Judicial Endorsements

One of our primary objectives is to support candidates for judicial office. We believe that a judiciary that reflects the richness, diversity, and dynamic spirit of our communities strengthens our judicial institutions and improves access to justice.  

Under California Government Code Section 12011.5(d), judicial candidates will be considered based on their industry, judicial temperament, honesty, objectivity, community respect, integrity, health, ability, an legal experience.  Legal experience is considered broadly, "including, but not limited to litigation and nonlitigation experience, legal work for a business or nonprofit entity, experience as a law professor or other academic position, legal work in any of the three branches of government, and legal work in dispute resolution." 

Government Code Section 12011.5(o) says "The Governor and members of judicial selection advisory committees are encouraged to give particular consideration to candidates from diverse backgrounds and cultures reflecting the demographics of California, including candidates with demographic characteristics underrepresented among judges and justices."   

As Secretary Luis Céspedes, Judicial Appointments Secretary to Governor Gavin Newsom has said, "A judiciary that looks like California fulfills our democratic ideal of equal and impartial justice under law.”

Los Angeles County Bar Association's October 2022 continuing education program "Identifying & Disrupting Implicit Bias in the Judicial Evaluation & Endorsement Processes" is available here (free of charge) for judicial candidates and individuals involved in vetting judicial candidates.

San Luis Obispo Unity Bar Judicial Endorsement Chair Justice Martin J. Tangeman (Ret.), and our Judicial Endorsement Committee help vet and recommend candidates for State and Federal Court.

To request an endorsement from the San Luis Obispo Unity Bar, please email info@slounitybar.com.