Criminal Law
Crim. Law Journal VOLUME 24, EDITION 1, SPRING 2024
Content
- Inside This Issue
- A Tribute To Marshall Schulman, Esq.
- From Invisibility To Hyper-visibility: How Hate Crime Legislation May Better Redress and Deter Anti-asian Hate Crimes
- In a Dog-eat-dog World, What Does a Man Have To Do To Protect His Best Friend?
- Message From the Chair
- SECTION OFFICERS & ADVISORS
- From Foster Care To the Bench: An Interview With the Honorable Judge Maria Lucy Armendariz
FROM FOSTER CARE TO THE BENCH: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE HONORABLE JUDGE MARIA LUCY ARMENDARIZ
Written by Domonique Hamilton1
INTRODUCTION
Last summer I had the amazing opportunity to meet with and interview the Honorable Judge Maria Lucy Armendariz, though she only goes by Lucy. Born and raised in East Los Angeles, Judge Armendariz is no stranger to tough times. At the age of 8 years old, Judge Armendariz’s mother was removed from her care for selling copious amounts of illegal drugs. From the age of 8 to 18, Judge Armendariz lived in foster homes. Looking for a way out, after graduating from Roosevelt High School she attended the University of California, Los Angeles. It was at UCLA she decided she wanted to pursue a career in law, and soon after attended the University of California, Hastings College of Law. After law school Judge Armendariz moved to Sacramento to work on policies and legislation, eventually working her way up to be Chief of Staff for the Senate Majority Leader. Judge Armendariz built a reputation as a strong Chief of Staff, leading her to apply for a judgeship with the State Bar Court of California. In 2007, Judge Armendariz was appointed to the State Bar Court, and stayed there until she was appointed to a Los Angeles Superior Court judgeship by Governor Jerry Brown in 2018. While at the East Los Angeles Courthouse, Judge Armendariz ran a criminal calendar. Now, as of September 2024, Judge Armendariz is a judge in the criminal division at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Courthouse in Downtown Los Angeles.
On a sunny day in July, Judge Armendariz invited me and my co-extern to observe her morning calendar before the interview. She went through all of her cases with efficiency, swiftness, and overwhelming compassion, something not all judges possess. After she went through her morning cases, she invited us into her chambers. She informed us that she was going to give the commencement speech at her high school alma mater. Loading her computer, she read us her almost complete speech, that of which exuded inspiration and relatability. Judge Armendariz is almost the epitome of the slogan "if I can do it, so can you," because what she had to go through to get to the position she is in, most people will never have to experience such hardship.