Los Angeles Superior Court Stanley Mosk Courthouse (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images))
VOTERS RARELY GIVE MUCH THOUGHT to elections for local judges.
But a contest in which a young prosecutor is challenging a controversial octogenarian Los Angeles County Superior Judge cuts to the heart of an issue that has been roiling national politics for years: Should you stay in your job if you are very old, or ill?
On one side of the race is Tal K. Valbuena, a 44-year-old prosecutor who came to the U.S. at age 18 from Pakistan, learned English, and worked his way up from dishwasher to community college student to George Washington University Law School. He said he decided to pursue law after serving on a jury in a case where an innocent Black man was charged with murder.
For the last 10 years, Valbuena has been a deputy district attorney, much of it in the mental health unit in the Hollywood Courthouse working with homeless and other mentally ill people accused of violent crimes.
On the other side of the race is Robert S. Draper, 84, who was appointed to the bench in 2012 after a nearly four-decade career with O’Melveny & Myers, a top law firm. In elections since, has been unopposed — until now.
If reelected this year, he’ll be 90 years old at the end of the judicial term. Draper has also not heard a case since 2023, when he said he was put on administrative leave and cut off from his court email after a series of complaints about his conduct. But Draper said it was unfair to generalize about his age just as it would be to generalize about race or ethnicity.
“I love being able to serve and that is why I’m running again for one last six-year term,” Draper told L.A. Material in response to written questions. “Because I think it would be a terrible waste for me and for you for me not to do so.”
Age has long been an issue in the judicial system. Unlike Superior Court judges, federal jurists have lifetime appointments and legal commentators have raised concerns that some continue to serve despite steep age-related decline; the median age of the federal judiciary is about 68, according to the Federal Judicial Center. In California, state judges like Draper are typically appointed by the Governor, but must stand for election at the end of a six-year term, giving voters a chance to evaluate the job they are doing.
Valbuena decided to run against Draper after reading about allegations against the jurist that became public in January following a lengthy investigation.
That’s when the Commission on Judicial Performance, the state body that evaluates claims of judicial misconduct, accused Draper of unethical, inappropriate, and in some instances, erratic, behavior.
The Commission alleges that Draper twice told the then-Presiding Judge of L.A. Superior Court, Samantha Jessner, “You look cute when you are mad,” or words to that effect.
In 2023, he emailed out to 11 people, including retired Judge Lance Ito, a confidential 2017 decision in an earlier child abuse case he handled involving a parent who was a public figure which included “multiple photographs” of two naked children in a bathtub.
In an email to a colleague about his health issues, he included “graphic” photos of himself, including a photo from behind without clothes on, according to the Commission.
While presiding over a case in 2023 involving an employment dispute, Draper was discussing his “personal views on African-American people, miscegenation, Black history, Black football players, the Civil Rights Act, and the Black Lives Matter movement.” The case did not involve claims of racial discrimination, according to the Commission, but a lawyer and two of the litigants in the case were Black.
One of the lawyers questioned Draper as to why he raised miscegenation and other topics during a court proceeding.
“It doesn’t have meaning for this case except that we’re all a part of the world. We’re all a part of our United States. And I’m very proud of our country,” Draper said. Later that day, he told the lawyers on the case an anecdote about male lawyers who slept with female secretaries and had told the secretaries, “You better be able to f*** better than you can type.”
Draper told L.A. Material “the charges are all false and we will prove it,” although he declined to detail his defense, citing ethics rules. He promised to present a robust defense when his case is heard on April 27, and suggested he was being wronged by fellow judges with a nefarious agenda.
At that upcoming hearing, the Commission will have witnesses testify and present evidence, and the Commission will ultimately decide whether or not to remove, censure or otherwise discipline Draper. However the Commission proceeds, its decision is unlikely to be handed down before the June primary election.
Valbuena said he had “profound respect” for Draper, explaining, “He has served the public for many years….and he deserves credit for it.”
But Valbuena said the allegations by the Commission convinced him to enter the race for judicial seat number two, the slot that Draper has held: “The public’s trust in the judicial system in seat number two has been tarnished, and that needs to be restored. And so that’s why I’m running.”
Valbuena said he waited to finalize his candidacy until he met Draper himself.
“I wanted to do this for the right reason and right manner so I met with him for lunch,” Valbuena said. After 90 minutes of observing Draper in person, Valbuena said he decided he should run.
“I feel like the public needs a judicial officer who can start hearing cases and fulfill their duties faithfully,” Valbuena said.
L.A. Superior Court is the largest trial court in the nation, with about 429 judges.
“The judiciary is suffering. There are many vacant positions,” Valbuena said. “Their dockets are backlogged,” adding, “I want to give as many years of service to the judiciary as possible.”
Asked about Valbuena, Draper said: “I have met my opponent and he is a very nice young man. I have nothing negative to say about him.”
Much of Draper’s tenure as a state judge was spent in juvenile dependency court, which handles cases involving children who have been abused or neglected. He told L.A. Material that most of that time, he has had Parkinson’s, which he was diagnosed with in 2014.
“So look at any of the opinions I’ve written or talk to any party who is honest and you will find that Parkinson’s is a condition, like age, not a disqualification,” he said.
There are 15 judicial seats on the ballot in June, although only 11 have competitive races.
