A seasoned trial lawyer born to immigrant parents is aiming to be a judge in Orange County.
Israel “Izzy” Claustro has leveraged his unique background, experience, and skills to rise to a leadership position within the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. After serving the Orange County community for over two decades as a Deputy District Attorney, he believes that he will bring unique life experiences to the Orange County Superior Court.
“It is incredibly challenging today for an Orange County Prosecutor to receive an appointment for the office of Superior Court Judge. An opportunity arose for me to run for Superior Court Judge instead of asking for an appointment, after a large number of judges retired in 2022,” Claustro told the Asian Journal. “Thus, I am humbly asking the people of Orange County to elect me into office as Superior Court Judge on June 7, 2022, because I believe that I am experienced, possess the characteristics, and qualities that would serve our Orange County Community well.”
As the eldest of 7 siblings, Claustro grew up poor in Pomona, California. Experiencing poverty first-hand did not deter him from pursuing his dreams. He saw how his parents, who immigrated from a small Mexican farming town armed only with a third-grade education, brought him up and taught him a powerful and valuable work ethic that has been his guide since his formative years.
Because of the challenges he faced growing up, he came up with a resolution to succeed and give back to the community. With the help of many scholarships, work-study, and part-time jobs, Israel attended and graduated with honors from the University of Redlands with a B.S. in Chemistry and Western State University College of Law, magna cum laude.
Rising from the ranks, Claustro has built a reputation for being trustworthy and hardworking. In every case he handles, he shows respect and the utmost courtesy to all involved – from the junior prosecutors he leads to the judges, defense counsel, witnesses, victims, law enforcement, and defendants he encounters in and out of the courtroom.
He gave four reasons why voters should choose him: “I possess the experience, community support, demeanor, and endorsements.”
As a way of giving back to the community that has nurtured him, he is committed to helping everyone around him improve and thrive. As a mentor volunteering throughout the Orange County community, he trains mock trial students in the Legal Studies Academy at Santa Ana High School (and serves on its advisory board) and is active with Santa Ana Unified School District’s Gang Reduction Intervention Partnership.
In his mentorship talks, Claustro talks fondly about how his parents’ values of hard work, sacrifice, and service passed on to him and helped him earn his way to law school and graduate with honors.
He witnessed how his parents worked long hours at laborious jobs to make ends meet as they lived frugally and with extended family.
After spending nearly 20 years as a prosecutor and now as a current Senior Deputy District Attorney/Assistant Head of Court, Claustro has taken over 60 jury trials and 25 court trials to verdict.
He has also prosecuted and supervised serious, high-profile cases involving murder, sexual battery, child abuse, carjacking, gangs, police officers, hate crimes, arson, and political corruption. Israel is also responsible for conducting police officer misconduct reviews, acting as a Grand Jury liaison, and participating in the hiring process for junior attorneys.
“For more than two decades, I have protected the people and neighborhoods of Orange County by prosecuting violent criminals and getting justice for victims of gang violence, murder, hate crimes, carjacking, and drug trafficking. I approached each case with honesty, ethics, and fairness,” he said.
Claustro is running for O.C. Superior Court Judge Office No. 45 and he is hoping that his story resonates not just with the immigrant community but the entire electorate as well. After all, his story is about hard work, integrity, and respect.
“I believe that serving as a judge requires humility, an open mind, independence, and commitment to the highest ethical standards of the law,” he shared. “Every person who walks into a courtroom deserves to be heard and treated with respect.”
Claustro has built a diverse coalition of community leaders, judges, law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and residents to ensure fairness, access to justice, and independence in the courtrooms.
Seeking the new challenge of a judgeship, he believes his deep experience will enable him to adjust to the role quickly. In addition to his trial expertise, which will help with the nuts & bolts of managing a courtroom, the relationships and reputation for integrity he has built across the legal community – from the prosecutor’s office to the defense bar – will reassure all parties of fairness and independence in the courtroom.
If elected, Claustro promises that he will “follow the law and apply it fairly, equitably, and justly, irrespective of the litigants that would appear before me.”
“I assure every person appearing before me that I will remain a humble servant, without ego, to ensure that every person receives a fair and just hearing each time they appear before me,” he said.
Aside from that, he would also like to lessen the delay of justice and trials specially since crime victims and civil litigants frequently complain of lengthy delays in the adjudicatory process. He also plans to continue to be involved in the community to continue to help foster trust in our criminal justice system. n
