CV

LaDORIS HAZZARD CORDELL
EDUCATION
B.A., Antioch College, 1971
J.D., Stanford Law School, 1974

PROFESSIONAL
May 2010-July 2015, Independent Police Auditor, City of San Jose: following a national search, appointed by the Mayor and San Jose City Council; elevated the profile of The Office of the IPA to national prominence; conducted intakes of citizen complaints; participated in SJ Police Department Internal Affairs (IA) interviews of subject police officers; audited 1,300 investigations of citizen complaints conducted by IA; and made 92 recommendations to SJPD to improve its policies and procedures (such as the collection and analysis of pedestrian and vehicle stop data, the utilization of body-worn cameras, the expansion of the definition of the use of force to include provocation and proportionality, and the prohibition of chokeholds).

Consulted by: the Kenyan government and a United Nations consultant; the California Highway Patrol; the New York City Police Monitor; community groups in Pasadena, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, and Oakland, California, Greensboro, North Carolina, and Dallas, Texas; Washington State’s civilian oversight office; New Mexico’s police oversight commissioner; Colorado’s civilian oversight office; the University of Minnesota; Stanford University; and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, Washington D.C.

January 2003-2017, KPIX 5 TV News; CBS SF Bay Area: on-camera legal analyst. 

January 2004-January 2008, Palo Alto City Councilmember: In this contested citywide election, ran a successful grassroots campaign in which she accepted no monetary contributions. Led the successful effort to bring independent civilian oversight of the police to the City of Palo Alto.

March 2001-January 2009, Vice Provost and Special Counselor to the President for Campus Relations, Stanford University: supervised the Office for Campus Relations (30 employees and five offices: Ombuds, Sexual Harassment Policy, WorkLife, Diversity & Access, and The Help Center); reported directly to the President of the university; prepared the university’s annual affirmative action plan; advised university management on matters related to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination; conducted the university’s sexual harassment training of staff and faculty; was the university’s Title IX Compliance Officer (conducted the university’s NCAA Certification in 2008, resulting in Stanford athletic’s certification for ten years); created the Community Treasures program that recognized the community service of Stanford University staff; and, at public events sponsored by the university, interviewed Anita Hill, Julian Bond, Joycelyn Elders, Faye Wattleton and Billie Jean King.

June 1988-February 2001, Judge of the Superior Court, Santa Clara County, San Jose, California: elected in a 1988 county-wide contested election.

1990-1992, Supervising Judge of the Family Court: created the Supervised Visitation Project, the first of its kind in the nation, where senior citizens monitor court-ordered visits between children and non-custodial parents; implemented a case management system in the family court that resulted in the more efficient and humane handling of family cases; the backlog of cases awaiting trial dates was reduced from several months to 8 weeks, and the settlement rate increased from 70% to 96%; designed and conducted educational programs for family court lawyers and litigants (including a training program for paralegals, orientation videotape for litigants, programs on representing children in family court, and a training program for pro tem judges).

1993, Presiding Judge of the Superior Court Appellate Department

1993, Supervising Judge of the Master Settlement Calendar: implemented an innovative approach to settling complex family, probate, criminal, dependency, and delinquency cases.

1994-1995, Supervising Judge of the Probate Court: created the G.R.E.A.T. Project (Guardianship Review and Evaluation Assessment Team) in which private citizens volunteered to monitor children who were placed in court-ordered guardianships.

April 1982-June 1988, Judge of the Municipal Court, Santa Clara County, San Jose, California (appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in 1982): as the Presiding Judge in 1985-86, restructured the calendaring system to diversify case assignments for judges resulting in greater efficiency in handling cases; as Justice Pro Tem, State Court of Appeal, Sixth District in 1986 (appointed by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court to a 3-month assignment), authored eleven opinions, one of which was certified for publication.

The first judge in California to order convicted drunk drivers to install breath devices in their vehicles (now mandated throughout the country); in partnership with the National Conference of Christians & Jews, established the first formal restitution program for crime victims in Santa Clara County; and created an educational video program for high school students entitled You Be the Judge.

September 1978-April 1982, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, Stanford Law School: implemented a minority recruitment program that made Stanford Law School the leader in the nation in its enrollment and retention of law students of color.

1976-1982, Private Practice, East Palo Alto, California: the first attorney to open a private law practice in East Palo Alto, a predominately African American and Mexican American community; the law practice included criminal defense, personal injury, family law, and federal civil rights litigation.

1975-1976, Earl Warren Intern, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund: the first person in the western region of the United States to receive an Earl Warren Fellowship.

PRO BONO COMMUNITY SERVICE
2020: The lead plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit that lifted entry restrictions to Foothills Park in Palo Alto, CA.

2020: Co-founder, CA ParksForAll, www.caparksforall.org/advocate

2020: Member, The Innocence Commission, Office of San Francisco District Attorney

2016: Chairperson, Blue Ribbon Commission on Custodial Operations of the Santa Clara County Jails (created in aftermath of the murder of a mentally ill inmate by jail guards)

2016: Member, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Blue Ribbon Panel (charged with investigating the misconduct of SF police officers involved in a racist texting scandal)

2015: Co-founder, African American Composer Initiative, www.aacinitiative.org

2014: Chairperson, Task Force on Racial Discrimination, San Jose State University (regarding the racial bullying of an African American student)

2005-2009: Advisory Board, Stanford Medical Youth Science Program Board of Trustees, Stanford Charter Schools

2003: Sponsor and participant in AIDS Walk, Santa Clara County

2002: a public exhibition and auction of my artwork were held at Palo Alto City Hall; all proceeds were donated to the East Palo Alto Mural Art Project.

1998, 1999, 2000, and 2015: created calendars featuring my original cartoons for Legal Advocates for Children and Youth, the East Palo Alto Mural & Music Project, and the Teen Leadership Council, nonprofit organizations; calendar sales generated several thousand dollars for the organizations.

1996: a public exhibition and auction of my artwork were held at the Palo Alto City Hall, and at Foothill College; all proceeds from the sale of the drawings were donated to the Support Network for Battered Women and Child Advocates of Santa Clara County.

1995-2001: Board of Trustees, Mills College, Oakland, CA

1995-2006: Board of Trustees, National Conference for Community & Justice

1994-2006: Board of Trustees, Lucile Packard Foundation for Children

1994: Advisory Board, East Palo Alto Mural Art & Music Project

1993-1995: Board of Trustees, Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund

1990-1999: Board of Trustees, United Way of Santa Clara County

1990-1992: Founder, African American Donor Task Force (to increase the donor pool of African Americans for blood, bone marrow, and organs)

1991: Project Diversity Steering Committee, the City of San Jose (the task Force formulated a policy adopted by the City Council which opened the City’s boards and commissions to people of color)

1988: Participant, South Africa’s first Human Rights Conference, and was detained by the South African police (the subject of Color of Justice, an award-winning PBS documentary based upon that South Africa visit)

1987: Advisory Committee, San Francisco Family Violence Project

1982-1985: Chairperson, Board of Directors, East Palo Alto Community Law Project

Featured in highly acclaimed documentaries: Cruel & Unusual (California’s 3-strikes law); Color of Justice (detention by South African police); Retro Report - The NY Times (3-strikes law); and Juvenile Justice (juveniles trials in adult court).

Guest appearances include PBS News Hour; Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman; Good Morning America; Nightline; The Mehdi Hasan Show (MSNBC); CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield; The Source With Kaitlan Collins (CNN); The Week with Joshua Johnson (MSNBC); The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell (MSNBC); Dr. Phil; The Montel Williams Show; Court TV;  Weekend Edition Sunday with Rachel Martin (NPR); Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon (NPR); Tell Me More with Michel Martin (NPR); KQED radio and television; ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC Local News.

Interviewer/moderator, the Commonwealth Club of California; interviewees have included David Brooks, Ralph Nader, Tavis Smiley, Randall Kennedy, Ian Haney-López, Adam Benforado, Talib Kweli, Kim Kardashian, Valerie Jarrett (Obama Senior Advisor), Lesley Stahl (60 Minutes), Caitlyn Jenner, Gold Star parent Khizr Khan, Robert Reich, Donna Brazile, Jesse Jackson, David Gergen, Annette Gordon-Reed, and Glenn Close.

AWARDS AND HONORS
2023 Hannah G. Soloman Award, National Council of Jewish Women, San Francisco Section; 2021 Character Award, the Boy Scouts of America, Silicon Valley/Monterey Bay Council; 2017 Women Making History Award, from Former Senator Barbara Boxer; 2017 featured in San Francisco Magazine’s Resistance issue; 2017 Leadership Award, Office of the District Attorney of San Francisco; 2017 Crystal Gavel Award, California Association of Black Lawyers, Judicial Section; 2017 inductee, the Black Legends Hall of Fame of Silicon Valley; 2017 Horace Mann Award, Victory for Humanity, given by the Alumni Association Board of Directors among the annual Alumni Awards; 2016 Chief Justice Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award, ACLU of Northern California; 2016 Woman of Impact Award, Notre Dame High School; 2016 inductee Stanford University’s Multicultural Hall of Fame; 2015 Community Builder Award, Silicon Valley People Acting In Community; 2014 James McEntee, Sr. Lifetime Achievement Award, Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission; 2014 Woman of the Year in Advocacy, Silicon Valley Chapter, National Council of 100 Black Women; 2014 William E. B. Dubois Award, Silicon Valley NAACP; 2013 Commendation, San Jose Human Rights Commission; 2012 John W. Gardner Leadership Award, American Leadership Forum of Silicon Valley; 2011 Don Edwards Defender of Constitution Liberty Award, ACLU, Santa Clara Valley Chapter; 2006 Award of Excellence, Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund; 2005 Community Service Award, Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom; 2004 Rose Bird Memorial Award, California Women Lawyers; 2004 Gandhi, King, Ikeda Community Builders Award; named the 2001 Trial Judge of the Year by the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association; 1999 Rosa Parks Ordinary People Award, NAACP, San Jose; 1998 Josephine and Frank Duveneck Humanitarian Award; 1998 Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, San Jose Peace Center; 1996, elected the President of the United States by the Girls Scouts of Santa Clara County; 1996 Youth Service Award, Legal Advocates for Children & Youth; 1996 Unsung Heroes Award, Minority Access Committee of the Santa Clara County Bar Association; 1996 Social Justice Award, San Francisco Women’s Centers; 1996 Legal Impact Award, Asian Law Alliance, San Jose; 1996 Advocate for Justice Award, Legal Aid Society of Santa Clara County; 1994 Special Recognition Award for Community Service, Human Relations Commission, Santa Clara County; 1992 San Jose Baha’i Community Service Award; 1990 Don Peters Volunteer of the Year Award, United Way of Santa Clara County; 1989 Distinguished Citizen Award, Exchange Club of San Jose and San Jose City Council; 1989 Mayor Janet Gray Hayes Public Service Award; 1988 Iola Williams Public Service Award; 1987, first recipient of the Juliette Gordon Low Award, Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County; 1985 Woman of Achievement Award, Santa Clara County; 1986 Achievement Award, Western Center on Domestic Violence; 1982-83 Community Involvement Award, East Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce; 1983 Outstanding Black Woman Award, Mid-Peninsula YWCA; 1982 Public Service Award, National Council of Negro Women.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Law Institute

PUBLICATIONS
Her Honor: My Life on the Bench... What Works, What’s Broken, and How to Change It. A memoir published by Celadon Books, a division of Macmillan Publishing; release date, October 26, 2021

Before Brown v. Board of Education---Was It All Worth it? Howard Law Journal, Vol. 23, No. 1, 1980

The Appearance of Justice: Judges’ Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior in Criminal Jury Trials, Stanford Law Review, Vol. 38, No. 1, 1985 (an oft-cited landmark study of judicial behavior, co-authored with Professors Peter Blanck and Robert Rosenthal)

Black Immigration: Disavowing the Stereotype of the Shiftless Negro, Judges Journal, Spring, 1986

Musings of a Trial Court Judge, Indiana Law Journal, Vol. 68, issue 4, 1993, co-authored with Florence O. Keller, Ph.D.

The Joy of Judging, Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Review, Vol. 43, No. 2, Summer 2008

Opinion pieces published by the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Slate, Salon, and KQED radio’s Perspectives.

Quoted and featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and San Jose Mercury News.