Fresno County’s judicial bench does not reflect the diversity of the community it serves. Publicly available court rosters show that the bench remains overwhelmingly European American, despite a population that is not.

That disparity alone raises questions about representation. More troubling, however, is a pattern of familial relationships and insider advancement that, at a minimum, creates a serious appearance of impropriety under widely accepted principles of judicial ethics.

Judges are not only required to follow the law; they are required to avoid circumstances that reasonably call their impartiality or independence into question. Public confidence depends on that standard being met.

The following relationships and actions are matters of public record or publicly observable election activity:

— Jennifer Hamilton serves as a court commissioner and is currently a judicial candidate. During her recent campaign, she did not receive an endorsement from La Raza Lawyers of Fresno. Her husband, Jeff Hamilton, is the presiding judge of the Fresno County Superior Court. As presiding judge, he holds administrative authority over court assignments and the commissioner system.

— Daniel J. Brickey, a court commissioner and judicial candidate, has a sibling, Judge Gabriel Brickey, who is on the Fresno County bench. During his tenure as a commissioner, Mr. Brickey was assigned a felony criminal trial by Judge Hamilton. Such assignments are uncommon for commissioners and are typically associated with building credentials (which is relevant to a judicial campaign). Public court calendars and case assignments reflect that judges of color are less frequently given comparable felony trial opportunities.

— Noelle Pebet, a court commissioner, is publicly identified as a niece of Judge Michael Idiart, a relationship that has been widely acknowledged within the local legal community.

— Heather Mardel Jones is a sitting judge in Fresno County and is married to Fresno County Judge Sam Dalessandro, a fact reflected in publicly available biographical information.

— Marc Kapetan is currently running for judge. His brother Jon Kapetan is a retired judge, and his brother Peter’s wife is Kristi Culver Kapetan, a Fresno County judge, according to publicly available judicial rosters.

—  Justice Donald Franson Jr. previously served on the Fresno County Superior Court before being elevated to the appellate bench. His father, Donald Franson Sr., also served as a judge in Fresno County and later sat on the California Court of Appeal. The father-and-son progression from the same local bench to the same higher judicial office further illustrates how judicial advancement in Fresno has often occurred within a small circle of established family connections.

— Judge Arlan Harrell served on the Fresno County Superior Court before his elevation to the California Court of Appeal. His brother, Judge Alvin Harrell, later became a judge on the Fresno County bench.

— Justice James Ardaiz served on the Fresno County Superior Court before his elevation to the California Court of Appeal. His brother-in-law is Marvin Baxter, a former justice of the California Supreme Court. While each appointment is lawful on its own, the family connection contributes to the appearance that judicial advancement in Fresno and beyond has long operated within a tightly connected network rather than through fully open and competitive processes.

— Judge Elizabeth Egan just announced her retirement. She is the sister of retired Fresno County Judge Timothy Kams.

No single relationship, standing alone, establishes wrongdoing. Judicial ethics, however, are explicit that judges must avoid not only actual impropriety, but also the appearance of impropriety.

When multiple familial relationships converge with discretionary assignments, unopposed elections, and administrative control concentrated in a small group, the cumulative effect is difficult to dismiss as coincidence, especially with a concentration of family members in such a large and diverse population.

Recent Events Invite Scrutiny

Recent election activity has intensified scrutiny. Multiple judges publicly stated they were not retiring, only to later withdraw their candidacies at the filing deadline (“pull papers”).

Shortly thereafter, commissioners and certain attorneys entered the races for the vacated seats. The sequence of these events is documented in election filings. While such maneuvering may comply with the letter of election law, the timing reasonably raises questions about insider knowledge and whether the process meaningfully invites competition.

Judicial legitimacy depends not only on legality, but on public trust. When advancement appears intertwined with family ties, when opportunities are unevenly distributed, and when elections proceed without genuine competition, confidence in the system erodes.

Fresno County deserves a judiciary that meets the highest ethical standard, one that is transparent, impartial, and demonstrably independent. Fresno deserves better.

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