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Christine Carringer recall, Solano County, California (2017)
| Solano County Judicial recall |
|---|
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2018 Recalls in California California recall laws Special district recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Christine A. Carringer from her position as a judge of the Superior Court of Solano County in California was initiated in July 2017. The group seeking the recall accused Carringer of not following the law in custody cases involving domestic violence. Judge Carringer denied the allegations and said that she always followed the law and always had the children's best interests in mind. The recall petition was approved on September 11, 2017, and recall proponents were able to begin collecting signatures.[1] Recall proponents did not submit the required amount of signatures so the recall did not go to a vote.
In April 2018, a group called the California Protective Mothers of Solano County petitioned the California Assembly to impeach Judge Solano.[2]
Carringer was appointed to the court in December 2013 by Governor Jerry Brown (D). She was elected in 2014 to a term that expired in January 2021.
Recall supporters
Recall supporters said that Carringer had favored fathers in custody cases despite the fathers having histories of domestic violence. A group of people protested outside the courthouse about two weeks after the recall notice was served. Protester Diana Costo held a sign that read, "Carringer ripping kids from loving homes since 2013."[3]
The following quote is an excerpt from the Recall Judge Christine Carringer website:
| “ | The greatest cause for concern is her continual violations of litigants' right to due process, and her clear bias against mothers. Even when there is a proven history of abuse by a parent, she will rule to take all custody from a good parent, even without the parent asking for it. She threatens parents that she will take custody of their children if they dare ask for restraining orders. She violates parents constitutional rights by creating orders that they are never allowed to call the police against the father even if he is breaking the law. She demands that women staying in domestic violence shelters are to disclose their confidential addresses in front of the perpetrators and Judge Carringer doles out opinions of "mental illness" without a doctor's diagnosis. She has been known to take children without even giving mothers a reason why when they ask.[4] | ” |
| —Recall Judge Christine Carringer website[5] | ||
Recall opponents
In Judge Carringer's response to the recall notice, she denied that she had ignored any laws and stated that none of her rulings had been reversed in a higher court. "Family law matters are among the most contentious cases in the courthouse. A judge must have courage to follow the law without regard to public or political passions and pressures," she said.[3]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in California
The petition that allowed recall proponents to begin collecting signatures was approved on September 11, 2017. The recall campaign needed to collect 23,972 valid signatures in 160 days in order to put the recall on the ballot.[1][6]
For judges in California, Section 14 of Article II of the California Constitution mandates that the required recall petition signatures be equal to 20 percent of the votes cast for the judge in the last election rather than a percentage of registered voters. In the case of a county superior court judge position that did not appear on the ballot at the last relevant election, signatures equaling 20 percent of votes cast for whichever countywide office received the least total number of votes in the most recent general election in the judge's county must be collected to qualify a recall of the judge for the ballot.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Christine Carringer recall. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- Solano County Superior Court website
- Recall Carringer website
- Recall Carringer Facebook page
- Solano County Recall Events Facebook page
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Times-Herald, "Local women working for recall of Solano County family court judge," July 22, 2017
- ↑ Solano Families United, "Impeachment Petition," accessed May 4, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Times-Herald, "Protesters gather at Solano County Hall of Justice," August 3, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Recall Judge Christine Carringer, "Home," accessed September 30, 2017
- ↑ The Reporter, "Petition to recall family court judge gains steam," September 15, 2017