Judge Deborah Andrews Honored with Joan Dempsey Klein Award
Judge Deborah Andrews was selected to receive CWL’s 2010 Joan Dempsey Klein award.
Elected to the Superior Court in June 1994, Judge Andrews directed the specialized criminal Domestic Violence Court in the Long Beach Superior Courthouse for over a decade. During her time with the Domestic Violence Court, Judge Andrews initiated an innovative Protective Order Committee which brought together stakeholders from law enforcement, prosecutors, defense counsel, Legal Aid, victim advocates, judicial officers and records personnel charged with entering data into CLETS. The committee, which promotes better communication among various entities concerned with protective orders, was hailed as a “Promising Practice” by the Attorney General’s 2005 Task Force Report and has been modeled by other courts.
Judge Andrews instituted a program to provide in-courtroom assistance to the victims of domestic violence. Using volunteers from California State University Long Beach, students were trained and supervised by WomenShelter of Long Beach to provide these services and ensuring that victims always had support.
Judge Andrews also established the first Drug Court Program in the South District of Los Angeles County, working in a collaborative effort to provide intensive treatment and supervision for long-term hardcore addicts.
She has served on numerous local and statewide committees regarding issues of violence, including the Domestic Violence Practice and Procedure Task Force convened by California Chief Justice Ron George. Judge Andrews has been recognized for her efforts by a long list of organizations, including: the Long Beach Area Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Council (End Abuse), the Long Beach Bar Association, Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe and the Los Angeles County Commission for Women, Rainbow Services, and Soroptimist International of Long Beach.
Known for taking on the most challenging assignments, Judge Andrews was reassigned last year, at her request, to the Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Court, where she now hears Juvenile Dependency cases, which includes a caseload of more than 1000 children under her supervision.
Judge Deborah Andrews has taken on some of the most challenging issues facing our courts: domestic violence, drugs and now juvenile dependency and has continuously worked to improve the services the courts provide. She exemplifies the qualities recognized by the Joan Dempsey Klein award—a long history of dedicated service on the bench, working tirelessly on issues of importance while raising a family of her own.
