A hearing before a panel of special masters was held this month on charges brought by the Commission on Judicial Performance against Clarke, a judge since 2007.
The charges stem from jury selection in a murder trial. Clarke is accused of making insulting remarks about individual members of the venire, who were seeking hardship dismissal, and of improperly forcing one woman to remain at court because she complained openly about the conduct of the courtroom clerk, whom she claimed made light of the woman’s anxiety disorder.
Clarke testified that he had no intention of belittling anyone. With respect to the venire member who complained about the clerk, the judge acknowledged that he was angry, but said he asked the woman to remain in order to resolve the complaint, that the woman was not particularly inconvenienced because she would have had to sit in the jury assembly room anyway, and that the woman—an actress who has appeared on television—did not appear to actually suffer from any disorder.

President Obama on Feb. 25 nominated U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh of the Northern District of California to fill the vacancy created when Judge Harry Pregerson took senior status on Dec. 11, the day he completed 44 years of active service on the federal courts.

Further vacancies will occur when Judge Barry Silverman takes senior status Oct. 11 and Judge Richard Clifton does so Dec. 31

The nomination of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Young was reported favorably by the Senate Judiciary Committee Nov. 5. He was nominated by President Obama on July 16 to succeed Judge Audrey B. Collins, who retired Aug. 1, 2014 to join the state Court of Appeal.

Judge Margaret Morrow took senior status Oct. 29, and Judge Dean Pregerson did so Jan. 28. Magistrate Judge Paul Abrams was nominated Dec. 16 for Pregerson’s seat.

There are no vacancies.

Judge Daniel Brenner died Feb. 15 and Judge Russell Kussman retired Feb. 18.

Judge Robert Willett retired March 9. Previous vacancies resulted from the elevations of Judges John Segal and Luis Lavin to the Court of Appeal in July; the retirements of Judges Arthur Jean, Owen Kwong, and Ronald Skyers April 30; Leland Harris May 8; Alan Goodman July 30; Thomas McKnew July 31; Tia Fisher Aug. 1; Richard Stone Aug. 28; and Reva Goetz Sept. 21, as well as the resignation of Judge Jeffrey Winikow Dec. 4 and the death of Judge Ellen DeShazer Nov. 22.

Among those whose names have been sent to the JNE Commission as possible appointees to judgeships are Deputy District Attorneys Maria Davalos, Kerry White, Candace Foy Smith, Leonard Torrealba, and Kathleen Tuttle; retired Deputy District Attorney Brentford Ferreira; Public Counsel legal director Lisa R. Jaskol; Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney—and former city attorney candidate—Michael Amerian; attorney/mediator Michael Diliberto; former Superior Court Referee Stephanie Davis; Los Angeles attorneys Angel Navarro and Lisa Mattern; Deputy Public Defenders Lisa Brackelmanns and David Hazami; Superior Court counsel Brett Bianco; Beverly Hills attorney Edward Tabash; South Pasadena attorney Mark S. Priver; Deputy District Attorneys Court of Appeal staff attorney Kenneth E. Roberson; Deputy Attorney General Kim Nguyen; Superior Court Commissioners Karin Borzakian, Timothy Martella, Pamela Davis, Collette Serio, Marilyn Kading Martinez, Robert Kawahara, Alan Rubin, Emma Castro, Jane Godfrey, Sharon Lewis Miller, Mark Zuckman, Dennis Mulcahy, Terry Truong and Kenneth Taylor; State Bar Court Judge Richard Honn; Deputy County Counsel Julie Ann Silva; Glendale attorney Kenneth Wright; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Wesley Hsu.

Commissioner William Allen sat for the last time Jan. 15 and retired March 5; Commissioner William Mitchell sat for the last time Dec. 17 and retired Feb. 19. Timothy Weiner, Robert Wada, James Blancarte and Karin Borzakian were elected commissioners on Feb. 27.

The Legislature took the following action on bills of interest to the legal community in February.

•AB 1672 by Assemblymember Devon Mathis, R-Visalia, which, as amended, would require the Judicial Council to report to the Legislature on or before June 1, 2019 on the need for veterans courts or veterans treatment courts. The effectiveness of the legislation is contingent on half the cost of the study being paid for from private sources. The bill was amended in the Assembly March 8 and again on March 28.

•AB 1682 by Assemblymember Mark Stone, D-Santa Cruz, which would bar confidentiality clauses in settlement agreements regarding claims for childhood sexual abuse. The bill was amended in the Assembly Feb. 29 to clarify that it is the confidentiality provision, not the settlement agreement itself, which is prohibited. As amended, the bill passed the Judiciary Committee March 8 by a vote of 9-0 and was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee.

•AB 1708 by Assemblymember Christina Gonzalez, D-San Diego. As amended in the Assembly March 15, the bill would make a number of changes in laws related to prostitution, including barring prosecution of minors who commit acts of prostitution and imposing a mandatory minimum jail term of 72 hours for those who pay for prostitution services. It would permit defendants charged with acts of prostitution to present an affirmative defense that they were victims of human trafficking.

•AB 1766 by Stone, which would require that counsel in criminal cases be provided with a complete list of prospective jurors’ names. The bill was approved with an amendment in the Judiciary Committee March 29 by a vote of 9-0.

•AB 1779 by Assemblymember Mike Gatto, D-Los Angeles, which would authorize nonprobate transfers of real property via a revocable transfer-on-death deed. A Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for March 28 was postponed.

•ACR 114 by Assemblymember James Gallagher, R-Plumas Lake, which would, as amended, would proclaim the month of March 2016 as Grand Jury Awareness Month in California, recognize those who volunteer in a grand jury, and encourage all Californians to learn about its role in the judicial system. The resolution was adopted by the Assembly March 10 and sent to the Senate.

•SB 917 by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, which would require a court, at the conclusion of a hearing conducted pursuant to the Family Code, to provide each party who is present at the hearing with a written order setting forth the basic terms of any orders that were made at the hearing. The bill would also require the Judicial Council, on or before July 1, 2017, to adopt a rule of court to implement these provisions.

•SB 1023 by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would appropriate $5 million to fund 12 of the 50 superior court judgeships that the Legislature authorized but never funded. The bill has been set for hearing before the Judiciary Committee April 5.

•SB 1256 by Sen. Joel Anderson, R-El Cajon, which would create the Civility in Litigation Act, generally requiring that a potential defendant be allowed 30 days to make a settlement offer before suit is filed. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee March 3.

•SB 1257 by Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego, which would require State Bar applicant’s to perform 50 hours of specified pro bono service prior to admission. The bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee March 3.

•SB 1281 by Block, which would require unaccredited law schools to conspicuously disclose certain information, including their bar passage rates, on their websites. As amended in the Senate March 28, the bill would require all non-ABA-accredited law schools, including those accredited by the State Bar, to make the same disclosures the ABA requires of school it accredits.