Help is limited for judges impacted by wildfires

Last week, as the Los Angeles County fires devoured several judges' homes, California Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero asked a question on many people's minds: "What do you do when you lose everything?"

The answer turns out to be more complicated when one is an elected official. Speaking during her annual sit-down meeting with reporters in San Francisco on Thursday, Guerrero said, "Our heart goes out to all of our court family who's been impacted." But she added that there is only so much she is allowed to do.

"There's limitations in terms of what can be done for the judicial officers because of the canons that would preclude judicial officers from accepting gifts from people," she said.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court spokesperson said last week that at least 13 judicial officers with the court have lost their homes, along with several court staff members.

Under the California Code of Judicial Ethics, judges are limiting to accepting gifts of "little or nominal value." The rules can be especially strict when it comes to attorneys. For instance, a judge "must disclose campaign contributions of $100 or more from a party, lawyer, or law office or firm in a matter before the judge, or from a witness or other person whose credibility the judge will evaluate." This means judges are mostly precluded from accepting help from the kinds of extended professional networks that many Angelenos are using to help make it through the crisis.

Unlike California state judges, federal judges never face voters and therefore aren't elected officials. This might make it easier for them to receive help. Spokespersons for the U.S. Central District of California said last week that several of their judges have lost homes, including some who are receiving shelter from co-workers or people in law enforcement.

Another possible answer could be the thing many are talking about in the wake of the fires: insurance. The Judicial Council also offers several kinds of insurance to judicial officers, including health and life insurance, and some lesser-known kinds of insurance coverage.

But council spokesman Blaine Corren said offering homeowners insurance to judges is not currently under consideration.

"Providing supplemental homeowners' insurance is not within the council's role or authority," Corren said in an email. "But we do sympathize with judges, court staff, and everyone else affected by the Southern California wildfires, and we're currently investigating the potential mechanisms, as well as ethical and legal issues, related to providing assistance to judges and court staff as soon as possible."

The California Judges Association offers several types of insurance for judicial officers and their families. These include disability, long-term care, travel insurance and a policy to protect from the negative outcomes of identity theft. Other policies cover pets, a "genomic life" policy that offers genetic testing for rare inherited health conditions, and an excess liability insurance coverage policy that would, for instance, cover additional liability for a car accident.

"We carry insurance products when we believe they would assist judges," said Mike Belote, who represents the association as a lobbyist with California Advocates in Sacramento. "Homeowners' insurance is a highly complicated subject, and we haven't yet considered something like that."

The Judicial Council's annual budget includes a Judicial Performance Defense Insurance policy. Judges can tap this policy to pay for their legal defense when they are accused of misconduct by the Commission on Judicial Performance. According to documents shared by Gov. Gavin Newsom's office when he introduced his draft budget for the coming fiscal year on Jan. 10, the cost of this program rose by $257,000 between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 budget years, to nearly $2 million annually.

The ability to obtain homeowners insurance coverage could eventually become a factor in recruitment and retention of judicial officers in fire prone areas. The state has seen a wave of retirements among judges in recent years, with many heading into the typically much more lucrative alternate dispute resolution industry.

But Guerrero told reporters last week that she was confident Newsom would fill most of the open judicial slots with qualified appointees during his last term in office.

"I don't lose too much sleep over retirements," she said.