The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 36

THI SUN ftrrrr Ex-grape picker speaks of change F.b. 17, 19 0 I 1H I I AW. nr i By RICK MARTINEZ Sun S'tf Writer SAN BERNARDINO Municipal Court Judge Frances Munoz likes to think she was the "best 14-year-old grape picker" in the fields. Munoz the only Chicana judge in the state worked long and hard, pitted against many other pickers, to achieve that agricultural honor. But when Munoz reached that pinnacle, she decided there were other, more diverse fields to cultivate.

"As I stood there in the hot fields, sweating, I knew I was champion, but that's not what I wanted to do the rest of my life." She did not at that point decide to be a judge, but if il -IP til: in she did have higher ideals in mind. "When I walked into the courtroom and saw the nameplate with 'Judge Munoz on it for the first time, I thought back to that field that day." Munoz, 49, appointed in January 1978 to the Orange County bench by Gov. Brown recalled the fields Friday night at the Mexican American Personnel Management Association installation dinner at the Orange Show Cafeteria. She told the audience of 150 persons that "the Chicanos' lack of political clout in the 70s was an embarrassment." Keeping her remarks very general, Munoz said she hoped Hispanics would unite in organizations like MAPMA to achieve power. With unity there is force and with force there is power.

And power is where it's at." Munoz said. Munoz' judicial power is being challenged this June, in the Harbor Judicial District in Newport Beach. Ah Orange County deputy district attorney, Michael Pear, is opposing the sophomore judge. "Though judicial elections are not supposed to be campaigns, it's turning into one." Munoz said of the judicial district race in an interview before the" dinner. She said her opponent is running a "law-and-order campaign," playing on the traditional outlook of the generally conservative, largely Anglo population.

"He's also playing on the fact that I'm a Brown appointee," Munoz said. "And with the Deputy A. I title, people think he stands for law and order." She called her job "one that is not particularly, tough, but requires a lot of commitment." 0 per set on 2 great sleep sets by Sealy Save on Starlight Luxury Because she is a judge, Munoz did not want to give her opinion on "quota systems" designed to achieve: ethnic balance in employment. She did say she felt a recent state Supreme Court decision upholding an affirmative action progranun. the Sacramento District Attorney's office was "good, for minorities women and Chicanos." "I have not read the entire text but it appears to be a good law.

It explains Bakke somewhat and it will give judges some guidelines." Munoz felt the state determinate sentencing legfcla-tion has caused tougher sentences to be imposed for most criminal offenses. She cited a recent study that concurred with her belief. She said stiff er sentences were the direct effect of the determinate sentencing law, not judicial decisions. Unlike Mario Obledo, state health and welfare secretary, Munoz does not feel minority prison popu-I lations statewide will grow to 80 or 90 percent by the -end of the decade. Munoz worked for 16 years as a corporate secretary for a Los Angeles furniture manufacturer before receiving her law degree eight years ago from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles.

A criminal law expert, Munoz worked for the Orange County Public Defender's office before her, -1 appointment to the newly created judgeship in the Harbor Judicial District in 1978. A Costa Mesa resident, Munoz was born in Miami," one of 11 children. Her brother, Greg married to John Wayne's daughter, Melinda is an Orange County attorney. She said being an Hispanic and a woman has not; been a problem as a judge. "I've been around Orange County (as an attorney- and judge) for eight years so the attorneys know who, -I am," Munoz said.

Her biculturalism and bilingualism rarely come into play in the largely Anglo community, but Munoz- told the audience of one rare incident when it did; A Soanish-speaking man charged with driving twin mattress or foundation Reg. 89.95. Starlight Luxury mattress has heavy coil wires for support and firmness Compressed cotton felt for added comfort. Matching foundation features Duragard torsion bar suspension. Full mattress or foundation reg.

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