Things Judicial
Judge Cordell can speak about anything involving the work of state court trial judges including judicial selection, judicial discipline, judicial elections, juries, plea bargains, sentencing, the variety of cases over which trial judges preside and the challenges they face when hearing cases that include criminal, juvenile, drunk driving, adoptions, name changes, mental health, probate. Audiences find everyday real life dramas that play out in courtrooms across America to be fascinating. Judge Cordell is, at heart, a storyteller who enjoys bringing audiences into her courtroom by talking about the variety of cases over which she presided, many of which are described in Her Honor.

Judicial Activism
Judge Cordell was a judicial activist in the sense that she sought ways to improve the legal system by thinking outside of the box. For example, Judge Cordell was the first judge in California (possibly in the nation) to require convicted drunk drivers to install breath devices in their cars to prevent them from starting their cars if they have been drinking. (2) in the family court, she created the nation’s first Supervised Visitation Program to enable non-custodial parents to visit with their children under the supervision of senior citizens at neighborhood community centers; and (3) Judge Cordell occasionally utilized a creative approach to sentencing, such as when she sentenced two young white men to attend a seminar on third world cultures after they were convicted of burning a cross on the lawn of a black family.

Social justice reforms in the legal system
Judge Cordell proposals to improve the legal system include (1) changing law school curricula to include training on judging; (2) abolishing the election of judges and instead, utilizing merit selection commissions; (3) limiting the recall of judges to situations wherein the judge has committed malfeasance, failed to perform her duties, or been convicted of a serious crime and never based on a judges’ lawful, albeit controversial decisions; (4) increasing pay for jury duty; (5) requiring jury trials for juveniles charged with felonies; (6) abolishing the
felony-murder rule; (7) abolishing life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders; (8) enact legislation to stop racial bias in the use of peremptory challenges; (9) put an end to coercive plea bargains; and (10) bring transparency to judicial disciplinary proceedings. The next to last chapter in Her Honor is titled “The Fix” wherein Judge Cordell wrote about these proposed reforms.

Policing
Judge Cordell was the Independent Police Auditor for the City of San Jose, CA for five years (2010-2015). She can talk about policing in America, Supreme Court rulings that have given police their Superpowers (e.g. allowing pretext traffic stops; allowing cops to lie to arrestees), and about proposed reforms ranging from body-worn cameras to civilian oversight to reimagining policing. Judge Cordell chaired two Blue Ribbon Commissions, one in San Jose that evaluated the jails in Santa Clara County following the murder of a mentally ill inmate by three jail officers, and one in San Francisco that evaluated the SF Police Department in the aftermath of a racist/sexist texting scandal.

“100 Retired Judges Defend California’s Judiciary on Constitution Day”

“She was the first Black female judge in Northern California — and she has a message about the future of her profession”

“Help people like Britney Spears by reforming conservatorship laws”

“LaDoris Cordell: Civil Rights Crusader on the Bench”

“Binah: Steven Zipperstein and LaDoris Cordell with Rabbi Sydney Mintz”

“New Rules For California Police On Collecting Racial Data”