The contested race for a seat on the San Francisco Superior Court bench pits occasionally controversial Judge Thomas Mellon against termed-out Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval and prosecutor-turned-PD-turned-solo Mary Mallen. Voters will have to weigh the candidates — here’s our coverage.
California courts of appeal issued published rulings that reviewed Mellon’s rulings 10 times, according to a search of the state’s database. Of those 10, three were by the California Supreme Court, and essentially affirmed his original rulings. Overall, he was partially or fully reversed five times.
In two of those instances, the First District Court of Appeal criticized Mellon’s family law decisions, saying he’d overstepped his jurisdiction. In 1996, for example, the appeal court said Mellon had improperly granted a restraining order on behalf of a woman who didn’t have the right to seek one under the law. And in 1999, the First District said Mellon improperly consolidated a closed family-law case with an open civil claim that dealt with domestic violence allegations: “Consolidation was more than inappropriate – the court exceeded its jurisdiction,” the court wrote.
Mellon, according to his Web site, has picked up endorsements from numerous judges, including five of seven state Supreme Court justices. According to March campaign fundraising statements, Mellon lagged far behind Sandoval in donations.
