League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA June 3, 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 Superior Court judge. I have practiced law in Santa Clara County for twenty- seven years, acted as a mediator and as a temporary judge with the Superior Court. I have handled more than a thousand cases including hundreds of bench and jury trials. As a Deputy District Attorney, I prosecuted criminals including child molesters in Santa Clara County. As a civil attorney I have represented clients in many areas of law, from labor and employment law and discrimination, to family law, real estate, personal injury, landlord/ tenant, education, and class actions.

I have represented employees who were not paid overtime in class actions including:

• Mynaf v. Taco Bell which settled during trial for a total of thirteen million dollars; and

• Haley v. Wendy's which settled for over one million dollars prior to discovery.

I was the Supervising Attorney for the Employment Law Unit of the Legal Aid Society of Santa Clara County. I represented low income workers including day laborers and hotel maids, in labor and employment disputes. Even after the Legal Aid Society lost funding and was no longer able to support the Employment Law Unit, I continued to work on a Pro Bono basis in order to complete a number of cases including:

• Valdovinos v. Torres where I represented day laborers against their employer for unpaid wages, minimum wage violations and overtime wages. We pursued the employer and his daughter through bankruptcy to obtain payment; and

• (Confidential Settlement) I represented Russian hotel maids before the Labor Commissioner against two nationwide hotel chains and the agency that provided the maids to the hotels. Our claim was for unpaid wages, minimum wage violations, and overtime wages. I was able to obtain payment for my clients and to assist the United States Department of Labor in obtaining payment for thousands of maids nationwide.

I also represent union workers with California School Employees Association.

In another type of case, I represented students who had been discriminated against and harassed on the basis of sexual orientation, in Flores v. Morgan Hill Unified School District. The case settled for 1.1 million dollars in damages and injunctive relief including new sexual orientation harassment policies, practices, training, and reporting.

Here are some of my endorsements:

"Diane Ritchie is dedicated to public safety. Her integrity and fairness will help guide her decisions on the bench. Please consider Diane Ritchie when you vote this June." Dolly Sandoval, Mayor of Cupertino.

"Diane Ritchie has dedicated her professional career to the pursuit of justice. She has the skills and qualities we need in a judge: integrity, intelligence, dedication, and compassion. She will make an excellent judge for the people of Santa Clara County." Manuel Valerio, Former Mayor of Sunnyvale.

"Diane is tough and hardworking. She has integrity, character and experience." Police Detective Melissa Centeno.

"Diane will be a firm but fair judge." Spec. Deputy United States Marshall Chris Haddad.

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.

As a woman I will bring diversity to help balance the bench. 75% of the Superior Court judges in Santa Clara County are men. 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.

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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).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: May 16, 2008 18:50
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