- Seat 1: Pang Ly
- Seat 18: Dorothy Chou Proudfoot
- Seat 21: Kulvindar “Rani” Singh
This is part of my voter guide for the March 3, 2020 elections in San Francisco.
(Disclaimer: As a candidate myself, I have met some of these judicial candidates. Many of the groups that have endorsed me for my race have also endorsed this slate of judges.)
California elects judges by county. I think it would make more sense for judges to be appointed like they are at the federal level, but it’s the system that we have. Usually, judges retire midway through their six-year term, and the Governor appoints a replacement. This year, we have three open seats for judge where the incumbent chose not to run for re-election. For each seat, there are two candidates running head to head, making six candidates total. In a profession that is predominantly white men, all candidates are women of color.
In broad strokes, one set of candidates has a more traditional background working as prosecutors or in the courts. The other set has backgrounds as public defenders or eviction defense attorneys.
Seat 1. The SF Bar Association rates both Pang Ly and Maria Evangelista as “Qualified”. Pang Ly has worked at the SF Superior Court in multiple roles, like mediating civil lawsuits and presiding over traffic court. Maria Evangelista is a Public Defender who has worked 16 years in the office. The two candidates are similarly qualified and experienced. I support Pang Ly based on my personal relationship with her, and I trust her to be a great judge.
Side note: Maria Evangelista was one of the four Public Defenders that challenged 4 incumbent judges in June 2018. It was a surprise because, historically, elections for judge were rarely contested. The challengers wanted to see more diversity and more public defender backgrounds on the bench. The incumbents did not want judge elections to become contested, political events. Judges should not come to the bench with an agenda: they should work to interpret the law impartially and fairly. All the incumbent judges kept their seats in June 2018. Maria Evangelista decided to run again.
Next up, Seat 18. Dorothy Chou Proudfoot is rated “Well-Qualified”. She was a prosecutor for sixteen years and currently is an Administrative Law Judge at the San Francisco Rent Board. Proudfoot’s opponent, Michelle Tong, was rated one notch lower at “Qualified” by the SF Bar. Michelle Tong is a Public Defender in San Francisco SF.
Last is Seat 21. Rani Singh is the only candidate of the six to have received the SF Bar Association’s highest rating, “Exceptionally Well-Qualified”. Singh has over twenty years of experience and has argued over one hundred cases in court as a prosecutor. She has worked on tough areas like human trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault. She pledges that as a judge, she will remain involved in the community after being elected. Singh’s opponent, Carolyn Gold, has a rating of “Qualified” from the SF Bar, two notches lower. Carolyn Gold is a tenants rights lawyer and has managed a tenants rights organization for most of her career. I am concerned that Gold has only taken 8 cases to trial and has much less courtroom experience.
https://www.sfbar.org/about-us/newsroom/01312020-judicial-evaluations/
