2025 Regional Virtual Town Halls: In 2025, the Judicial Fairness Coalition launched a series of regional town halls, intended to make more information about the role of the third branch of government available, foster a greater understanding of the legal system, and create greater transparency between the judiciary and the public. The town halls are presented in collaboration with the California Lawyers Association and the California Lawyers Foundation.

Each town hall is titled “Judges & Politics: Navigating the Intersection of Law, Power and Ethics,” and features a local panel of judges as well as a local moderator. There are four town halls in the series – three are virtual, and the fourth town hall will be presented in collaboration with McGeorge School of Law and offers both in-person and virtual options.

The town hall format was based on a script that includes an overview of the judicial branch and rule of law, and an explanation of the impact of threats to judicial independence. In each town hall, panelists also answer questions both submitted in advance by participants and submitted during the virtual event. Learn more and register to attend HERE.

What do we mean when we talk about judicial independence?

Committee Description:

The California Judges Association launched the Judicial Fairness Coalition (JFC) on August 1, 2018 as a result of the overwhelming support in the judicial and legal communities to promptly and strategically respond to unfair criticism and false and misleading information against justices, judges and the judiciary and stand together to affirm the independence of the judiciary. The JFC is a statewide coalition of active and retired justices and judges, bar associations and their leaders, and law school deans and professors.

The JFC is dedicated to civic education and community outreach and provides the public with information to help them better understand legal issues related to a specific situation, including the role of judges, the rule of law, the ethical restrictions and responsibilities placed on judges, judicial selection and elections, qualifications that candidates should possess for judicial office, and judicial independence.

Resources:

The JFC has developed a number of resources to help educate the voting public about the importance of judicial independence. Additionally, statewide regional resource guides are available which contain a collection of community, legal and media related entities that judicial officers might want to call upon to ask for assistance when facing a challenge. Please choose the guide for your geographic region: