Judges and Judiciary
Oct. 2, 2026
The selective lens of justice: Judge Call and the Brenda Allen scandal
Before Bloody Christmas, Judge Joseph L. Call oversaw a very different LA scandal--one where protecting the powerful took priority over transparency.
I recently wrote about Judge Joseph L. Call's stand in the 1952 Bloody Christmas case, when he let the full extent of an LAPD jailhouse beating of seven young men--five of them Mexican American--into the courtroom record and denounced the department from the bench. That courage, though, wasn't the whole story of Call's tenure. A few years earlier, a very different test of his judicial conduct played out: the Brenda Allen scandal.
Courage in one case doesn't automati...
For only $95 a month (the price of 2 article purchases)
Receive unlimited article access and full access to our archives,
Daily Appellate Report, award winning columns, and our
Verdicts and Settlements.
Or
$895, but save $100 when you subscribe today… Just $795 for the first year!
Or access this article for $45
(Purchase provides 7-day access to this article. Printing, posting or downloading is not allowed.)
Already a subscriber?
Sign In