By Carol Kingsley
San Franciscans deserve to have the most qualified and experienced candidate possible as their next judge on the Superior Court. I aim to take my 30 plus years of experience in the law, in public service, and life to provide all parties in the court with fair and equal justice. I am the only candidate with substantial legal experience that directly transfers to the bench.
I have been a lawyer for more than 30 years, including partnerships at three San Francisco law firms. I am also a small business owner of Kingsley Mediation Services. For the past 11 years, I have served as a neutral mediator working with conflicting parties to resolve hundreds of disputes outside of costly and time-consuming litigation. At the court, my mediation skills will help interested litigants avoid the time and expense of lengthy trials in this period of crowded and underfunded courts.
Also, I am an experienced hearing officer who, as a member of the Police Commission, has conducted evidentiary hearings and determined guilt and penalty in serious police discipline cases, using the same essential skills and temperament required of a Superior Court judge.
My public service and work in San Francisco complement my legal qualifications. City Attorney Louise Renne appointed me to the Ethics Commission, where I served as Chair for two terms and helped strengthen lobbying rules and established public financing of local campaigns. I was also appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom to the San Francisco Police Commission, where I worked to resolve a large backlog of serious police misconduct cases.
While President of the San Francisco Women Lawyers’ Alliance, I helped to create a waiting room in the Hall of Justice so that children have a safe place to go when their parents are in court, especially important in criminal cases. The children’s waiting room was so successful in addressing an unmet need that another was established in the Civic Center San Francisco Superior Court building, and other courts nationwide have replicated the concept.
On a personal note, I know what it’s like to be a victim of violent crime. In 1993, my husband Jack Berman was murdered in the 101 California Street mass killings in downtown San Francisco. Since that time, I have raised our then 15-month-old son as a single mother. This tragedy propelled me into action to make our communities safer and, with others, to found the Law Center Against Violence. Over the past two decades, the Center and I have helped to push for more than 30 new state and local laws in California to help reduce the number of gun deaths.
Finally, it is critically important that we strive for gender equity on the bench. Women are graduating from law school at greater percentages than men, but our judiciary does not reflect that reality. With the retirement of Judge Charlotte Woolard from the San Francisco Court, we have the opportunity to at least maintain the percentage of women on the court with my election.
Please vote for me as “the most experienced and best qualified”(San Francisco Chronicle endorsement) candidate in the judge’s race.
For more information about Carol Kingsley and to get involved in her campaign, please visit http://www.kingsley4judge.com/
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