A state auditor has no authority to access confidential records of California’s judicial conduct commission, a San Francisco judge ruled Tuesday.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bolanos held that California State Auditor Elaine Howle’s request for confidential records from the state’s Commission on Judicial Performance ran afoul of CJP’s internal rules. She said the law authorizing the state auditor to review an agency’s confidential records was unconstitutional as applied to the CJP. Bolanos also held that the audit threatened to violate the separation of powers laid out in the state’s constitution.

Judge Suzanne Bolanos. Credit: Shelley Eades

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