League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Diane Ritchie, Esq. Answers Questions Candidate for Judge - Superior Court; County of Santa Clara; Office 8

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. As a judge, you may be called on to impose sentences for crimes ranging from misdemeanors to homicide. While there are sentencing parameters and guidelines, you will have latitude. What factors and principles/values will affect your decisions?

As a Deputy District Attorney the most important factor in sentencing to me was protecting the safety of the public. Some of the other factors I would consider in sentencing include:

• The severity of the crime.
• The amount of premeditation and/or intent.
• The role played by the offender.
• The use of a gun.
• The level of bodily injury or financial loss.
• The identity and number of the victims. For example, if the victim(s) are elderly, children, or disabled, then I would be inclined to give a longer sentence.
• The history of the offender.
• The attitude of the offender. For example, if the offender has shown remorse, made restitution, or gone into treatment, then I would be inclined to give a shorter sentence.
• The availability of treatment.

2. Please describe your experience in civil and criminal cases.

My broad experience with both civil and criminal law makes me uniquely qualified to be a Superior Court judge. I have practiced law in Santa Clara County for twenty-seven years, acted as a mediator, and as a Judge Pro Tem with the Superior Court. I have handled more than a thousand cases including more than a hundred trials. As a Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney, I prosecuted important cases including child molest. As a civil attorney, I have represented clients in many areas of law, including: labor and employment law (inc. discrimination), family law, real estate, landlord/ tenant, personal injury, medical malpractice, education, and class actions.

30% of the judges in Santa Clara County come directly from the DA's office with little or no experience in civl law. These judges serve not only in the criminal courts, but also in civil courts including Family Court.

As a labor and employment law attorney, I represent employees, union workers, and small employers. I have saved my employer clients hundreds of thousands of dollars. I have obtained multimillion dollar settlements in cases against big employers who failed to pay overtime. I was the Supervising Attorney for the Employment Law Unit of the Legal Aid Society of Santa Clara County. I represented low income workers and workers who were not paid minimum wage including day laborers and hotel maids. I have worked as an attorney/ legal consultant with California School Employees Association.

In education law, I have represented students who were discriminated against and harassed, including physical violence and death threats from other students. The students repeatedly complained to school administrators. The administrators ignored their complaints. I settled the case for 1.1 million dollars (the cost of a college education for each of the students), and injunctive relief including new sexual orientation harassment policies, practices, training, and reporting.

3. Would you propose any changes to assure that there is no appearance of bias in the courtroom including, but not limited to, bias based on disability, gender identity, age, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation?

I will actively support elimination of bias training for judges and court personnel, stronger policies, and practices, and I will not tolerate discrimination or harassment in my court room. For the last nineteen years, I have fought against discrimination and harassment, both in employment and education. I have handled more than a thousand cases on behalf of victims of discrimination and harassment. I have never tolerated discrimination or harassment in my law office, and I will not tolerate it as a judge.

As a woman I will help bring diversity to balance the bench. Only one third of judges in Santa Clara County are women. According to the League of Women Voters, 77% of the Superior Court judges in California are white men (see League of Women Voters web page at http://ca.lwv.org/lwvc.files/judic/#gender). It is important to have more minority and women judges.

Please see my website at http://www.dianeritchieforjudge.com for further information.

---

Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Candidate Page || Feedback to Candidate || This Contest
SmartVoter Home (Ballot Lookup) || About Smart Voter

---

Created from information supplied by the candidate: November 3, 2008 15:49
Smart Voter <http://www.smartvoter.org/>
Copyright © League of Women Voters of California Education Fund   http://www.lwvc.org
The League of Women Voters neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office or political parties.