LaDoris Cordell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
LaDoris Cordell
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Judge of the Superior Court, Santa Clara County, San Jose, California | |
| In office June 1988 – February 2001 |
|
| Judge of the Municipal Court, Santa Clara County, San Jose, California | |
| In office April 1982 – June 1988 |
|
| Appointed by | Jerry Brown |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
LaDoris Louise Hazzard
November 19, 1949 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Education | Antioch College (BA) Stanford University (JD) |
LaDoris Hazzard Cordell (born November 19, 1949) is a retired American judge who served on the Superior Court of California. She is known for her work to make the justice system fairer for everyone. She was also the Independent Police Auditor for the city of San Jose, California, where she reviewed police actions.
Cordell was the first African American woman to become a judge in Northern California. She was also the first African American to serve on the Superior Court in Santa Clara County, California. For over ten years, she taught other judges about proper conduct and ethics.
While working at Stanford Law School from 1978 to 1982, Cordell created a new program to help more African American and Latino students get into the school. Thanks to her work, Stanford Law School quickly became a leader in enrolling students of color.
Contents
Education and Early Career
LaDoris Cordell earned a bachelor's degree from Antioch College in 1971. She then went to Stanford Law School and graduated with a law degree in 1974.
In 1975, she worked with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, an organization that fights for civil rights. After that, she worked as a lawyer in East Palo Alto. She helped people with many different kinds of legal problems.
A Career in Law and Public Service
Becoming a Judge
In 1982, California's governor, Jerry Brown, appointed Cordell to be a municipal court judge. She was the first judge in California to order that special devices be put in the cars of people found guilty of unsafe driving. These devices helped prevent them from driving unsafely again.
In 1988, she was elected to the Santa Clara County Superior Court. There, she was in charge of different court departments, including the family court and the probate court (which handles wills and estates).
Helping the Community
Judge Cordell has used her talents to help others in many ways. In 1990, she started the African American Donor Task Force. This group encouraged more Black people to sign up for the national bone marrow registry to help save lives.
She is also a talented artist. In 1996, she held an art show and gave all the money to a group that helps women and children in crisis. She also drew cartoons for calendars and sold them to raise thousands of dollars for a non-profit group that gives legal help to young people. In 2002, another art show raised over $13,000 for a mural project in East Palo Alto.
In 2014, Cordell co-founded the African American Composer Initiative. This organization shares the music of Black composers with the world through concerts and online recordings.
Working for Fairness
From 2010 to 2015, Cordell was the Independent Police Auditor for the city of San Jose. Her job was to provide fair and unbiased oversight of the police department.
In 2015, she was part of a special group called the Blue Ribbon Panel on Transparency, Accountability, and Fairness in Law Enforcement. The panel was created after it was discovered that some San Francisco Police Department officers had sent many inappropriate and hurtful text messages. The panel suggested 81 ways to improve the police department.
That same year, she led another group called the Blue Ribbon Commission on Improving Custody Operations. This commission was formed after a man with a mental illness was badly harmed in the Santa Clara County jail. The group made 120 recommendations to better protect the rights and safety of people in jail.
Important Cases and Investigations
Throughout her career, Cordell has been involved in many important issues.
- The Judge Persky Recall: In 2018, many voters were upset by a sentencing decision made by Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky. This led to a special vote, called a recall, and Judge Persky was removed from his job. Cordell, who also went to Stanford Law School, disagreed with the recall campaign and spoke out against it.
- Foothills Park: For many years, a large park in Palo Alto called Foothills Park was only open to people who lived in the city. In 2020, Cordell was one of the people who sued the city to change this rule. Represented by the ACLU, they won the case, and the park is now open to everyone.
- San Mateo County Investigation: In 2024, San Mateo County hired Judge Cordell to investigate complaints against the County Sheriff's office. After she released her long report, the county's Board of Supervisors asked Sheriff Christina Corpus to resign.
Recent Work and Media
In 2021, Cordell published a book called Her Honor: My Life on the Bench...What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It. She calls it a "primoir," which is a mix of a primer (a book of basic facts) and a memoir (a story of her life). The book discusses problems in the legal system and how to fix them.
Cordell often appears on news channels like CNN, MSNBC, and NPR to share her legal expertise. She has also been quoted in major newspapers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Awards and Honors
Judge Cordell has received more than 40 awards for her work, including:
- The Chief Justice Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award from the ACLU of Northern California.
- The Crystal Gavel Award from the California Association of Black Lawyers.
- Induction into Stanford University’s Multicultural Hall of Fame.
- The Silicon Valley Black Legends Hall of Fame Award for Law & Justice.
