https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/ en https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/celebrating-lgbtq-diversity-california-courts-sacramento-county-judge-andi-mudryk Celebrating LGBTQ+ Diversity in the California Courts: Sacramento County Judge Andi MudrykKaren.Datangel Mon, 06/24/2024 - 16:22 Feature This June, California courts and the Judicial Council of California join the nation in recognizing LGBTQ+ Pride Month. We've spoken with a few of our LGBTQ+ identifying judges and justices about their experiences serving on the bench and how increasing diversity serves the courts and the public. Judge Andi Mudryk was appointed to the Superior Court of Sacramento County by Governor Gavin Newsom in March 2022. She is the first openly transgender person to be appointed to the bench in the United States. Prior to serving as a judge, Judge Mudryk served as chief deputy director and chief counsel at the California Department of Rehabilitation.  Following are video highlights and excerpts from a conversation with Judge Mudryk: *The text of the interview has been edited for length and clarity. On diversity on the bench: "Judges are public servants and we serve the entirety of California. California is the most diverse state in the nation, and our population includes people who are members of the LGBTQ+ community. It's incredibly important that the public see themselves in the bench. It lends to the legitimacy of the judiciary and allows judges to have knowledge of the communities that we serve. I oversee juvenile justice cases and I have transgender identifying kids who come before me. I had one 13-year-old boy who wore an undergarment necessary for his gender dysphoria. When he came into juvenile hall, the staff would not let him wear the undergarment because it was dirty and torn. I ordered them to allow him to wear his undergarment. They came back and they hadn't done it, and so I issued an order to show cause why they didn't abide by my ruling. Then they ordered many of these undergarments and provided one to the boy. I had knowledge of what gender dysphoria means and the importance of providing this clothing to this individual. I understood that the suicide rate for LGBTQ+ and particularly trans youth is exponentially higher than for the general public, so this example of assisting this young boy shows why it's important to have judges from all walks of life on the bench. [Being transgender and having a disability (brittle bone disease)] have given me perspectives about diverse people and their experiences. Most of my career was in disability rights work. Coming from a Jewish family, my father's a Holocaust survivor--his parents were murdered in the Holocaust. I am not seeing people as 'other' but understanding that everyone matters and justice matters. Because I have a disability, I'm able to understand somewhat what it's like for folks who have disabilities to come into the courtroom and navigate the process. For example, people need to hear what is said, so we have assistive listening devices in the courtrooms. We need to make sure people with mental and emotional health issues and other disabilities are able to come into court and that we allow for those accommodations." On her role models and being a role model: "One of my role models is Justice Shama Hakim Mesiwala, the first Muslim-American woman to be appointed to the California Court of Appeal. She strongly believes in a diverse judiciary and realizes many of us have been treated as 'other' and feel like we're ‘other’. I'm working to make sure those of us who are ‘other’ are included and are in positions of leadership. I didn't see anyone like me in positions of leadership growing up or throughout my career, and it's incredibly important for folks to see themselves in leaders. So I feel I have a tremendous responsibility in my role to be visible, to speak, and to be involved in the community at large so that people like me see themselves in a judge and realize they can be the judge. I'm co-chair of the LGBT Judicial Officers of California, on the board of the Women Judges Association, and involved in all of our affinity bar associations." On her career background and path: "I've experienced some feedback that those of us who bring diversity to the bench are not as qualified as others-- that we only were appointed because of our diversity. It's a trope we hear, and nobody says it right to our faces, but I want to address that because I have a stellar background and reputation. I believe I'm a good judge and I deserve to have been appointed regardless of my diversity. Many of us, including me, have had to fight harder for where we are than others who have certain privileges. I had many doors shut in my face early in my career and not being offered certain opportunities because of my diversity. I graduated with honors from a very good law school [George Washington University Law School]. I was a litigator, I'm licensed to practice in three states, and I have served in litigation director roles at nonprofit organizations overseeing class action litigation, challenging laws that negatively impact people with disabilities. I was incredibly well qualified to be appointed, as were my colleagues. https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/celebrating-lgbtq-diversity-california-courts-los-angeles-county-judge-d-zeke-zeidler Celebrating LGBTQ+ Diversity in the California Courts: Los Angeles County Judge D. Zeke ZeidlerKaren.Datangel Mon, 06/17/2024 - 16:37 Feature This June, California courts and the Judicial Council of California join the nation in recognizing LGBTQ+ Pride Month. We've spoken with a few of our LGBTQ+ identifying judges and justices about their experiences serving on the bench and how increasing diversity serves the courts and the public. In 2004, Judge D. Zeke Zeidler was the first openly gay man initially elected to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Judge Zeidler had previously been appointed as a Juvenile Court Referee in 1998 and continues to focus on juvenile issues.  He is a former president of the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges. Following are video highlights and excerpts from a conversation with Judge Zeidler: *The text of the interview has been edited for length and clarity. On the importance of diversity in California courts: "People often don't understand the full nature of diversity on the bench, because people often just talk about walking into a courtroom and seeing someone who looks like you. But diversity on the bench, from a judicial standpoint, also means we have judges involved in statewide committees working on policy, legal forms, and rules of court. I've been lucky enough to work with Judge [Victoria] Kolakowski, Judicial Council staff, and others on ways to ensure that our court forms are gender neutral. Because I do trainings on LGBT issues, I have judges who call me and say 'I'm about to start a trial with a hate crime case with a transgender litigant. Is there anything I should be asking in voir dire?' Having a colleague who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or nonbinary is something that educates judges and changes their view of the cases and parties before them. A big part of judicial ethics is about treating people with dignity and respect and ensuring others are too. The court deals with people from every walk of life. In every single county in California, we have same-sex couples who are married and/or are raising children, who come to the court to help resolve any issues they have. Understanding the litigants who come before us is a major part of the judicial branch’s dedication to diversity and inclusion." On access to justice: "I'm lucky enough to have gotten involved very early in statewide judicial education around fairness, ethics, bias, and antibias work. It was [San Francisco County] Judge Donna Hitchens who worked to make sure the Judicial Council's Advisory Committee on Providing Access and Fairness was addressing sexual orientation. They had the Krieger Sexual Orientation Fairness Subcommittee, but they also had various subcommittees related to women's issues, women of color, and racial equity. I've had the honor of carrying that work forward. We created a bench card for judicial officers dealing with LGBT youth issues under the leadership of [San Francisco County] Commissioner Catherine Lyons. I'm making sure that New Judicial Officer Orientation continues to have segments related to LGBT awareness, diversity, and antibias. I’ve done video trainings on sexual orientation issues and more recently on transgender issues. In [Los Angeles Superior Court], we created two trainings on transgender issues, one of which was offered throughout the county, with 12 different offerings at different court sites. We hit more than 230 judicial officers with in-person training on transgender issues co-taught by a judicial officer at their courthouse and a judicial officer who identifies as LGBT. In the most recent statewide video program that we did on transgender issues, I was talking about ways to make transgender litigants feel comfortable in court, letting a court know how they would like to be addressed. I had been thinking recently about adding my pronouns on my nameplate on my bench, and ended up writing an article about the concept. We now have judges throughout the United States and Canada who have their pronouns on their nameplates as a way to ensure litigants are able to feel comfortable telling a judicial officer how they'd like to be addressed." On coming out as LGBTQ+: "When I was in high school, I participated in a week-long summer camp dealing with antibias, racism, sexism, and homophobia. This was in the very early 1980s and that gave me the ability to really understand diversity and understand the privilege I have as a White man in society, and how to deal with my own coming-out issues. I came out at a pretty young age on the front page of my college newspaper and within a year was associated students president, which taught me that coming out is not always going to end up being a bad thing and letting people know who you are and sharing your authentic self can make positive change. When I was beginning as an attorney, I had to decide whether to put LGBT involvements on my resume. As I often tell law students, 'If they wouldn't hire you because of your LGBT involvements on your resume, would you really want to work for them?'" On role models and mentors going into the legal profession: "When I became a lawyer, there were just a handful of LGBT judicial officers in the state. [Retired Los Angeles County Judge] Steve Lachs was the first openly gay judge in the world. When he was appointed to the bench by Jerry Brown in the late 1970s, the newspaper headline in the Los Angeles Times was something like 'Governor Appoints Avowed Homosexual to the Bench.' I remember as a law student or young lawyer calling Judge Steve Lachs on the phone and halfway through the call, realizing he was sitting on the bench talking to me--he was larger than life. It's always been important for me to reach out to law students, lawyers, and judicial officers. My husband and I for 15 years have hosted the Rand Schrader Law student reception for LGBT law students throughout the greater Los Angeles area. Every year, there are one or two students I talk to who are interested in my area of law (juvenile dependency) or being on the bench, and I invite them to come watch me in court. It is amazing to me the impact it has on a law student to have that type of interaction with the judge. I was meeting with lawyers and advocates from China and they asked me 'What can we do to make a difference in the system?' I said they need to find a judge who's an ally and work with them to make headway. They looked at me and said 'In China, we don't interact with judges. We don't have a way to meet a judge.' So we have such an opportunity in our society to mentor and interact with the next generation and our peers." On working in juvenile justice: "Since I got on the bench in 1998, Los Angeles Superior Court’s juvenile division has always had three to five openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual judicial officers. So many of us want to be there for young people and families who have experienced fear and adversity and have struggled with acceptance. The number of openly LGBT youth in foster care and in the child welfare system is so high. I always tell judges if the parent and child have a conflict and it's not totally clear exactly what's going on, start asking questions to see if it has to do with the parent perceiving the child to be gay or trans. Maybe that's the issue that no one's catching. In juvenile dependency court, we're dealing with families where parents have problems and kids need security, safety, and planning for their future." On the role of judges: "I want to give a shout out to retired [California] Chief Justice Ron George. I was teaching a New Judicial Officer Orientation class the week of the Prop. 8 election. The California Supreme Court had already ruled that in California, same-sex marriages had to be recognized, but the voters ended up knocking that down. I was in chambers with a new group of judges the day after the election and I told Chief Justice George I had recently been in a program where we were listing our heroes and that his name was on the list. Doing the right thing as a judicial officer, especially when there's so much chance of public outcry, really does take courage. A lot of judicial officers in this state and in this country have had so much courage. There was a judge in Sacramento dealing with whether California's domestic partnership law violated a previous initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California and he faced threats of recall if he upheld California's domestic partnership law. He decided that the correct ruling in the case was that California's domestic partnership law was constitutional and valid. When it went to the Court of Appeal, those appeals court justices faced those same threats and they still followed the law. I'm not saying you always rule in favor of an LGBT issue or any issue dealing with diversity, but the courage it takes to follow the law when you're ruling in those types of cases is really something that I think judges don't get enough credit for." https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/celebrating-lgbtq-diversity-california-courts-alameda-county-judge-victoria-kolakowski Celebrating LGBTQ+ Diversity in the California Courts: Alameda County Judge Victoria KolakowskiKaren.Datangel Mon, 06/10/2024 - 11:47 Feature This June, California courts and the Judicial Council of California join the nation in recognizing LGBTQ+ Pride Month. We've spoken with a few of our LGBTQ+ identifying judges and justices about their experiences serving on the bench and how increasing diversity serves the courts and the public. Elected by voters to the Superior Court of Alameda County in 2011, Judge Victoria Kolakowski is the first transgender judge in California and the first transgender person to serve as a trial court judge of general jurisdiction in the United States. Prior to her election to the bench, Judge Kolakowski served as an administrative law judge with the California Public Utilities Commission. She is a former president of the International Association of LGBTQ+ Judges. Following are video highlights and excerpts from a conversation with Judge Kolakowski: *The text of the interview has been edited for length and clarity. On the importance of diversity in California courts: "It’s important for people in the community to see people like themselves, in the positions that are making these life-altering decisions and to recognize there are people like them [in the legal system]. It's also very important—and this is something that I did not understand as much before I became a judge—to be inside the [judicial] branch and help bring different perspectives to conversations. When there's so much that we do as judges in terms of planning, all the work that the Judicial Council does and various committees do, I think it's important that different perspectives be included, and that’s something I didn't actually appreciate as much before I became a judge. Being part of a group of people with diverse viewpoints, backgrounds of legal experiences, and life experiences helps us as a whole, as a branch, to be better, to do better, and to be better judges." On being the first transgender trial court judge in California: "One of the reasons why I ran [for trial court judge] was that it was important for people to see [openly trans] people like me in a position like this. Transgender issues and people weren't as well-known as they are now. It’s important that people in the system see that we are more than just sex workers and victims of violent crimes but we are, as a community, so much more. It’s important for people to see and understand that we can be judges; we can be all sorts of other things. It’s important for people to see that this is an option if it’s something that they could aspire towards, and I've been truly amazed and blessed by the number of people who've told me that they were inspired by me being a judge to enter the legal profession, or to seek public office because they knew that I had achieved this. The most humbling experience I had was a visit to an attorney's office a couple of years ago. The attorney brought me over to a workstation where his paralegal, who is also transgender, had two framed pictures on the wall. One was of Harvey Milk and the other was of me. I was blown away knowing that my being here and what I do touched somebody so much and that is very meaningful to me. I don't think that we appreciate sometimes how much it means to people in the [LGBTQ+] community to see themselves reflected in those places. From that perspective, I feel like it's been a great blessing for me to know that I impacted people that way." On role models and mentors going into the legal profession: "As the first openly transgender trial court judge, I don't have others that I could look back and say this person inspired me. What had inspired me are great attorneys in the past who've managed to break into the legal community and achieve great things. I was fortunate to meet Thurgood Marshall while he was still alive. He was a role model for me and looking at other people who broke through and made a difference has been inspiring to me. I didn't have a particular mentor, but I wish I had and I'm trying to be one for other people." On access to justice: "I have served on the Judicial Council's Advisory Committee on Providing Access and Fairness and also served as a member of the California Access to Justice Commission. I've done a lot of educational work with CJER (Center for Judicial Education and Research) about trying to increase [awareness] and provide educational materials for judges on how to interact with transgender and nonbinary people in the courts. Our branch makes efforts in so many ways to try to increase diversity on the bench and to increase access to the courts. I try to use plain simple language that everybody can understand and I think that's an important part of access as well. I grew up in a poor blue-collar working family who didn't understand the law. I'm the first person in my family who went to college. It's important to remember that people are scared—not everybody in the [court]room understands what’s going on, as they don't know the [legal] language being used. I try to make sure that the prospective jurors, the litigants, and everybody feels at ease—part of that desire comes from my personal awareness and experience being part of a group where this doesn't come to me by blood. I come from a different place and it's important that we have people in our system who understand how it feels like being left out, not understanding what's happening around them. The truth is that the courts need to be for everyone, and that's what we as judges should be."