Judges Matter – 2024 Primary Election

Note: This post is “IN PROCESS” and will be periodically updated! (02/17/24)

VOTER GUIDE QUICK LINKS TO: Federal candidates, State candidates, Proposition 1, Judges, County Supervisors, Local Measures

A single judge in Amarillo is upending women’s health care all by himself. It’s never been clearer that every single judge matters. But how does one decide?

• Listen/Watch for yourself: The League of Women Voters forum for the four contenders for the seat of Judge of the Superior Court, Office #4 is here.

• Then we look at whether they are coming from the prosecutor or the defense world, with the thumb on the scale for the latter. Ketanji Brown Jackson is the first defense lawyer on the Supreme Court in 30 years, since Thurgood Marshall retired. The Cato Institute noted that Trump appointed over 12 times as many former prosecutors as public defenders and other defense attorneys. Pro-prosecutor bias affects decisions limiting protections from illegal searches, eroding the constitutional right against self-incrimination (i.e., Miranda rights) as well as shielding cops from civil liability. The lack of professional diversity on the bench has also ensured that our courts can disproportionately reflect the viewpoints of the most powerful institutions and individuals in our country. 
• We look at their endorsements: We look for a good balance of endorsements. Some of our candidates, for example, have too heavy a concentration of law enforcement or judicial endorsement. We also scan the lists for hard-right groups or individuals. There are no coincidences.
• Here are the hard-right group we check to see who they like Enter “opposite-world.” A candidate who scores well on any of these guides may be a ticking time bomb, a farm team for future Kavanaughs and Coney Barretts. (More on them at the bottom…)

Judge of the Superior Court, Office No. 4 – Vote for (1)

Our goal is to win every contest. Despite there being (4) candidates, we believe this is a horse race between Ted Andrews and Julia Snyder. Therefore, the better choice is Ted.

Ted has gotten a wide variety of bi-partisan support, which speaks well for him and the efforts he’s made to reach out to the community for feedback. We’d love to get a defense attorney in this seat, but that’s not happening in this election. It’s up to the endorsers to ensure that if he wins, he keeps promises to improve access to justice in this county. Let’s put a pin in our calendars to ask him by the November election to account for what he’s done to make the system more equitable and future benchmarks to look forward to.

• Occupation: Deputy District Attorney 
• Education: Harvard (BA), UCLA Law
• Funding: https://public.netfile.com/pub2/AllFilingsByCandidate.aspx?id=207812437&candidate=Edward+Andrews
• Endorsements: https://www.andrewsforjudge.com/index.php/endorsements
• Website: https://www.andrewsforjudge.com
• Current position: Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney

Snyder, like Andrews, appears to be a highly competent candidate. However, her rating from Judge Voter Guide tracks very closely with the types of endorsements she’s getting, including one from the Ventura County Republican party. Either she filled out the right-wing group’s toxic questionnaire to their satisfaction for which they’ve awarded her 3 out of 5 possible stars and their endorsement, or that there is something about her that calls to them from the deep.

• City of residence: Westlake Village 
• Occupation: VC Superior Court Commissioner
• Education: Brigham Young (BA), Southwestern Law School
• Funding: https://public.netfile.com/pub2/AllFilingsByCandidate.aspx?id=208657191&candidate=Julia+Snyder
• Endorsements: https://www.juliasnyderforjudge.com (scroll down)
• Website: https://www.juliasnyderforjudge.com
• Current position: Superior Court Commissioner, former Ventura County Deputy District Attorney 

Partial list:

Mike Malak (D)

Ah, Mike. Not a prosecuter – check! Smart – check! Progressive – check! We’ve spoken with him directly and were impressed with his ideas for improving the court system for more access and equitability. However, we believe that he isn’t prepared for this election, and we definitely don’t want him to bleed votes to put a pick from the “Judge Voter Guide” in this seat.

• City of residence: Oxnard
• Occupation: Lawyer
• Education: Loyola Marymount (BA), Valley University College of Law
• Funding: https://public.netfile.com/pub2/AllFilingsByCandidate.aspx?id=208751032&candidate=Michael+Malak
• Endorsements:
• Website: https://malakforjudge.com
• Current position: Private practice involving personal Injury, Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Libel & Slander, Corporate Law, Probate, Criminal Defense, High-tech Law, Privacy Law, European, Free Speech, Human Rights, Product Liability, Environmental Law, Planning and Land Use (Los Angeles, South San Francisco, and Downey)