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The Women's Lawyers Association of Los Angeles ("WLALA") reaffirms its unwavering commitment to an independent judiciary, the separation of powers, and the rule of law. Recent public statements and proceedings concerning members of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, including Judge Yvette Verastegui, have raised important concerns regarding the independence of our judiciary. While judicial decisions are appropriately subject to appellate review, lawful advocacy, and respectful public discourse, judges must remain free to decide each case based upon the law and the facts, free from external pressure or improper attempts to influence the exercise of judicial discretion.
An independent judiciary is a cornerstone of our constitutional system. Judges swear an oath to faithfully apply the law and exercise independent judgment in every case. Over the past three decades, California law has consistently expanded judicial discretion through both case law and legislation, reflecting a deliberate commitment to individualized justice. Through those developments, California has authorized trial courts to strike enhancements, order diversion, resentence appropriate cases, and impose individualized and proportionate sentences where authorized by law. Most recently, in J.O. v. Superior Court of San Joaquin County (2026), the California Supreme Court recognized that bad-faith blanket abuses of Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6 may materially impair judicial operations, undermine the separation of powers, and threaten the effective and efficient administration of justice. To uphold judicial independence, the Court adopted new procedural safeguards to determine whether repeated challenges to a particular judge are based on a good-faith belief of judicial prejudice, rather than a bad-faith blanket policy.
Every person who enters a California courtroom deserves confidence that judicial decisions will be guided solely by the Constitution, the law, and the facts, not by concerns that exercising lawful discretion may invite public criticism or institutional retaliation. Judicial discretion is neither unlimited nor unchecked; it is exercised within the boundaries of the Constitution, statutory law, the California Code of Judicial Ethics, and appellate review. Preserving both judicial independence and public confidence in our courts is essential to maintaining the rule of law.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is one of the largest prosecutorial agencies in the nation and appears before our trial courts in thousands of criminal matters each year. Like every litigant, the District Attorney is entitled to advocate its position. But no litigant or elected official may seek to influence, intimidate, or pressure a judge into compromising the independent exercise of discretion that the California Constitution and the Legislature have entrusted to the judiciary.
As an organization dedicated to advancing women in the legal profession and promoting equal access to justice, WLALA recognizes that an independent judiciary is indispensable to a fair and impartial legal system. Our courts are strongest when judges are able to faithfully fulfill their constitutional duties, free to exercise the discretion entrusted to them by law, and accountable through the judicial process, not external pressure or fear of retaliation.
WLALA respectfully reaffirms its unwavering support for judicial independence, the separation of powers, and the rule of law.
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