Denise Schmidt v. Contra Costa County

Plaintiff Denise Schmidt alleges that she broke an unwritten rule and suffered the consequences when she challenged a sitting superior court judge for his seat in a local election while she was serving as a temporary superior court commissioner. Schmidt lost her March 2004 election bid against an incumbent judge of the Superi- or Court of California, County of Contra Costa (“Superior Court”). Soon after, the Superior Court’s Executive Committee adopted a policy rendering Schmidt ineligi ble to continue to serve as a temporary commissioner. Having lost the election and her position as a temporary commissioner, Schmidt filed this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging, inter alia, that the Executive Committee adopted this policy in retaliation for her challenge to the incumbent judge in violation of her free speech rights under the First Amendment and the California Constitution. While the timing and targeted effect of the Superior Court’s policy are certainly suspicious, we do not reach the merits of Schmidt’s federal or state law retaliation claims because the judges of the Superior Court’s Executive Committee enjoy legislative immunity for their decision to alter the…