John Fielder
John L. Fielder was a judge of the Superior Court of Kern County in California. He left office in 2021.
Fielder won re-election for judge of the Superior Court of Kern County in California outright in the primary on June 5, 2018, after the general election was canceled.
Elections
2018
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Superior Court of Kern County
Incumbent John L. Fielder won election outright against M. Cole McKnight in the primary for Superior Court of Kern County on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John L. Fielder (Nonpartisan) | 59.0 | 60,499 |
| M. Cole McKnight (Nonpartisan) | 41.0 | 42,007 | ||
| Total votes: 102,506 | |||
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2012
- See also: California judicial elections, 2012'
Fielder ran for re-election to the superior court in 2012. As an unopposed incumbent, his name did not appear on the ballot. After the primary election, Fielder was automatically re-elected.[1]
Selection method
- See also: Nonpartisan election
The 1,535 judges of the California Superior Courts compete in nonpartisan races in even-numbered years. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the June primary election, he or she is declared the winner; if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates is held during the November general election.[2][3][4][5]
If an incumbent judge is running unopposed in an election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot. The judge is automatically re-elected following the general election.[2]
The chief judge of any given superior court is selected by peer vote of the court's members. He or she serves in that capacity for one or two years, depending on the county.[2]
Qualifications
Candidates are required to have 10 years of experience as a law practitioner or as a judge of a court of record.[2]
Noteworthy events
Fielder publicly admonished for courtroom conduct
On May 14, 2015, the California Commission on Judicial Performance issued a public admonishment against Fielder for engaging "in improper conduct when interacting with a member of court administration regarding the reassignment of another judge’s courtroom clerk and, on a different occasion, when interacting with an attorney regarding the filing of a motion and supporting papers with the court."[6]
Specifically, Fielder was cited for his conduct towards Deputy Chief Court Executive Officer for Court Operations Marie Castaneda when discussing the reassignment of Fielder's clerk. Fielder admitted that he had "improperly displayed considerable irritation toward the court administrator and engaged in a discussion that was too aggressive, too heavy-handed, and could have been intimidating to court administration." He was also admonished by the commission for his involvement with a case presided over by Judge Cory Woodward. An attorney in the case presented Fielder with a temporary stay of enforcement of Woodward's decision on the case, and Fielder than asked the attorney to tone down the declarations regarding Woodward in the stay before it was filed. The commission thus found that Fielder "abused his authority by summoning an attorney into his chambers and suggesting in any way that the declaration not be filed as presented due to his stated concerns about the court’s reputation and Judge Woodward’s family."[6]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Kern County Registrar of Voters, Candidate Handbookscroll to page 18
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: California," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Safeguarding California's judicial election process," August 21, 2011
- ↑ California Elections Code, "Section 8203," accessed May 21, 2014
- ↑ California Elections Code, "Section 8140-8150," accessed May 21, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 California Commission on Judicial Performance, "Public Admonishment of Judge John L. Fielder," May 14, 2015
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