Carolyn Park

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Carolyn Park

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

High school

John Marshall High School

Bachelor's

Tulane University, 2000

Law

Loyola Law School, 2003

Personal

Birthplace

Los Angeles, Calif.

Profession

Attorney at law

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Carolyn Park (also known as Jiyoung) ran for election for judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Park completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Carolyn Park was born in Los Angeles, California. She earned a high school diploma from John Marshall High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from Tulane University in 2000 and a law degree from Loyola Law School in 2003. Her career experience includes working as an attorney at law.

Elections

2022

See also: Municipal elections in Los Angeles County, California (2022)

General election

General election for Superior Court of Los Angeles County

Melissa Hammond defeated Carolyn Park in the general election for Superior Court of Los Angeles County on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Melissa Hammond (Nonpartisan)	61.7	1,149,236
		Carolyn Park (Nonpartisan)	38.3	713,333

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,862,569
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Superior Court of Los Angeles County

The following candidates ran in the primary for Superior Court of Los Angeles County on June 7, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Melissa Hammond (Nonpartisan)	29.5	377,672
✔		Carolyn Park (Nonpartisan)	22.5	288,424
		Keith Koyano (Nonpartisan)	17.0	216,998
		Georgia Huerta (Nonpartisan)	15.1	193,439
	Submit photo	Klint McKay (Nonpartisan)	13.8	176,898
	Submit photo	Shawn Thever (Nonpartisan)	2.1	26,754

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,280,185
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Park's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Carolyn Park completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Park's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Carolyn “Jiyoung” Park is a daughter of Korean immigrants and was born and raised in Los Angeles. She is running to diversify the bench and bring a common sense, fair, and community-informed perspective. She graduated from public high school, attended college at Tulane University, and earned her law degree at Loyola Law School. She externed at the Loyola Law School Disability Mediation Center to assist in resolving conflicts over disability issues through mediation. She also externed for Federal Magistrate Judge Stephen J. Hillman.

Jiyoung spent a third of her 18-year legal career working at a public sector union representing state workers in collective bargaining, administrative law hearings, arbitrations, and in civil court. She has also has experience in criminal, civil, immigration, family, tenant/landlord, juvenile, business, and intellectual property matters.

Jiyoung currently has a private practice handling civil rights, labor, tenant and small business matters. She is a Sustainable Economies Legal Fellow and a member of the Just Transition Lawyering Institute. Her pro bono and volunteer legal work has included representing people exercising their constitutional rights and asylum seekers.

Jiyoung currently serves as an elected, volunteer Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Governing Board member and Liaison to the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Bring a people's perspective to the bench. Most judges are former prosecutors and corporate lawyers. I chose a career advocating for people. My experience working directly with Angelenos from all walks of life allows me to truly be a fair judge.
• Ensure fair trials and access to justice. Everyone should have a fair trial, including those with disabilities and non-English speakers, and regardless of one’s income, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, or religion.
• ncrease diversity of legal background and demographics in the courts. Judges and juries should reflect the diversity of Los Angeles County. Only 38.7% of LA Superior Court judges are women, and Asian American judges are underrepresented.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

We’re seeing the dire consequences of having judges who are out of touch and do not represent the diversity of our communities. The vast majority of judges have been prosecutors and corporate attorneys for too long. In fact, nearly 80% of elected judges in Los Angeles County have been prosecutors even though we have nine-different types of courts in the Los Angeles Superior Court system - civil, family, probate, small claims, traffic, juvenile, criminal, mental health and appellate. We will not have a justice systems that serves our communities equitably until we have more judges who women, people of color, and have a legal background working directly with a wide range community members and system-impacted people.

A 2021 study found that a judge with a prosecutorial background is 56% less likely to decide in favor of a worker than a judge with nonprosecutorial background.

I bring a much-need perspective as a Korean American woman with a background in union-side labor and plaintiff-side civil litigator.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

When judges are elected, they can be assigned to civil, criminal, probate, family, small claims, traffic, juvenile, mental health and appellate courts. It is highly likely that a judge will have to learn a new body of law and certain that a judge will have to learn a new role in the courtroom. Therefore, a new judge will have to be flexible, adaptable, studious, and learn quickly on job. The most important responsibility of a judge is to apply the fairly and equitably.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

When judges are elected, they can be assigned to any of the nine types of courts in the Los Angeles Superior Court system - civil, criminal, probate, family, small claims, traffic, juvenile, mental health and appellate courts. A majority of judges must learn a new body of law when they are assigned to a court.

Do you believe that empathy is an important quality for a judge?

Empathy is a critical quality for a judge. A judge must apply the law fairly, but a judge must have empathy in order to apply the law equitably. It is empathy that allows a judge to treat every person who comes before the court with the same respect and dignity regardless of race, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, occupation, age, or ability.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for a judge to have previous experience in government or politics?

It is beneficial for a judge to understand how policies and government affect our communities, especially with respect to the justice system, so that they have context for the role of judges in our government.

What is your primary concern about today's legal system in your state?

The judiciary lacks diversity of legal background and does not reflect the diversity of our communities in Los Angeles County.

Do you believe that Bar Association ratings are an accurate reflection of a judge’s ability?

I am aware that my opponent is running on the fact that I was rated “not qualified” by the Los Angeles County Bar Association Judicial Election Endorsement Committee (JEEC). I am not your typical judicial candidate, who is a male and a prosecutor. Attorneys with my legal background are underrepresented on the judicial bench and on self-selected, volunteer bar rating committees like the JEEC. This body rated every female public defender candidate and myself lower than the prosecutors and male candidates. It is not a coincidence.

Bar ratings are problematic and have been a contributing factor to the lack of diversity on the judicial bench. In fact, last year the Biden administration made the decision not to restore the American Bar Association’s quasi-official gatekeeper role in vetting potential federal judges before the president decides whether to nominate them. Most of the “not qualified” ratings the bar group produced were for women or people of color. The JEEC bar ratings produce similar results as evidenced by the ratings of the female public defenders and myself, an attorney whose litigation experience is mostly in union-side labor law.

The JEEC has no objective criteria for determining what is “courtroom experience”. The sole reason for my rating is an alleged lack of courtroom experience, when in fact I have a great deal of litigation experience. I have won workers’ jobs back. I have won cases to restore workers’ rights. While I believe that the intentions of JEEC members are good, their evaluations are subjective and based on their respective life and legal experience.

Finally, the JEEC vetting process was incomplete. The JEEC member who was responsible for interviewing my 75 references never interviewed my two most recent supervisors who know my litigation experience best. This member is a corporate defense attorney. Despite this institutional gatekeeping, the voters propelled me into the general elections.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2022 Elections

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Candidate

Superior Court of Los Angeles County

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Footnotes

California courts

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Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California

State courts:

California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts

State resources:

Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California