Kevin Ready – a longtime attorney with the Santa Barbara County
Counsel’s office – announced he is running for judge, taking on
Santa Maria juvenile judge Art Garcia. Ready criticized Garcia’s
decision to overturn a “gruesome Lompoc murder” 20 years after the
fact on the grounds that the defendant – who confessed – lacked
adequate legal counsel. Like any candidate challenging an incumbent
judge, Ready faces an uphill battle. Garcia – a five-year veteran
of the bench who was appointed by former governor Gray Davis – has
been endorsed by his judicial colleagues both north and south, who
praise his commitment to and enthusiasm for juvenile court, an
assignment most judges look down upon.
