"The Robing Room: CA State Judges

Hon. Rodney A. Cortez	See Rating Details
Judge Superior Court
San Bernardino County	See Comments

Attorney Average Rating: 3.2 - 2 rating(s) Non-Attorney Average Rating: 5.0 - 2 rating(s)	Please send me alerts on this judge E-mail Address:

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Only items marked with (*) are averaged into the displayed overall rating.

General Rating Criteria

* Temperament		(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Scholarship		(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Industriousness		(1=Not at all industrious,10=Highly industrious)
* Ability to Handle Complex Litigation		(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
* Punctuality		(1=Chronically Late,10=Always on Time)
* General Ability to Handle Pre-Trial Matters		(1=Not all Able, 10=Extremely Able)
* General Ability as a Trial Judge		(1=Not all Able, 10=Extremely Able)
Flexibility In Scheduling		(1=Completely Inflexible,10=Very Flexible)

Criminal Rating Criteria (if applicable)

* Evenhandedness in Criminal Litigation		(1=Demonstrates Bias,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
General Inclination Regarding Bail		(1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
Involvement in Plea Discussions		(1=Not at all Involved, 10=Very Involved)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Pretrial Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Trial Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases Sentencing Stage		(1=Pro-prosecution,10=Pro-defense)

Civil Rating Criteria (if applicable)

* Evenhandedness in Civil Litigation		(1=Not at all Evenhanded,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
Involvement in Settlement Discussions		(1=Not at all Involved,10=Very Involved)
General Inclination		(1=Pro-defendant, 10=Pro-plaintiff)

Comments

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What others have said about Hon. Rodney A. Cortez

Comments

Other

Comment #: CA39152
Rating:10.0

Comments:
I apologize for pre-judging Judge Cortez. I had heard and read online a lot of bad things about him. But anytime you have a case, one side is going to be happy and the other unhappy. Of course more people make the time to leave reviews about bad experiences and unfortunately not enough leave reviews about the good experiences. I was a defendant in a case with 2 misdemeanor charges. I was actually impressed with how fair and impartial Judge Cortez was to both sides. As I have heard many times, judges tend to side with the prosecution because they both work for the state and most judges have a lot more experience as a DA before becoming a judge versus practicing criminal defense. I also enjoyed his sincerity when he would speak to address people and the jury directly. He also had a sense of humor that helped lighten the tensions that can be so high in a courtroom. Thank you Rod! One last thing, our legal system is flawed, especially when the DAs are programmed to win their cases at all costs. Their real goal should be to seek all truth in the case, then less innocents would be incarcerated, especially those that can't afford a high quality defense like me.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA18485
Rating:5.4

Comments:
Mr. Cortez demonstrates a lack of respect towards the general public and all too often I have witnessed some rather harsh hostility towards defendants. I personally don’t find it necessary to want to humiliate a person wether that person stands before me as a defender or defendant I just don’t understand how a man with such power and prestige can be so incredibly rude to another human being and i find his actions very distasteful to say the least. I understand it’s his job to demonstrate authority and pass judgment down to the deserving but has justice been so blinded lately that it’s now ok to abuse your power as supervising Judge and be so quick to take the side of the prosecution before hearing both sides of a story! He is a fantastic judge in all other aspects but it’s my opinion that to be a judge means to have an open mind and not take every case so personal as i see him do often. Not every person is a criminal on the verge of a bad criminal spree some people just make mistakes and need to be guided back in the right direction. Others need to guided straight to county but have a little heart and think before you throw the book at people.

Other

Comment #: CA10536
Rating:1.0

Comments:
94 YEAR AGED VICTIM ENTERING THE COURT ON A SCHEDULED EX PARTE TO ASCERTAIN IF THE COURT NEED ANYTHING FURTHER REGARDING A 'FIX-IT TICKET' WITH MOTION FOR HONEST DMV SERVICE FOR REGISTRATION PER 'TRIAL BY DECLARATION'. JUDGE ARRAIGNED HIM, BUT REFUSED TO ENTERTAIN THE MOTION. MINUTE ORDER SHOWS REGISTRATION CITATION WAS CURED (?): AN IMPOSSIBILITY, SINCE THE DMV WOULD NOT ISSUE REGISTRATION WITHOUT A COURT ORDER [EMPHASIS ADDED.]. THE PUBLIC RECORD WAS FALSIFIED TO SHOW THE VICTIM WAIVED THE 'TRIAL BY DECLARATION' FOR ARRAIGNMENT; UTTERING (WITH A CRAP-EATING GRIN), "MR. CARR YOU CASE IS DISMISSED, THE 'MOTION TO COMPEL' BELONGS IN ANOTHER COURT." THIS, AFTER I NOTICED THE COURT THAT MR. CARR WAS THERE EX PARTE. I WILL ATTEST TO THESE FACTS IF CALLED TO DO SO. HE SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF. RESPECTFULLY PROPOUNDED.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: CA9705
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Judge Cortez isn't just biased against defense, he flat out doesn't consider defense anything more than an annoyance that gets in the way of the prosecution.
People like this pretender need to go do something else with their lives -- take out their anger and frustrations some place else. Lives are affected by what happens in courtrooms, people deserve better than this arrogant prosecutor in a robe.
Its sad enough when, as an attorney, you speak to potential jurors and someone says "I believe law enforcement - they would never lie. Whatever they say, I will believe, despite proof to the contrary. And if someone was arrested, they must have done something because police never get it wrong." (Yes, we do hear moronic things like that!) But when the JUDGE also takes on that mindset... something is terribly wrong. Appointing Cortez to the bench... was terribly wrong.