The Santa Clara County assistant district attorney running against Judge Aaron Persky in an upcoming recall election has officially started fundraising for her campaign.
Cindy Hendrickson, who was a civil litigator before spending 22 years as a prosecutor, launched an onling CrowdPac campaign this week titled "Cindy Hendrickson Seeks Justice for All in Santa Clara County." She publicly announced her intent to run against Persky this spring.
Since last summer, Persky has been battling a recall effort launched in response to outrage over his sentencing of former Stanford University student Brock Turner for the sexual assault of an unconscious woman on campus in 2015. The recall campaign alleges Persky has shown a pattern of bias against women and defendants of color in other sexual violence cases.
Hendrickson, who currently works on District Attorney Jeff Rosen's executive team, wrote on the fundraising webpage that her candidacy presents an alternative to Persky. She promised to be a "fair, hard-working judge with a continued devotion to all residents of Santa Clara County.
"I have advocated strongly for victims, and I have been equally committed to safeguarding the rights of the accused," Hendrickson wrote. "I grew up in a multi-racial family of 13 that has informed my views on bias of all kinds."
As of Friday afternoon, she had raised $1,685 toward a $15,000 goal.
The webpage details her professional background, from serving as student board president for an organization that provided pro-bono legal assistance to indigent clients during law school to her work on elder abuse, sexual assault and jail reform in Santa Clara County. Hendrickson graduated from Stanford in 1987 and attended the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.
Hendrickson first joined the local district attorney's office in 1995. She was named a supervising deputy district attorney in 2011 and became one of Rosen's six assistant district attorneys in 2015.
Hendrickson currently chairs the county's Elder Death Review Team and Domestic Violence Death Review Team, which investigate and review all deaths related to these two crimes that occur in Santa Clara County.
As a prosecutor, Hendrickson said she has "remained vigilant about protecting defendants' rights and the integrity of the criminal justice system. I have a deep understanding of and respect for a prosecutor's obligation to safeguard the rights of suspects and defendants. I will be a judge who recognizes both the value of rehabilitation and the need for incarceration in certain circumstances."
Hendrickson's boss, Rosen, has endorsed Persky. While he publicly criticized the Turner sentencing — and disqualified Persky from hearing an unrelated sexual-assault case a week later — Rosen has previously said the sentence was within Persky's legal right as a judge and is not grounds to remove him from the bench.
Since receiving the green light from a judge in August, the recall campaign has been gathering the signatures required to place the recall measure on the June 2018 ballot.
Comments
Registered user
Sylvan Park
on Oct 22, 2017 at 10:26 am
Registered user
on Oct 22, 2017 at 10:26 am
Does Assistant DA Cindy Hendrickson believe that Judge Persky should be removed by recall? I recall when a recall of Governor Gray Davis qualified for the ballot and sone 200 persons declared their candidacies to replace him. The top vote-getter was a weight-lifter turned "action" actor named Arnold something. The incumbent cannot run for the seat up for recall. So, to have a choice of replacements, we would need at least one more candidate. And with recent revelations of sexual "assault" and harassment throughout the country, voters could sacrifice a very good judge to take a stand and make a statement to the country and the world. I, however, am not there. We have some questionable judges but Judge Persky does not appear to be among them. He is a former prosecutor who appears to take seriously the legal duties of a judge - including the duty to consider of the particular facts of a case and the particular defendant to be sentenced. How many sexual "assault" cases has Ass. DA Hendrickson plea bargained directly or as a supervisor? Did all of those defendants receive more punishment than the defendants before Judge Persky in the 3-4 cases located and cited by the recall proponents?
Registered user
Old Mountain View
on Oct 23, 2017 at 3:40 pm
Registered user
on Oct 23, 2017 at 3:40 pm
Did you know Judge Persky is suing Santa Clara County in an attempt to stop his own recall election via bullying tactics and obstruction. County officials and the voters want the recall to happen. Maybe you weren't sure before, well you can be sure now that Persky is a dishonorable judge who believes that might makes right. Judge Persky is a disgrace to his profession. The fact that he still has a job is a disgrace. People who put quotes around "sexual assault" are a disgrace and are from a time when women were considered property under the law and didn't merit equal rights. Let the people vote. As a judge, Persky protected white men from Stanford. Unfortunately for him, most voters are not white men from Stanford.
Registered user
Rengstorff Park
on Oct 23, 2017 at 4:18 pm
Registered user
on Oct 23, 2017 at 4:18 pm
I am a woman age 67, who has experienced my share of sexual harassment. I am against judicial recall unless the judge has committed a criminal act. If not, we have a chance to vote this guy out in a standard election and save the enormous cost to taxpayer of a recall election. I'm very concerned about judicial independence as well. Judge Persky was just doing his job. He seems to be well respected by his colleagues. Seem like a witch hunt to me with future scary repercussions for judges making decisions out of fear rather than what they think is right.
Registered user
another community
on Oct 24, 2017 at 7:28 pm
Registered user
on Oct 24, 2017 at 7:28 pm
[Poster banned due to multiple violations of terms of use]