISHMENT OF
JUDGE JAMES M. BROOKS

Orange County, CA -- The HBA applauds the Commission on Judicial Performance’s recent public admonishment of Orange County Superior Court Judge, James M. Brooks, for, among other things, mistreating litigants on the basis of their ethnic and/or racial background.  Judge Brooks, who received similar censures in 1996, 1999, and 2003, has since announced his resignation, effective April 30, 2008.

The conduct exhibited by Judge Brooks is deplorable and indefensible.   As an organization that advocates and promotes access to justice on behalf of the Latino community, we find it disturbing that Judge Brooks failed to provide equal access to justice by denying some parties dignity and respect based on race and/or national origin.

The Commission faced substantial evidence that Judge Brooks belittled parties in court based on race/national origin, by:

• Referring to Latino defendants by the generic pejorative, “Pedro;”
• Telling a Latino defendant, “[y]ou have more names than the Tijuana telephone book;”
• Issuing a bench warrant for an Asian defendant for “ten thousand dollars or twenty thousand yen;”
• Making stereotypical assumptions based on national origin of matters not proven in court (“in her native Syria (?) [she] probably wouldn’t be allowed to own property”);
• Denying plaintiff’s motion to exclude a reference to his status as an undocumented immigrant and expressing stereotypes of undocumented immigrants.

The views expressed by Judge Brooks are inconsistent with the promise of “equal justice under the law” and contrary to the spirit of the California Code Of Judicial Ethics:

A judge shall not, in the performance of judicial duties, by words or conduct, manifest bias or prejudice, including but not limited to bias or prejudice based upon race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status.
California Code Of Judicial Ethics, canon 3(B)(5).

The HBA believes that all persons are entitled to their day in court and must be accorded the fullest regard for their dignity.  No one, irrespective of immigration status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or socioeconomic status should be afforded anything less than the full respect of the judicial officer before him or her.  By enforcing the canons of ethics, the Commission has validated a principle that is at the core of our system of justice and is of paramount importance to the HBA: the Courts ought to be models of fairness and dignity.
The HBA further encourages the Commission on Judicial Performance to take quicker and stronger action should it face similar issues in the future.

For three decades, the Hispanic Bar Association of Orange County has promoted education, unity, and excellence in the Hispanic legal community.  For more information, go to www.ochba.org.

Admonishment issued by the State of California's Commission on Judicial Performance >